{"id":26323,"date":"2023-07-05T08:37:55","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T12:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carolinadigitalphone.com\/?p=26323"},"modified":"2023-08-03T09:31:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T13:31:27","slug":"stop-using-your-personal-phone-for-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinadigitalphone.com\/stop-using-your-personal-phone-for-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Using Your Personal Phone for Work\u00a0– You Need VoIP"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In theory, all employees would be supplied with a corporately-owned smartphone for work-related communications. But in practice, this simply isn\u2019t feasible for many companies, because the cost is enormous<\/a> to provide each individual with a separate phone.<\/p>\n\n

And frankly, it\u2019s not even desirable by many employees, who would much rather use their sleek and stylish late-model iPhone vs. something that was leading edge back when people were flocking to see The Wolf of Wall Street.<\/p>\n\n

And so, by financial necessity as well as personal preference, millions of employees use their personal phone for work; especially if they are remote\/hybrid workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

If this is the case in your company \u2014 and if you run a small or mid-size business (SMB) then it\u2019s a virtual certainty \u2014 there is another piece of the puzzle that you need: VoIP.<\/p>\n\n

Here are the 10 reasons why adding VoIP is a MUST when your employees are using personal mobile devices:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

1. More Privacy and Security<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

With VoIP, employees make work-related calls using an app on their phone<\/a>, rather than the native dialer (which of course they would continue using for personal calls).<\/p>\n\n

As a result of using the app, your business\u2019s number appears on Caller ID \u2014 and NOT the employee\u2019s personal number, even though they are using their personally-owned device, and not a corporately-supplied company phone. This is very important for privacy and security!<\/p>\n\n

2. Built-in Text Messaging<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Employees who use their phones for work have a variety of texting options, such as their phone\u2019s native app, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and so on. This can create confusion (\u201cDid I text Joe in shipping using WhatsApp or Skype?\u201d), and it can also lead to compliance and governance problems since texts can \u201clive\u201d in different apps and be difficult to find later on.<\/p>\n\n

VoIP eliminates this chaos and confusion. All employees simply use the built-in text messaging tool for all work-related texting. They can also send\/receive files, images, and rich media. Everything is stored in the same tool, which makes finding texts fast and easy.<\/p>\n\n

3. Live Call Transfer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

With VoIP, employees can transfer live calls<\/a> from their mobile phones to their digital desk phones (and vice versa). This makes life easier for employees and is far better for customer service. Consider these two scenarios: The first is when an employee is using their personal phone for work. The second is when that same employee has added VoIP to the mix:<\/p>\n\n

Scenario 1<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Employee: \u201cHi there, I\u2019m glad that you\u2019re interested in learning more about why our solution is significantly better than our competitors. I\u2019m just walking to my desk now. Can I call you back or could you call me back?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Customer: \u201cYou know, I just realized that it\u2019s past 2 pm and I really need to take care of some things on my end. Maybe we can continue this later in the week or next week. I\u2019ll let you know.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Scenario 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Employee: \u201cHi there, I\u2019m glad that you\u2019re interested in learning more about why our solution is significantly better than our competitors. [Seamlessly transfers call from personal phone to digital desk phone.] Let\u2019s start with quality and reliability\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

As we can see from this simple example, without VoIP there is a break in the action \u2014 one that could derail momentum. But with VoIP, there is no need to pause. The employee can simply shift the call between their personal phone and digital desk phone<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

4. Presence Icons<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

With VoIP, employees can log into the app and see at-a-glance whether their colleagues are available (green icon), busy (red icon), or away (grey icon).<\/p>\n\n

This is helpful for internal communication, and it also significantly improves customer service. Instead of transferring a call to a colleague who may not be available, an employee can check first and act accordingly.<\/p>\n\n

For example, if a colleague is busy (red icon), then the employee might send them a text asking when they\u2019ll be free. If they say \u201ca few seconds,\u201d then they can ask the customer to stay on the line. If they say \u201cI\u2019ll be tied up for at least the next 15 minutes,\u201d then they can ask the customer to call back or offer to call the customer back.<\/p>\n\n

It may not seem like a big deal, but simply KNOWING whether a colleague is available or not, instead of GUESSING and HOPING they are around, can make the difference between an impressed loyal customer vs. a frustrated ex-customer!<\/p>\n\n

5. Call History<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

With VoIP, employees can be told to use ONLY the VoIP app on their phone for making work-related calls. This will ensure that all call history is captured and available on-demand.<\/p>\n\n

For example, an employee may believe \u2014 but not be 100% certain \u2014 that they spoke with a customer two weeks ago. With VoIP, they just head into their call history, scroll back two weeks, and verify not just WHEN the call took place, but HOW LONG the conversated lasted. Equipped with these facts, they can move forward confidently.<\/p>\n\n

6. Shared Contacts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Employees who use VoIP can access a list of shared business contacts on their phones, such as customers, vendors, suppliers, etc. This makes things more efficient, plus if a contact\u2019s number changes, then it simply needs to be updated once for everyone.<\/p>\n\n

7. Voice Commands<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Employees can use voice commands to make calls, search contacts, and more on their personal devices. This is more efficient, and it\u2019s also safer when driving or carrying out any other tasks that require concentration.<\/p>\n\n

8. Voicemail-to-Text\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

With VoIP, employees can \u201cread\u201d voicemails received on their personal devices with automatic text-to-voicemail transcription<\/a>s. Why would they want to do this? There are a few common use cases:<\/p>\n\n