The Importance of Communication and How It Ties to Phone Systems
There are a lot of ways to achieve success but the majority of them add up to the same methods and principles. You need a clear goal, you need to have a plan, you need a secondary plan when the first one inevitably crashes and burns, and, of course, you need good employees. That being said, it seldom matters how good the individuals are if they are unable to function as a team. And what’s the key to being able to function as a team, aside from setting the personal issues aside and focusing on the common goal? That’s right, communication.
Communication is easily the most important aspect of any social structure. When people understand each other, when they’re able to talk to each other in a convenient, efficient, and practical fashion, that’s when these people are able to truly function as a team and the latter inevitably leads to a successful project. Since the dawn of time, people have been trying to improve our methods of communication, from post pigeons and telegraphy to radio, telephones, and the modern-day telecommunication devices.
Of course, nowadays, practically anyone is able to instantly reach any person on any part of the planet, provided both have an Internet connection. So the people in the telecommunication business have to offer something better than that. Something more elaborate but, at the same time, simpler. Something faster and more efficient but, again, simple, straightforward, and accessible. Something that will allow your colleagues to discuss any issues regarding their work one-on-one, in a group conference, and in any other way imaginable. A system that creates a communication network that gives you speed, efficiency, reliability, and simplicity is hard to find but RingCentral is one of the very few companies that manages to juggle all of these requirements, doing it in seemingly the most effortless manner.
What Is a RingCentral Phone System?
As the folk at RingCentral put it, the company offers an all-in-one phone, team messaging, and video conferencing solution. It will help you simplify the business communications within your company and accelerate its growth using one of the best global cloud communications solutions on the market today.
The company has been in the business for over 20 years now and it is one of the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) pioneers in the business environment, one of the company’s that’s been able to break down the myriad of communication barriers that exist when people are working remotely with each other.
But what makes RingCentral different and one of the biggest secrets to their success is that it isn’t just a phone system. Even their basic, least expensive plans that we will cover in a moment give you access to video conferencing software and an online collaboration app to go along with the VoIP phone system.
So, to answer the question, RingCentral is a phone system that functions as a hosted SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) provider. That means you will need actual on-premise phones to use their services, though you will have the option to stick with the less efficient softphone and mobile apps. The company works with a variety of different models from just about every major vendor out there, including Cisco, PolyCom, and Yealink. You can also choose a generic SIP device. But their numerous functions don’t always mesh well with these generic devices, so we highly recommend using approved SIP phones.
As it always is with SIP services, the voice calls go through the internet circuit, so you will need a reliable high-speed connection on sight to maximize communication efficiency. With RingCentral competitors’, there’s nothing you’ll be able to do if you’re unable to secure a solid Internet connection at your place of business. But, even though the core principle is the same, RingCentral does things a little differently.
RingCentral Phone System Features
Best Call Quality
Like we said earlier, RingCentral acts as a as a hosted SIP provider but their approach is a little different compared to the bulk of the company’s competition. For one, the people behind this company will help you with network configurations by implementing Quality of Service (QoS) rules on local switches and routers. This way, the latter will always prioritize voice traffic, so your call is the last thing that will start faltering when the Internet connection gets spotty.
Willing to splurge a little extra to make sure that doesn’t happen? RingCentral will give you dedicated circuits to their very own data center facility from your very own place of business. Using this approach, they will be able to deliver spotless voice traffic directly to you without relying on your local Internet provider. That being said, it will cost you quite a lot more than the regular Internet circuit, so make sure to do your ROI (return on investment) math before you decide to go with this option.
Cloud Phone System
The features of RingCentral are numerous and abundant. But, first and foremost, it is a cloud phone system, so it definitely wouldn’t hurt to start there. The company offers mobile apps and a desktop app for Mac and Windows. It allows you to call local numbers as well as establish a toll-free vanity number.
You can order extensions to link employees at local and remote offices. Similar to different messengers, their software allows you to set a presence status, so you’ll be able to choose between the usual “Available”, “Invisible”, and “Do Not Disturb”.
You’ll be able to delegate, screen, forward, and clip calls. Using the latter feature, their services allow you to move an ongoing call from a mobile phone to a desk phone or a softphone.
The RingOut® feature activates one-touch calling from any device. Using the Intercom tool, one can make announcements through the desk phones to his colleagues across every office location. Alternatively, using the Paging feature, you’ll be able to make real-time, one-way announcements to one device or as many devices as you want.
RingCentral allows you to share lines and establish answering rules. It lets you send and receive faxes from any computer, mobile device, cloud storage solution, and other options.
Administration Tools
The company’s administration tools are just as numerous, so we will try to cover them as briefly as possible. Their cloud system lets you set up different greetings to establish your brand and improve the image of your company. It also lets you set up music and messages to entertain your clients while you keep them on hold.
Their dial-by-name directory essentially provides your company with a phone system that feels and functions like a system that’s run by a Fortune 500 company. The number porting feature can be used to transfer a phone number to your RingCentral account in a few simple steps.
The call monitoring tool will allow you to monitor the conversation, the most efficient way to provide coaching and facilitate a meaningful discussion. From call logs and automatic call recording to audit trailing, hot desking, caller ID, and user templates, the RingCentral offers every administration service in the book and then some on top of that.
Meetings
Using RingCentral Meetings™, the company’s proprietary software, you’ll be able to establish video conference calls with over 500 individuals in a single meeting worldwide. With audio conferencing, that number jumps up to a thousand people, so you’ll have the opportunity to bring everyone at your company up to speed at the same time, no matter the physical location and the number of listeners.
RingCentral Rooms™ allows you to instantly establish a connection and collaborate on and with any device, all it takes is a single tap.
RingCentral Webinar™ makes it easy to hold and promote the most immersive webinar conferences. With it, you are far more likely to create a big impact with larger audiences.
Messaging and Collaboration
Teamwork is the key to success. To maximize that teamwork, RingCentral gives you Glip, an app that offers real-time or asynchronous conversations with colleagues in a space that puts an emphasis on directness. Though it is just as much about communication as it is about collaboration, so the application packs a multitude of different tools and resources, including but not limited to documents, to-do lists, a team calendar, and a bunch of other equally useful features.
It also lets you send text, voice and, video messages, as well as establish an alert system that notifies you the moment you receive a message via email, fax, desktop app, mobile app, etc.
Security and Analytics
Last but not least, the company’s phone system allows you to establish roles and permissions, it gives you a data center overview, and a single sign-on for people using their corporate credentials. A central authentication point like that isn’t just a much more secure option compared to separate passwords for every employee but a more convenient one too. You won’t have to help people recover their passwords and you won’t have to waste your company’s resources on supporting an outdated password-based system like that. Combine that with a proper antivirus and you’ll be able to work without worrying about security.
As far as analytics are concerned, RingCentral offers performance reports with over thirty pre-built KPIs, including the number of calls missed with voicemail, the average time it takes your employee to answer the phone, as well as the number of calls refused by them.
Their comprehensive analytics portal, in addition to the performance reports, hosts a number of useful tools, such as the Quality of Service Reports, Live Reports, and Meetings Dashboard. The former is especially useful since it provides an abundance of helpful information regarding agent performance as well as the overall customer service experience. The QoS reports help you configure the router settings and perform instant troubleshooting. All in all, the company’s analytics tools will allow you to run your company like a well-oiled machine.