Is your school using several different software and programs to offer different communication channels? Does your staff need multiple logins and “panes of glass” to communicate with each other and key stakeholders? If you said yes to either of these questions, it may be time to upgrade your communications solution. As the main decision maker in your facility, it’s important that you understand the ins and outs of hosted VoIP for schools and how it can be a wonderful asset to your building.
Hosted VoIP for Schools: Saving Money
Did you know that a good hosted VoIP for schools solution could save your district money? There are several reasons why, which we will get into in just a minute. As you read, keep in mind all the fees and hidden costs associated with plain old telephone service (POTs).
Maintenance
Arguably, one of the biggest costs associated with POTs is maintenance fees. There are several reasons why a POTs line has a lot of maintenance costs. This includes IT fees, scheduled maintenance calls from your service provider, and paying rising costs for outdated parts.
Hosted VoIP for schools will save your district money on maintenance because the upkeep of the servers and other components is handled by the VoIP solution provider. You no longer need to schedule an on-site maintenance call for your phone issues to be fixed.
Customer Support
Along the lines of fees associated with maintenance comes customer support. With a traditional phone line, you are often faced with the task of calling your provider. This may result in a long wait to have your issues taken care of. This is not the case with hosted VoIP. In fact, when you purchase your school’s hosted VoIP solution, you can expect a support staff to come with it.
Depending on your provider, your support staff will be ready and waiting to help you with any issues that may arise. All you need to do is reach out and a highly trained member of your provider’s staff will be working on your issues within hours, if not minutes.
Set Up
Unlike POTs, hosted VoIP solutions are easily set up. They operate off an internet connection. Therefore, once you have your devices in hand, you can simply “plug in” to an internet source (ethernet and Wi-Fi) and they are ready to go.
Another great aspect of hosted VoIP for schools is that they often come with an app-based user interface. This intuitive portal is great to set call rules, create menus for an automated assistant, record greetings, and set standard features.
Hosted VoIP for Schools: Features We Love
The features included with a hosted VoIP solution are game changers for the educational field. While you can and have gotten by with basic phone features, once you start using a hosted VoIP solution, you’ll be asking yourself why you didn’t upgrade sooner. Below, we have listed just a few of the features that will make a big difference in your building.
Auto Attendants
Let’s face it. Your office staff is busy. Help ease some of the incoming call burden with auto attendants. You can create customized greetings, personalized menus, and help your stakeholders help themselves. If the auto attendant can direct calls to the right extension for your office staff, they are free to focus on other, more important tasks.
Call Rules
Along the lines of routing calls, you can set call rules for your system. This means if you want phone calls to not disturb the classroom learning environment, you can send all calls meant for teachers to voicemail during learning hours.
Conferencing
We know that conferencing is a big part of the education world. Whether it be between colleagues or for an IEP meeting, crystal clear communication is a must. Hosted VoIP comes equipped with built-in HD conferencing capabilities. This means participants will enjoy crystal-clear voice, ensuring no one is misheard.
So Much More
We have only scratched the surface of features included with a hosted VoIP for schools phone solution. If you are interested in learning more, the experts at All Tel Networks would love to discuss the benefits of upgrading to hosted VoIP with you. In fact, let’s schedule a call so you can get a free demo today!
