Hybrid working is now the norm for millions of UK businesses. With staff splitting their time between the office, home and even on the road, traditional landline phone systems are no longer useful as they tie you down to a desk with limited flexibility.
How VoIP Is Helping Hybrid Teams Keep Up
Systems designed for communication in hybrid environments must allow users to communicate from any location, using any device, without any compromise on the caliber of the call or the price they have paid. Are professional voice-over-internet-protocol services something to be concerned with or questioned? With the 2027 PSTN switch-off coming up, you won’t be able to afford to put this off any longer.
What Is VoIP?
Without getting too technical, VoIP refers to Voice-Over-Internet Communication, which breaks your voice down into data packets (like emails) and sends them over the broadband line, as opposed to your standard, copper-line phones.
What VoIP Means For Hybrid Working
Every member of your team uses a softphone app on their devices, or plugs in a VoIP-enabled office phone. Wherever you are is unimportant since the calls that you receive and make are through your company number. The caller has no idea and does not need to know if they are speaking to someone sitting in the office or working from home.
Essential Components For VoIP
- A broadband or Wi-Fi Internet connection
- A VoIP capable device (desk phone, laptop, or smartphone)
- A cloud phone system or hosted PBX (provided by VoIP phone system providers)
- Existing business phone numbers are ported over with no changes needed
Benefits Of VoIP For Hybrid Teams
Hybrid teams benefit from using VoIP phone systems as they can work from anywhere while ensuring business continuity and more efficient communication processes.
Work From Anywhere
VoIP liberates your team from the office. No matter where your team members are, be it at their kitchen table, attending a client meeting or travelling between sites, your team’s business number goes with them. They can make and receive calls from a laptop, mobile or desk phone.
One Number, One Identity
Each team member communicates with one business number, irrespective of the device they’re using. This provides privacy for personal mobile numbers, while maintaining a professional image for brand consistency.
Massive Savings
VoIP frees your business from the traditional telephone system’s costs of monthly line rental, per-minute call charges, and the exorbitant costs of maintaining a telephone system’s hardware. Most businesses that adopt VoIP phones save between 40-60% of their previous telephone bills.
- No Line Rental Costs
- Most plans come with unlimited UK calls
- No on-site PBX hardware to buy or upkeep
- Add or remove users without needing an engineer visit
- Outstanding call quality
With a reliable broadband connection, modern VoIP systems provide better than traditional landline quality calls. VoIP providers may have a network that is optimised for voice traffic to reduce latency and dropped calls.
Polished Teamwork
VoIP combines perfectly with the services hybrid teams work with. Calls can be sent between office and remote workers in seconds, team directories are integrated system-wide, and calls are logged into your CRM and analytics dashboards automatically.
Business Continuity
VoIP ensures hybrid teams can continue disruption-free work from wherever they are, using integrated remote work technology. As hybrid work becomes the norm, the office becomes unknowable. Call routing rules redirect incoming calls automatically, leaving your customers oblivious.
While many businesses scrambled in the early 2020–2022 lockdown, the ones with VoIP systems suffered the least disruption. Those without, and relying on landlines, could not say the same.
Key VoIP Features Hybrid Teams Need
To keep work flowing smoothly, hybrid teams should ensure their VoIP phone systems have auto-attendants, voicemail-to-email and much more:
CRM And Other Tool Integrations
Many VoIP phone systems integrate with leading CRM platforms so that incoming calls automatically pull up the caller’s record, saving time and improving the customer experience.
Mobile App And Softphone
A desirable VoIP provider includes desktop and mobile apps, enabling remote and office staff to conduct business calls from any device. Choose those with conferencing, transfer and hold features.
Video And Conference Calling
Many VoIP platforms support video calls and multi-party conferencing natively, reducing the need for separate tools like Zoom or Teams for internal meetings.
Auto-Attendant And IVR
These automated receivable menus (say, “Press 1 to reach sales, Press 2 to reach support”) connect callers with the appropriate person (remote receptionist or not).
Voicemail-to-Email
Transcriptions and audio files of voicemail messages are sent directly into a team member’s inbox, so they don’t need to call in to check messages.
Call Recording
Record calls automatically for compliance, training or dispute resolution. Recordings are stored securely in the cloud and accessible from the admin dashboard.
VoIP Considerations For Hybrid Teams
Hybrid teams have a set of unique considerations as each team member working remotely must ensure their broadband connection is adequate, policies are updates, security is monitored and much more:
Bandwidth And Broadband Quality
VoIP calls use approximately 100 kbps per active call, a negligible amount on modern broadband. However, remote workers on slower or congested connections may notice quality issues.
Device Policy
Decide upfront whether remote workers will use their personal smartphones or company-issued devices. Both work well; a clear policy avoids confusion and protects company data.
Power And Backup
Unlike analogue landlines, VoIP phones require power to function. For home workers, this is rarely an issue. For office-based VoIP phones, consider UPS (uninterruptible power supply) devices for critical lines such as reception or security.
Security
Most VoIP providers ensure that all call traffic are end-to-end encrypted. Ensure remote workers use password-protected Wi-Fi networks and consider a VPN policy for highly sensitive calls. Admin controls allow you to set access permissions and audit call logs at any time.
Getting Started With VoIP
Migrating to a VoIP phone system is straightforward and fully managed by your VoIP provider. If you choose a reputable provider, most businesses are up and running within 24–48 hours, with no interruption to incoming calls during the transition.
Step-by-Step Setup
- Choose your VoIP plan based on your team size and call volumes.
- Port your existing numbers.
- Install the VoIP app on team devices, or plug in VoIP desk phones.
- Configure your auto-attendant, call routing and hunt groups via the dashboard.
- Go live! Your numbers work exactly as before, but now from anywhere.
