5 Reasons Your Call Center Should Use VoIP

For decades, landline phones reigned as the main communication method in homes and businesses alike. This was especially true for call centers, where landlines were the heart of the business. But today, businesses are doing away with traditional phones.

With so many innovations in communication technology, outdated landline telephone systems are no longer the best option for call centers. Instead, many call centers are switching to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Wondering why? This post will cover the reasons why VoIP is the best option for your call center.

What is a VoIP call center?

A VoIP call center uses the internet to make and receive calls, as opposed to what traditional phones rely on, the Public Switched Telephone Network.

If you’ve ever made a call via Skype, Zoom, or even Messenger, you’ve used VoIP. But this internet-based phone system isn’t just for personal calls. More and more businesses, particularly call centers, have adopted VoIP systems thanks to the ease of set-up and expanded functionality compared to landline phone systems. Learn more about how VoIP phones work.

Whether inbound or outbound, call centers using VoIP need just a few elements to work:

• A stable internet connection
• A device such as a computer or mobile phone
• A microphone (whether built into the device or external)
• A VoIP system

This makes VoIP call centers more accessible for businesses compared to the complex, costly hardware and infrastructure that traditional phone systems require.

Why should I have a VoIP contact center?

In short, VoIP can help you run a more efficient call center and improve the customer experience. But let’s deep dive into why you should consider VoIP for your contact center.

1. Lower costs

Cost is probably one of the most pressing questions on your mind, so let’s get it out of the way first. Without a doubt, VoIP calls are cheaper than calls through traditional landlines. For example, with Twilio, it costs $0.0130/min to make local and toll-free calls, while it costs $0.0040/min to make VoIP calls through a browser or app. This means switching to VoIP will save your business money—even with the associated costs that we’ll cover next.

Outside of staffing, the main costs of a VoIP call center are the usage fees and a reliable internet service (which you probably already pay for). This means you don’t need to purchase costly new equipment or worry about setting up a wired phone infrastructure. Plus, if you’re making the switch from a traditional phone system, you may be able to keep using your current phones or headsets, though you might need an adapter for certain landline phones.

2. Flexibility

VoIP systems offer flexibility in a couple of different ways:

• Devices: You can use various devices to make VoIP calls, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptops, or desk phones. This means you can get started with your current hardware or even give agents the freedom to use their devices as their VoIP call center phones.
• Locations: Agents can make and receive calls from anywhere as long as they’re on a stable internet connection—which is useful whether you have multiple offices or a remote workforce. Plus, your phone number is virtual, so you can keep the same number anywhere you go.

3. Scalability

Once you’ve set up your VoIP system, scaling up as your needs grow only requires you to purchase additional lines and set up access for new agents on their devices. In other words, there’s no need to order new equipment or add wired phone lines. This contributes to the low costs, as you don’t need to make big infrastructure investments to expand your program.

With Twilio, you only pay for what you use, so it’s equally straightforward to scale down if your call volume decreases.

Plus, thanks to SIP trunking, you can communicate with customers through additional channels like SMS, MMS, and more. Twilio also allows you to expand your coverage globally without having to navigate the communications infrastructure and regulations in each country.

4. Actionable data insights

Analyzing your call data is vital to maintaining and improving your call center performance. VoIP systems make this data readily available.

In a call center, you need to know a lot more than just call duration to understand the customers’ experience. That’s where Twilio Voice comes in, as users can take advantage of Voice Insights to track more granular call data. Voice Insights gives you the full picture of call performance and caller behavior to help you make the necessary adjustments to your program.

You can also identify anomalies and call quality issues that you need to address, such as packet loss and latency. Tracking these metrics will ultimately help you improve call efficiency, agent productivity, and customer experience.

5. Advanced features

VoIP systems offer advanced features that a landline system simply can’t provide. This typically includes all the basics—call tracking, voicemail, caller ID, call forwarding—plus, features such as interactive voice response (IVR) and intelligent routing.

Twilio’s CodeExchange library offers quick-deploy applications that allow you to launch a feature in minutes, with no coding required. These features can increase your call center’s efficiency and create a better experience for the customer. For example, Basic IVR lets the user select the purpose of their call and routes them to the appropriate agent or automated message. This allows the customer to quickly get the information they need without inundating agents with simple questions like hours of operation.

Additionally, you can integrate your customer relationship management software with your VoIP call center, allowing agents to access customer information, purchase history, and all the context they need to provide personalized service. This is crucial, as 98% of companies state that personalization increases loyalty from customers.

Sure, most companies claim to provide good personalized services, but our State of Customer Engagement report found that only 48% of consumers agree. And good personalization is harder to achieve with traditional phone systems that you can’t easily integrate with your existing software and processes.

Build a custom VoIP system with Twilio

Transitioning to a VoIP system is easy with Twilio. Twilio’s Programmable Voice empowers you to build a custom VoIP calling solution for your business and add the features you need as you scale. Plus, the Twilio Super Network gives you a reliable, high-quality connection worldwide.

Not to mention, Twilio’s flexible pricing means you can get started for $0.0040/min, and the higher your calling volume, the lower the price per minute.

Looking for an even more robust call center solution? Twilio Flex offers everything you need to deliver an exceptional customer experience across platforms, including SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and more.

Talk to an expert to find the right solution for your business today.