As a sole trader or the single employee of your business, the most important person in your business is you. It’s vital that you remain connected to your customers, suppliers and partners at all times. If you’re at a meeting or out of the office - which many business owners are - you still need to answer all your phone calls, wherever you are.

Some individuals don’t feel like VoIP phone systems are for them. But I disagree. VoIP will offer you more than a mobile contract or a traditional phone line. In this blog, we’ll go through some of the areas that VoIP will help you as a sole employee.

Work where it suits you

We know that running a business means that you can’t always be in the office. So why would you tie yourself to a landline phone in your office if most of the time you’re out and about? It can be difficult to pick up and reply to phone calls while running a business alone or travelling between meetings and appointments. Luckily, there is a solution - Cloud phones.

I know what you're thinking, I just divert my calls to my mobile… that ads costs to your bottom line you can save those costs and operate leaner with cloud phones.

Sick of lengthy contracts?

If you’re just starting a business the last thing you want is to be tied in a 12 or 24 month contract. Most VoIP contracts allow you the option to cancel your account at any time, so make sure this is the case with the companies you’re looking at.

Plus, any changes you make to your contract with traditional landline and mobile providers will just lock you into another lengthy and costly contract. You can be sure that this is not a trait of VoIP contracts, and specifically not bOnline VoIP contracts. See more about our honest pricing here.

Easy to use - no really!

When you’re running a business by yourself, you probably don’t have time to learn how to use new equipment. Unlike some systems, however, VoIP is fairly self-explanatory in how you use it.

There are a wealth of features which you can use. But I recommend taking a few steps at a time. Using only the features you need first, and growing your knowledge as you need to. There are some features you can set up immediately, like ringing on multiple devices, so you never miss a call (meaning you can pick up calls on your mobile, headset or handset alike).

Add a touch more professionalism to your business

I.e. stop using your mobile number to make business calls. Add more professionalism with VoIP phones by making calls with a mobile landline, wherever you are. Add consistency for your customers by giving them one number to contact you on. A number more professional than a mobile number.  Make sure your phone system fits your daily schedule, make local UK calls from anywhere, even abroad!

Some features such as a professional welcome greeting, ring groups, call forwarding and voicemail to email, will all give the impression that you are a larger organisation than you currently are and allow you to deal with incoming calls and messages efficiently and professionally.

VoIP scales up easily

It is impossible to predict how many lines you will need in the future, but as a startup, or sole trader it is important to keep in mind that eventually, you’ll grow. Unlike a traditional phone line, VoIP is easy to scale.

You may be starting a business with yourself as the sole employee, meaning you’ll need a very limited set of features, but if you plan on hiring new staff you’ll need to think about ring groups and auto-attendant services.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, VoIP can save you more than just money. For sole traders and individuals running a business, it’s future proof and will offer you so many different options for communicating with your customers and clients. We’ve had so many sole traders say to us that cloud phones aren’t for them because, at the end of the day, it is just them.

But as you’ve all just read, you shouldn’t shrug them off so easily. Talk to our experts who can discuss in more detail how cloud phones can benefit your business. The number to call is 020 3953 7436.

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If you have any questions or comments about this post, please fill in the comment box below.  Or send me an email: shale@bonline.com.