April 2024: The Vonage SMB Report

5.5 million. That’s the number of small businesses that were created in the U.S. in 2023.* Owning a small business comes with challenges, but communications shouldn’t be one of them. Moving to the cloud can help, and many small businesses have already switched. In an IDC survey, ease of management was the top reason small business respondents chose cloud-based unified communications.** Why? It reduces management burdens and needs little to no IT support. With Small Business Week around the corner, let’s uncover how cloud communications can boost operations, freeing up your time for more important tasks.

A day in the life of small business communications

A typical day without unified communications can bring missed calls, redundant tasks, siloed solutions, and other annoying hassles. But unified communications can make every day beautiful by streamlining operations, boosting productivity, and improving the employee experience. Explore the benefits of bringing together multichannel communications, CRMs, and other key small business systems.

How communications can elevate your business

Every superhero has a superpower, and now small and medium-size businesses can gain their own amazing superpower by integrating their communications with CX and productivity tools into one powerful platform. Check out our ebook to see how integrations can empower your business to take customer and employee experiences to a whole new level.

Everything you always wanted in a phone system (and more)

Here’s a fun exercise: Jot down your business phone system wish list. And think big with call management features, call routing and call forwarding capabilities, multiple lines, audio and video conferencing, analytics, mobile and desktop apps, CRM integration, and even local numbers. Learn how a virtual phone system crosses everything off your list … and then some.

Call routing: Because you can’t answer/manage/track every call

Long hold times, the routed-to-the-wrong-person frustration, and the entire rinse and repeat. We’ve all been there, but that doesn’t mean your business has to be, too. Call routing features direct inbound calls to the right person and department based on your criteria. Calls are answered by a virtual receptionist, which routes it to the right department. This reduces time-to-answer and average handle time — which means happier customers and a more productive team. Discover the business-boosting benefits of call routing.

Closing/Contributors: Ryan Yee and Scott Rigdon

“Who are those guys?” Ryan Yee and Scott Rigdon have years of experience writing about technology for both consumer and business audiences. They love absolutely nothing more than showing how Vonage’s Unified Communications can help small businesses — well, except maybe for lunch.

*Source: IDC, Top Trends in SMB Communications and Mobility for 2024, Doc number:# US50826524, February 2024.

**Source: IDC, SMB Communications Services Survey, 2023 Unified Communications, Doc number:# US50826323, July 2023.