What’s in this VoIP guide?

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony has been adopted across a wide spectrum of industries. Whether it be for productivity, cost-efficiency, or something else, VoIP has a lot to offer businesses, with little downside in return. One key sector that stands to benefit a lot from VoIP is real estate, as it has the ability to drastically change the ways in which agents reach and engage their prospects. 

With this in mind, we’ve put together this real estate agent’s guide to all things VoIP – so you can have all the information before integrating the technology in your workflows.

We cover:

• A quick definition of VoIP
• Interactive Voice Response
• Mobility and Flexibility
• Better call quality
• Integrated functionality

What is VoIP? A quick definition   

In a nutshell, VoIP enables any business subscribed to a connectivity solution to make telephone and video calls over the internet. Where traditional telephone systems require the installation of on-site hardware and copper wiring, VoIP only needs a computer softphone, a physical handset, or a smartphone app connected to the internet to work.

VoIP is a standard package offered by many service providers, and is available as part of most business internet or phone plans. 

Real estate agents can take advantage of VoIP for its many benefits, including cost savings, better call quality and efficiency, and other advantages, which we’ll cover below.

Interactive Voice Response

The phone is undoubtedly one of the leading tools you use as a real estate agent when you need to get things done fast. It’s also a critical tool for communicating with prospective clients. So, the last thing you’d want to do is let calls go unanswered. It’s a major inconvenience for your customers and risks leaving their issues unresolved. One feature that VoIP is known for is called Interactive Voice Response (IVR), which is just a fancy name for an auto-responder or an automated answering system. Clients who reach the IVR, will always hear something like “Thank you for calling (Company XYZ). To reach sales, press 1…”

An IVR will make sure everyone who phones your agency, will be greeted with a professional answer and can then be transferred to the relevant person or voicemail. It’s a very handy feature that ensures you keep secured leads happy or don’t miss out on sales leads.

Mobility and flexibility

Real estate is a highly mobile industry. As you can work from anywhere, traveling is part of your duties. Still, you need to be reachable wherever you are. VoIP’s Find Me, Follow Me technology enables this flexibility. It delivers incoming calls to any of your current locations. So, if someone is unable to get hold of you on your office phone, their call will be directed to your mobile phone or any other phone that might be in your reach throughout the day. Find Me, Follow Me is another feature that ensures missed calls won’t become a problem.

Better call quality 

Video call quality is key to a good experience. You cannot expect clients to be happy with the service you provide if the experience of making a video call is a frustrating one. It’s really unprofessional to ask the client to repeat themselves five times and still not understand what they are trying to say. Making VoIP calls over a high-speed internet connection delivers crystal clear, carrier grade audio quality that gives you the peace of mind to know that you’re making business easy for your clients.

Integrated functionality

Agents must continually update their contact databases with new customer information or update existing customer contact information. To optimise this process, you can set up the VoIP system to work in sync with your customer relationship management (CRM) tool if this functionality is available with your solution. This way, the process of calling clients and tracking communication history becomes automatic, making your workload lighter.

• READ NEXT: Why VoIP is ideal when you’re expanding your business

Final takeaway

With your workday scheduled by the minute, the last thing you need is to be bogged down by inefficient telephone systems. When you embrace VoIP in your agency, you position yourself ahead of the competition, especially now that the business of selling or renting property has transitioned to a modern approach that requires efficiency, convenience, and client-friendly practices. 

If your agency isn’t yet on board, but you’re interested in learning more about Nashua’s business VoIP solutions, then get in touch with us.