Small Business Owners: 5 Ways to Use VoIP to Be Productive

[This blog post is brought to you by guest author Terri Williams.]

Small business owners have the same demands as medium and large business owners; they just have fewer resources. To remain competitive, there is a temptation to engage in extreme multitasking, but this is usually counterproductive. When you’re juggling many tasks at one time, there is a tendency to spend a small amount of unfocused time on each project, and as a result, nothing really gets accomplished. In addition, multitasking increases your stress level, which negatively affects your physical and mental health.

Here are five ways that you can use VoIP to be productive without spreading yourself too thin.

#1. Optimize your calls.

Some phone calls are important, and some are counterproductive. With VoIP, you can prioritize incoming phone calls with caller ID. Caller ID allows you to determine who is calling, and it also gives you the option of answering the calls that are important and forwarding the inconsequential and time-consuming calls to voicemail.

In addition, you can forward voicemail messages to email, convert email, and send text versions of voicemail messages. Also, you can view and edit your address books and contacts on your computer. This functionality allows you to be productive wherever you are.

#2. Free up your hands with a VoIP headset.

The mobility of a hands-free headset allows you to perform other tasks while you’re on the phone, which means you can also type, sign papers, clean off your desk, etc. The VoIP headset also allows you to move from location to location.

In addition, if you’re on the computer, a VoIP headset prevents other people from hearing your phone calls, so you don’t have to find a secluded location. An extra bonus: You no longer have to suffer from the neck pain caused by cradling the phone between your shoulder and your ear.

#3. Engage in conferences calls from anywhere.

You no longer have to be in the office to conduct or participate in conference calls. VoIP provides you the freedom to be a part of phone calls with multiple participants from wherever you are, which allows you to attend to other business matters at the same time.

#4. Reduce or eliminate time-consuming business trips.

VoIP also allows you to engage in web conferencing and video calls. You can say “goodbye” to the many hours you have spent packing clothes, getting patted down by security, sitting in airports, languishing on runways, flying across the country – or around the world – and pining away in hotel rooms.

#5. Easily locate employees.

With VoIP’s presence technology, you can see if your employees are available and also note the best way to contact them. When you need to ask someone a question, get clarification, etc., this is a time-saving method for quickly locating the person you need, without disturbing someone who may be out sick, on vacation, or at lunch.

While the ultimate responsibility for staying productive without spreading yourself thin is in your hands, VoIP provides several tools that can help simplify your life by optimizing your business communications.

About the Author:

Terri Williams is a business, ethics, and communications writer.