8 Best Telephony Platforms and Services

Telephony services. A headset rests on a laptop that sits on a long conference table.

Now more than ever, businesses need reliable telephony services to communicate with their clients, partners, and stakeholders in a global community.

With the rise of online services, all industries face a heavier customer reliance on telephone systems in the absence of brick-and-mortar stores.

Telephony has come a long way since its humble beginnings as Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone in 1876. Deriving its name from the Ancient Greek words tele (far) and foni (voice), telephony services today allow you to hear voices from afar through many channels.

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What is a Telephony Service?

Telephony services include voice communication like telephone and video calls (live and recorded), voicemail, and visual communication like facsimile and text messages.

Inbound call center services are one kind of telephony service that allows customers to make inbound calls to businesses to find information. Call center agents or representatives are on the line to support each customer.

While you might think inbound call centers are limited to retail and customer service, many businesses use them, such as legal, healthcare, real estate, and other industries. Companies also use them internally to increase collaboration, productivity, and efficiency within internal teams.

What telephony services are available today, and how do they compare with one another? In this article, we review the eight best telephony services and vendors on the market in 2021.

What Are the Different Types of Telephony Services?

Traditional, On-Premises PBX

A traditional phone system entails a physical, private branch exchange (PBX) box connecting and routing calls. Essentially, a call center using this system would have a physical wire connecting each phone in the center to one central PBX.

IP BPX Telephony Service, or VoIP

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, also known as an internet telephony system. This telephony service entails making calls with a broadband internet connection instead of traditional phone lines or voice circuits. Many inbound call centers use VoIP solutions to connect with clients, as you can use it to call anyone with a telephone number, local or long-distance, provided you have an internet connection and an upgraded phone to do so.

Cloud VoIP

Also known as cloud telephony, cloud VoIP is a modern telephony system that many companies adopt today. With Cloud VoIP, you can outsource the phone service completely to another company, allowing you to focus on your primary business tasks instead of spending time and money managing call staff or renting a call center space.

What Are the Benefits of Cloud Telephony?

As mentioned above, Cloud Telephony is one of the more modern takes on telephony services. It offers both businesses and customers immense benefits, such as:

No Equipment or Maintenance Needed

Businesses that use cloud telephony don’t need any on-site equipment, and thus don’t require hardware maintenance. Keeping all business communication on a cloud accessible by employees through mobile devices and laptops also saves businesses space as cloud telephony doesn’t need physical office space.

Improved Productivity

Companies can streamline their phone operations through a cloud telephony service. With user-friendly, easy ways to collaborate in one platform, employees and agents can spend less time on hardware issues and other limitations and more time on priority projects.

Lower Costs

Cloud telephony certainly has upfront costs when it comes to user subscriptions and software. However, the flexibility it offers removes the need for businesses to invest in big office spaces, saving thousands of dollars in rent.

8 Best Telephony Services and Platforms

Here are 8 of the best telephony services and platforms.

Fastcall

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Fastcall is the #1 Salesforce Native App for Phone, SMS, and Video. Developed by Salesforce subject matter experts, Fastcall is the ultimate cloud-based telephony service for businesses that seek seamless business communication integration with Salesforce. Fastcall also offers voice recordings, reports, and analytics to help you improve your strategy.

They offer exciting features like Callme, a phone automation that gives customers estimated wait times for call-backs, and Intercall, a productive telephony service for employees, using video conferencing, screen sharing, dial-to-call, and real-time messaging.

Pros

Custom features and dashboards to fit your business’ needs
Explicitly designed for Salesforce, offering seamless integration
#1 Salesforce Native App for Phone, SMS, and Video
Customer recognition for improved efficiency
Worldwide calling and omnichannel support
Concurrent calls
Call recording and live listening to improve customer service strategy

Cons

No negative reviews on Salesforce Appexchange

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