As the digital age gains ground, communication channels such as email, texts, and instant messaging have also grown. With the rise in new communication channels, it may seem like phone calls are a thing of the past, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Voice communication is alive and well, and if anything, now is the time to rethink your phone solution.
Let’s look at the numbers:
- 77% of people believe a phone call is the most effective way to get an answer quickly.
- 65% of people prefer to contact a business by phone.
77% and 65% are strong numbers that are hard to ignore. In this blog post, we’ll dive deeper into the value of voice communication and reveal seven key stats from our recent survey and other sources. We’ll also share top tips on what to look for in a complete cloud phone system to help grow your business.
7 must-see voice communication stats
Voice communication has been and will continue to be a staple in your business’s overall communication strategy. Here are voice communication stats you need to know:
76% of people believe colleagues that use voice communication are more connected to each other
Takeaway: The best moments of any conversation are not the words, but the reactions you share. Listening to another person over voice communication intensifies your connection and puts you both on an equal level. A phone system can only boost the connectivity of your team.
43% believe voice communication is the best communication mode to address loneliness at work
Takeaway: With more work being done remotely, people are spending more time at home and less time with others, leading to feelings of loneliness and solitude. Having a complete phone system on hand so staff members can contact each other and speak through voice communication can eliminate these feelings and contribute to a happier, more engaged staff.
68% of people say “connecting online through voice or video calls” are as good as in-person for work-related tasks
Takeaway: Workers want the flexibility to work remotely now, and getting everyone in the same office at one time can be tricky, so what’s the next best thing? Voice and video calls. A majority of people said it themselves: “Voice or video calls are as good as in-person for work-related tasks.”
69% believe people that make phone or video calls have better personal relationships with coworkers
Takeaway: Speaking directly to an employee, customer, or vendor over the phone or through video allows you to hear their voice—video calls allow you to put a face to the voice. With these communication methods, you get a sense of what other people are feeling through their tones and expressions and can connect on a deeper level.
57% say voice calls through an app, team messaging, video calls, and phone calls are the best ways to communicate to provide a way for multiple people to connect at the same time
Takeaway: Voice calls through an app, like RingCentral, can help you bring your phone system up to date with modern times. A phone system doesn’t mean you need a physical deskphone anymore—it’s possible to have phone calls, video calls, and team messaging in a single app so you can stay connected with multiple people anywhere, anytime, and on any device.
Interactions including voice (phone, video chat, and voice chat) create stronger social bonds than interactions that do not include voice (email and text chat)
Takeaway: A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that voice communication produces much stronger social bonds than other forms of interaction. To create a collaborative environment for your team, it’s essential to keep voice communications top of mind.
59% of customers expect a business to be available via a voice call, and 50% want the ability to escalate to speaking with a live person who can help when they need it
Takeaway: This powerful stat shows us that in addition to creating a better employee experience, enabling voice communication channels with your customers improves the customer experience and leads to greater customer satisfaction and retention.
Here’s what to look for in a complete cloud phone system
For your business to survive, you must take voice communication seriously. That’s why investing in voice communication can be one of the smartest moves you make. If you’re looking to install a complete cloud phone system, here are a few things you’ll want to look out for:
- Ability to connect with your favourite business apps. Getting your hands on an open platform is the best way to go. The ability to integrate with your most-used apps (like Microsoft 365, Google Cloud, Salesforce, you name it) has become necessary for almost every business, and a phone system that can tightly connect to all of them is going to make life easier for everyone. Think about it—no more jumping from app to app. As an added bonus, look for a system that allows you to use customised apps designed specifically for your workflows.
- Anywhere, anytime mobility. Today, work is being done from all corners of the globe. Having a truly mobile system allows you to accomplish tasks and communicate with others no matter where you are. Get a phone system that works on any device so you can seamlessly switch between your phone, tablet, or laptop. Start taking your entire business phone system with you wherever you go!
- Grows with your business. Having a flexible phone system that can grow with your business is necessary—you want a long-term solution, not just a short-term bandaid. As your business expands, you want a phone system that can expand with it. For starters, look for a phone system that can scale phone lines, users, and devices, up or down in a matter of clicks.
- Stellar industry reputation. Just picking any phone system isn’t the best strategy. Some phone systems may not provide you with the features and capabilities you need to run your everyday operations in the most efficient way. You’ll want to choose an industry-leading vendor that has solid reviews, awards, and critical acclaim supporting it. It should be easy to use, but powerful enough to grow and adapt to fit your company’s changing needs.
- An all-in-one solution. It’s important to employ a phone system that can cater to all your business communications needs via one app. Whether it’s making phone calls, sending faxes, team messages, or engaging in video conferences, you’ll want a system that has all these abilities built in. Some solutions out there even make it possible to add a contact centre for a truly all-in-one solution that can cater to both your business and customer communication needs.
- Enterprise-level capabilities with small business sensibilities. Don’t assume you’ll only need one or two communication functions. Relying too much on the basics can prevent your business from getting bigger. Having a phone system with enterprise-grade capabilities can improve your confidence and remove any concerns you might have about your company’s communications future.
Still not convinced about voice communication? Look at this success story
QBANK is a member-owned financial services provider that was established as Queensland Police Credit Union (QPCU) in 1964, converting from a credit union to a bank in 2016 and rebranding as QBANK.
QBANK prides itself on delivering exceptional personal service and financial wellbeing to those who protect and serve the community. In an often-challenging environment, its member satisfaction surveys rank QBANK amongst the top banks in Australia. By implementing the RingCentral platform, QBANK has ensured that they can maintain this customer service level for the long term.
Making use of the advanced features of RingCentral’s UCaaS and CCaaS platforms, the team have achieved the following:
- Greater and more immediate visibility on member sentiment and customer interactions
- Quicker resolution of employee and customer issues and concerns
- Cost-effective access to a rich set of communications features plus improved regulatory compliance
- Increased flexibility to adapt to hybrid working models without impairing customer service or employee experience
Overall, the immediate visibility and accessibility provided by RingCentral for QBANK’s team leaders and managers has made all the difference.
“We’ve got the ability to get super granular on our searches, and there are all different ways to find what we are looking for. The ability to listen to the call as it’s happening is just fantastic. It allows instant coaching. So, if someone is not doing the right thing from a regulatory perspective, I can tell them right away, ‘hey, don’t forget, you’ve got to do the outbound call script’. That’s a game changer,”
—Jayde Cox, Manager – Distribution at QBANK
Level up your voice communication with RingCentral
RingCentral is your best choice for a complete cloud phone system. With our award-winning solution, RingCentral MVP, you’ll be able to simplify all your communications into a single app that includes phone calls, video conferencing, fax, chat, and contact centre.
As your business grows, you can simplify workflows and grow intelligently with an open platform that integrates with 250+ apps (including the ones you use most, like Salesforce, Microsoft 365, and Google Cloud) and 6,000+ custom apps.
There’s a reason why RingCentral is used by more than 350,000 small businesses and recognised as a leader in the industry. We’ve helped small and medium businesses improve across multiple key areas, including:
- 68% boost in employee mobility
- 52% increase in ROI
- 47% increase in customer satisfaction
- 30% decrease in time to build integrations
- 24% decrease in time to access information
With bulletproof reliability (like 99.999% uptime that keeps your business connected during outages and disasters) and enterprise-grade security, RingCentral has proven itself to be a trusted cloud phone system for any business type and size. Double down on voice communication with RingCentral by your side. Learn more by visiting the RingCentral for small business page.
Originally published 07 Sep, 2023
