Value of voice communication: 7 stats you need to know

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:

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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

Founded in 2014, cybersecurity firm, Gatewatcher set up their small-team UK division and were looking for a communications provider that would help them to mobilise their team, and portray a big-company image for their clients.

With only a few people on their initial UK team, they didn’t want to overcommit to a costly, traditional enterprise phone system. But given the nature of Gatewatcher’s mission-critical services, and the large corporate and governmental clients they would be speaking with, they also didn’t want to underequip the team with a phone system that would provide a subpar caller experience.

With RingCentral MVP, the Gatewatcher UK team were able to:

• Join call queues and support staff from anywhere, on any device
• Give clients confidence and portray an image of a larger, more established team
• Benefit from enterprise level cloud communications, tailored for their SMB needs
• Get up and running quickly after a smooth, hassle-free implementation
• Call flipping from desk phones to cell phones
• Take advantage of the system’s advanced security and compliance capabilities
• Forecast and manage communications costs with low and predictable monthly fees

It amazes me that we have this global cloud communications platform capable of so much, and the cost is low enough that I can pay the invoice on my personal credit card and expense it. We’re expanding rapidly, planning to add thousands of users over time, so that won’t always be the case. But it says a lot about RingCentral’s affordability that we’re getting so much for such a manageable price point

—Adrian Jones, UK Country Manager at Gatewatcher

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 cast-iron 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 Sep 07, 2023, updated Nov 29, 2023

Samantha Clayton

Author

Samantha is RingCentral’s Content Manager for EMEA Marketing. Before joining the business, she worked in content and public relations roles. She has worked with companies in ed tech, marketing and advertising, connected home, telecoms and publishing.