We’ve been working with schools across the South West for more than 20 years.  If you’re currently considering if a VoIP phone system could be the right solution for your campus, here are a few of the benefits from which your school could gain….

Addressing your campus layout

Every school or university will be unique, however one thing that is almost certainly present in all campuses is a multi-building layout, with staff and classrooms spread across various buildings.

A key benefit of VoIP phone systems is their flexibility.  They can allow schools to simply plug handsets in wherever they’re needed and with a suitable data connection, they’ll work as soon as they’re turned on; perfect if the needs of your school and classroom layout change, or also if you have members of staff working remotely and off-campus.

Internal Calls

Due to the layout of campuses, a large amount of calls can often be internal, from phone to phone on the same campus.  Another key benefit of VoIP is that these calls are free; if you take a look at the call charges you’re currently incurring on calls and transfers, this is expenditure that could be immediately cut from your communications budget.

Understanding and dealing with busy periods

It’s not uncommon for schools to receive a large volume of calls in a short period of time. Examples of these can be as regularly as the start of the school day when parents are informing you that their child will be absent, or during the summer months on exam results day.

A VoIP system is able to help you handle these periods in two very distinct ways:

1. Reporting – in order to respond effectively and efficiently to calls you need to know and understand the volume you are facing on a daily, hourly and minute by minute basis. From there you can then make decisions on how best to use your resources to ensure anyone calling is answered as quickly as possible.Our VoIP phone systems come with an extensive range of easy-to-understand reports that provide you with the information you need to better handle busy periods; statistics on areas such as how many calls you’re receiving, who’s answering them and how long callers are waiting to get through will all be readily available and at your fingertips.
2. Features to tackle busy periods – once you understand when you’re busy and how busy you are our phone system can then begin to work harder for you. Functionality such as hunt groups, call divert, and virtual receptionists (where there’s a dedicated voicemail inbox to report pupils as absent from school) mean that you can handle these periods in your own way and as flexibly as possible.

Providing key information

You may find that the majority of your calls and time are spent asking the same questions; for example, whether sports matches are still on, when term starts or if the school is open during extreme weather. A VoIP phone system can allow you to easily set up a virtual receptionist, allowing you to give pre-recorded answers to some of the most commonly asked queries; great for efficiency.

The flexibility to suit your needs

We’ve been working with schools and education campuses across the South West for more than 20 years, so we know that whilst you all face certain circumstances such as the ones we’ve mentioned above, there’s never a one-size-fits-all approach to finding you the right solution.  Our VoIP phone systems are able to fit around the unique way that you and your school want and need to work.

For more information about our bespoke solutions for schools and educational campuses please give us a call on 01237 420010.