Business Phones: A Helpful Buyer's Guide

Building better communication

Business thrives on effective communication. While modern technology provides abundant ways to exchange information, often the fastest and most reliable is still a phone call.

Setting your company up with a business phone (or several) is a decisive step toward more efficient operations. But at Walmart Business, we know that you’re already busy managing the day-to-day activities and growth plans for your company.

To save you valuable time, we’ve assembled this guide. Each section includes tips on how to get business phones that will work the best for you, your employees—and your bottom line.

Biggest benefits of business phone providers

As we all know, there are plenty of ways to communicate these days. You could even run your business with the private phone plans and devices you and your employees already have.

However, opting for dedicated, professional lines comes with many benefits. Here are some of the biggest ones:

• Streamlining: If every employee uses their own phone and provider, that’s a recipe for potential disorganization. Using the same technology and platform means you—and your customers—know you can expect a consistent level of access.

• Work/life balance: There’s a lot to be said for leaving your work at work. This is much easier to do if you can hang up a physical phone or set your work line to go straight to voicemail until the morning.

• Scalability: Do you plan on hiring more employees or shifting your staffing to meet seasonal demand? Either way, working with a professional service is more likely to give you the flexibility you need to integrate new lines into your organization.
  

Find more reasons to upgrade your communication capabilities in 5 Benefits of Business Phone Systems.

Finding the best provider for your business

It may feel like you have a near-endless array of potential providers to work with. While it’s true that many companies are out there vying for your phone budget, certain characteristics set the best apart from the rest.

Here are three points to prioritize as you do your business phone online research:

• Choose the kind of phone you want. Should employees have traditional landlines, dedicated mobile phones or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones at their disposal?

• Look for helpful features. Modern automation options such as call transcription, customer relationship management (CRM) integrations and auto-dialing could help you achieve more efficient workflows.

• Search for relevant reviews. One of the best ways to judge if a potential provider will deliver on its promises is to look for people who have already worked with them. Read through relevant case studies from the provider, but also be sure to look for independently collected reviews.
  

Learn more handy pointers in 6 Tips on How to Choose the Best Business Phone Provider For Your Company.

How to save on a new business phone line

It’s easy to overlook your phones as a potential source of savings—how different could one plan really be from the next? The differences in those monthly, quarterly or annual bills can add up over time.

Here are some cost elements to research before you sign up for a new business phone plan.

• Limitations: While VoIP plans are often more affordable, they may come with restrictions, such as only being able to place calls to people on the same service or mobile operating system. Keep an eye out for any such fine print that could be hiding behind an otherwise tempting deal.

• Number of lines: If a provider tiers its pricing based on lines, make sure the specific plan your business falls into won’t leave you underequipped or, just as bad, paying for unnecessary services.

• Type of number: Opting for a local or toll-free number will change how much you need to pay. You may also find upgrading to an easy-to-remember vanity number worthwhile, especially if you plan to advertise with it.
  

Find more ways to save in Cut Costs, Not Quality: How to Find a Cheap Business Phone Number.

Keep your lines open

Investing in better communication channels is a great way to build a more sustainable future for your business. Another is to focus on your core competencies by reducing unnecessary distractions.

When you sign up for a Walmart Business+ membership, you’ll receive free shipping, no order minimum¹ and free delivery from store, $35 minimum². That means less time spent on supply trips and more time spent creating value.

You’ll also start earning 2% in Walmart Business Rewards on orders $250 or more³ and unlock the ability to analyze patterns with Spend Analytics to help budget for the future.

Start your Walmart Business+ membership today!

¹Excludes most Marketplace items, freight & certain location surcharges.

²Restrictions apply. Additional fee applies for Express delivery.

³Exclusions apply. See full terms for details.