The problem with remote work isn’t the work — it’s the phones. Here’s how to fix that.

The Problem You Already Know About

Your team is partly remote, partly in the office, or some shifting combination of both. The work gets done. Meetings happen over video. Email and chat keep things moving.

But the phones are a mess.

Remote employees give out their personal cell numbers because there’s no other option. Customers call the office and nobody can reach the person working from home. The receptionist takes messages and emails them. When someone does pick up on their cell, the caller ID shows a random personal number instead of the business name. And when that employee eventually leaves? Their personal number — the one your customers have been calling for two years — walks out the door with them.

Your calls should sound like calls. If they don’t, the problem is almost always fixable — and it’s almost never what you think.

First: Your Internet Is Probably Fine

Let’s get this out of the way. Most businesses that are considering hosted PBX already have internet that can handle it. Voice calls don’t use nearly as much bandwidth as people assume — a single call needs roughly 100 kbps in each direction. If your office can stream a YouTube video without buffering, you can make phone calls over the internet.

Your phone system should be something you never think about — like electricity. Here’s how hosted PBX makes that possible.

You Probably Already Use VoIP. You Just Don’t Know It.

Here’s a secret the telecom industry doesn’t love to admit: VoIP won. Years ago. Your cell phone? VoIP under the hood. That desk phone plugged into your office network? Almost certainly VoIP. Unless you’re still running copper lines from the phone company, your voice is already traveling as data.