VoIP and CRM Integration: Everything You Need to Know

As your business grows, you’ll operate multiple tools and apps for internal and external communication, storing and managing customer data, and creating and analyzing reports – and this can get confusing.

Fortunately, it’s possible to integrate these software into one platform, with a VoIP-CRM integration allowing you to streamline business processes and achieve improved communication, smoother data collection, and faster information sharing.

This article will tackle what VoIP and CRM integration is, how CRM phone integrations work, and the advantages you can reap by integrating these applications for your business. As well as this, we’ll also discuss the pricing, strengths, and weaknesses of the three best VoIP providers for CRM integration. So, if you’re browsing the world wide web for insights on how your business can benefit from this solution, you’ve come to the right place.

What is VoIP and CRM Integration?

The marriage between VoIP and CRM gives rise to a powerful tool that’s essential for boosting the efficiency of any business. It’s predicted that global spending on mobility solutions will reach $1.6B by 2030, and among these mobile solutions is the integration of VoIP and CRM. This is why more and more businesses are using this unified system to improve their operations.

CRM was originally created as a marketing database for monitoring your customers’ life cycles. Today, it’s evolved into a mobile tool that allows you to use a variety of customer information to your advantage, by delivering personalized customer service, creating effectively targeted marketing strategies, and monitoring and boosting sales metrics.

Meanwhile, VoIP (voice over internet protocol) is a cloud-based phone system that has superseded what a basic landline service can do. There’s no need for additional hardware – just a reliable, high-speed internet connection over which you can receive incoming calls and make outgoing calls, engage with your staff remotely through video calls and chat, and display call analytics.

Integrated together, these applications can help you achieve wonders, such as a shorter lead response times, improved customer retention, and a boost in sales. How? Well, this innovative synergy allows you to retrieve customer data before every call without having to juggle different applications just to access the right information. As a result, you can handle calls with special attention, achieving more customer satisfaction. All interactions will be recorded in the CRM, whether this is a phone call, an SMS, notes, or even call recordings. This way, every agent can be kept up to speed on a customer’s issue and call history. Keep reading as we’ll talk more about the benefits of VoIP and CRM integration below!

How Does VoIP and CRM Integration Work?

First, you’ll need a phone system provider that can assist you with this. A basic VoIP plan that offers native CRM integration can go for as little as $19.99 per user, per month. You’ll need to find out if either software comes with a ready-made integration option with the specific software you’re using. If you’re using 8×8 and Zoho CRM, find out whether they come ready to integrate with one another, and go from there. If not, you’ll need to find out whether your software has an open API, so you can configure the integration yourself or ask assistance from someone with the right technical knowledge to do this.

Considering your business’s unique needs can help you choose from infinite options for CRM-VoIP integrations. For example, the data stored in the software allows your sales reps to schedule the best call times or know which prospects are sales-qualified leads. So when the CRM is integrated with VoIP, and when there’s a need to retrieve customer information with call recording records, full customer data can be accessed in real-time, which enables your agents to provide improved customer interaction.  Adopting this solution enables you to have a simplified business process that results in increased productivity. These connected features help your marketers or sales reps easily multi-task while handling a customer, such as taking down notes while on a call or sending follow-up emails after talk time.

What are the Advantages of VoIP CRM Integration?

The integration of VoIP and CRM provides so many benefits for your business, including:

• Real-time call data

• Better customer satisfaction

• Lower costs

Let’s explore these benefits in more detail.

Real-Time Call Data

VoIP and CRM integration eliminates the need to manually input customer data in your CRM database, which saves your staff from doing this lower-value task, boosting their efficiency and productivity.

Aside from that, an integrated system provides a streamlined way to manage customer data that can save time, money, and resources. Depending on the package you’re on, this integration enables you to easily monitor call analytics, track live call data, and manage reports, that can help you identify trends or launch better marketing campaigns for a more successful business growth.

Better Customer Satisfaction

Your customer service agents can have access to customer data through the CRM. They can retrieve this whenever they need it while using the system’s VoIP features to contact customers, providing personalized experiences and fostering a higher level of customer satisfaction. You don’t just create rapport; you build relationships, which in turn, can boost customer retention rates.

Lower Costs

This cost-effective solution eliminates the need to purchase two separate software for CRM and VoIP applications. All there is to it is a low monthly cost for your business communication package that offers native CRM with your phone system service. However, there are phone system providers that offer CRM integration with additional charge, such as Net2Phone. Aside from that, its built-in functionalities increase your employees’ productivity which leads to improved efficiency and reduced unproductive hours that ultimately, saves time and money.

The Best VoIP Providers for CRM Integration

1. RingCentral

2. 8×8

3. Vonage