Technology advancement has made the world reliant on cloud-based systems. Our phone systems have not been left behind either, and today, we have multiple cloud-based phone systems.
Google Voice is one of the most common and among the best we have today. This is because of its amazing features, cheaper pricing compared to other phone systems, and the ability for one to take their phone with them everywhere they are.
However, Google Voice might not be the best alternative for every person due to some limitations. If you are thinking of using this phone system for your business, here are a few solid reasons to think about first;
Privacy
Just like other Google products, privacy is a topic of discussion with the use of Google Voice. Using this phone service for your business means that you are exposing your private business information to Google.
Every call that you make and even text messages sent between you and your clients are stored in Google servers. Even though it is rare for Google to expose your business data, it is one of the biggest companies in the world that is often targeted by cybercriminals.
However, if you are concerned about the privacy of your business, you can look at these Google voice alternatives. You will find one that meets your privacy requirements as well as those of your business.
Google Voice Support
Most of the time with any other phone service provider, you have a number that you can call whenever you are facing any issue. You also have an email address where you can send your frustrations and have someone help you.
However, this is not exactly the case with Google Voice. Google does not provide its customers with direct customer support for most of its services, including Google Voice. This can be frustrating especially when you have an emergency.
They, however, provide an online help page where you can find answers to some of the most common questions that they receive. You can also type in your issue in a search box and get results related to the issue you are facing.
Reliability
Google is one of the most stable tech companies in the world today. However, sometimes things go wrong with technology. We have witnessed several Google service outages in the past decade, meaning that Google Voice can also go down.
Now, imagine a situation where your business relies on Google Voice for all its communication needs. You have not shared any other contact information apart from an email address – which might also be provided by Google – with your customers.
Then one day the service goes down. This would mean that your business is brought to a halt due to reliability issues with Google Voice. Even though it is important to connect with your customers, you will not be able to do so when Google Voice has issues.
Emergency Calling Services
Google Voice was launched in 2009, and up until 2016, you could not make emergency calls on the phone service. Fortunately, this has so far changed. You can now make emergency calls by using the phone application of your device.
However, emergency calling is not available to Google Voice users in case the service experiences an outage, when you lose your internet connection, or when you are experiencing a power outage.
Google advises its users to look for an alternative phone system in such situations when they want to make emergency calls.
Advertisements
What would you feel when you have to first view an advert on Google Voice at a time when you want to make an important call to a client? Well, that might be the situation in the future for those using Google Voice for business.
In 2019, Google started testing ad placements on voice searches within their Google Assistant service. Even though this is not Google Voice phone system, it shows that the company is continuously exploring new avenues for ad placements.
In addition, Google has access to your business information, something that could be vital in their monetization plans. Just like they use content from your Gmail messages to determine the ads to show, they can also use Google Voice to do the same.
In conclusion, Google Voice is an affordable phone service for businesses of different sizes. Even though it offers them a wide range of features and benefits, it is important to think about the limitations discussed above before using it for business.