What the Heck Is a Virtual Phone System?

The terms virtual phone system, virtual PBX, and cloud-hosted phone are confusing. You just want a phone system that works.

Thankfully, you don’t need an engineering degree to choose a system.

In fact, Grasshopper is made for people who aren’t technical. Instead of tangling yourself in wires and spending hours reading up on Virtual PBX, you can set it, forget it, and get back to business.

Here’s how a virtual phone system works:

• Callers call your toll free or local number
• Callers are greeted with a custom main greeting
• Calls go straight to your cell wherever you are

If you don’t answer ….

• Calls can go to another extension where you’ve got another employee waiting
• Calls go to voicemail. These voicemails get transcribed by humans and emailed to you.

There are a ton of other features that can be added to enhance your system to make it even better, but this gives you a decent starting point.

Grasshopper works atop your existing cell or land line plan—it doesn’t replace it. It’s a way to have a fancy-sounding business phone system using existing lines.

Is a Virtual Phone System Right For You? A Checklist

Virtual systems are great, but they’re not a perfect fit for all businesses. A virtual phone system is a scalable, low-cost solution that gives your company a professional communications infrastructure while you’re small.

Here’s a checklist to help you decide. If you check four or more boxes, you’ll benefit from a system like Grasshopper:

• My business has 1 to 15 people.
• I am currently using my cell phone or Google Voice to manage business calls.
• My business is relatively small, but I hope it will grow.
• I don’t want to hire a receptionist.
• I would like the flexibility of using my cell phone as a business line.
• I am paying a lot of money for a phone system, but I don’t need all of its functionality.
• I have a business number already that I’d like to keep.
• I don’t want to hire a receptionist.
• I work from a home office, co-working space, or other untraditional arrangement.
• I am often on-the-go.

Grasshopper is not a good fit if you have over 15 employees. We are best suited to small businesses that intend to grow. If you are looking for additional functionality besides a phone system, there may be better options. If you want to be able to provide each employee with hardware and office phones at their desks, we may not be the best option. We’re best for Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYOD) situations in less traditional office settings.