Using a call transferring system has played an important part for businesses for a long time. It became integral for sales teams, call centers, agencies, etc., either to reach out to and keep in touch with clients or improve their customer service functions.

With call forwarding, incoming calls are automatically forwarded to a preset number without going through the user. It’s not to be confused with call-transferring systems, which switch an active call from one user to another. Any business that communicates with customers over the phone is likely going to need a call transferring service at some point.

In the 1990s, businesses started thinking about how to shift their desk phone systems online. Prior to that, they were using analog phones, which transferred sound into electric pulses. Now digital phones translate video and audio signals into binary code. This opened the doors for Voice over Internet Protocol.

Throughout this article, we’ll explain the meaning of VoIP and its history, how to transfer phone calls with it and how it might benefit your company. Also, we’ll run through what types of call transfers there are and when to use which.

What is VoIP

VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows you to transmit voice over an internet connection (digital) instead of a regular (analog) phone line. This means VoIP enables you to make voice calls from smartphones, computers, special VoIP phones, tablets and other mobile devices instead of relying on a stationary office phone.

VoIP has benefits for both customers and businesses. Unlike regular phone systems, they have additional features like call recording, the option for creating a custom caller ID, lower prices than the typical phone bills (low international rates), and voicemail to email.

Another great thing about VoIP is the fact that it allows companies to unify their communications, as it supports audio, video and text-based communication methods. This allows employees (in an organization), to be more effective in communicating, without having to use different types of applications.

There are two main types of VoIP telephones — hardware-based and software-based. Hardware-based VoIP telephones are very similar to the traditional phone. Software-based IP phones just have the software installed on a regular computer or any mobile device.

To make sure your VoIP service works properly, you’ll need a fast bandwidth internet speed. That’s the most important equipment requirement, meaning that other parts of the equipment don’t need to be the best quality or expensive to make a difference.

A brief history of VoIP

VoIP started around 1995 when a company called VocalTec created the first internet phone for commercial use. The intent of its creation was to save the money for regular long-distance and international telephone charges. These internet phones worked using the same software, with connected speakers and microphones.

Soon after, users were presented with an option to also connect to a call by using a computer. The only setback for the rise of VoIP back then was that users had to listen to advertisements before, during and after their conversations.

Companies quickly realized the benefits of faster, cost-decreased communication. Skype is one of, if not the most famous company offering VoIP to its users.

Fast-forward to today, you have applications such as Zoom and Microsoft teams that offer endless options of communication using Internet Protocol, with video conference calls being the most popular.

How does VoIP work?

VoIP service converts a person’s voice into digital data, that data then “travels” through the Internet Protocol. In the receiving end, that digital data converts back to a voice sound, listened to by the receiver.

To achieve this, there’s a thing called codecs that VoIP needs to use. These codecs are a process that can compress and decompress large amounts of data. The quality of data such as voice sound quality might suffer when compressed but it significantly reduces bandwidth demand.

The process involves wrapping this data into data packets before sending it to other users. These packets are broadcasted over the Internet Protocol and are unwrapped into audio at the receiving end.

Call transfers with VoIP

Most of us remember old landlines that had a bunch of additional buttons such as “Line 1”, “Line 2”, etc. Such a transfer button was used for transferring calls between local landlines. Today, this option is even easier and faster with VoIP.

Transferring a call with VoIP can be done in multiple ways. What all of them have in common is the fact that they label phones with extensions/caller IDs inside the organization so that they would know where to transfer calls.

Note: Call transferring is meant to be used for inbound calls.

Call transfer can be a blind (cold) transfer or an announced (warm) transfer. Simply put, a cold transfer is when one user routes a call to the other extension (user), by selecting/dialing the blind transfer key. Your caller is put on hold while you dial the desired extension (transfer call to another phone). Your call is ended as soon as you dial the other extension.

While this is an easy and fast way to transfer a call, it’s not as good of a customer relation option. Your caller might need to reintroduce themselves and explain the purpose of their call a couple of times. It can be frustrating, to say the least. Imagine how your business might look if the call goes to a voicemail or gets dropped for whatever reason. Certainly, not the best solution.

On the other hand, announced or warm transfers are when you put the caller on hold, while you call the extension yourself first, to make sure they can answer the call.

This time, you select the announced transfer option instead of the blind transfer key. You can explain the caller’s problem, so the caller doesn’t need to repeat himself. As soon as you hang up, the call will be transferred to the other phone.

There are more types of call transferring, such as a call park. Call park is when an inbound call is placed on the park and the software assigns it a new extension.

The software interface will include a pop-up notification of a call on park with the assigned extension key, where anyone can pick up the call by dialing the extension.

Another interesting option is a group pickup. This is great for the sales teams or call centers that have multiple employees that can answer the same call.

This means the software notifies (or the phone rings) multiple phones so that any of them can pick it up. This is a great addition to improving your customer relations!

Best VoIP tools for call transferring

There are many good VoIP phone services out there and they are all fairly easy to set up. But, deciding on the best one for you, is not an easy task. Let’s go through some of the best ones.

#1 Ringblaze

When we started creating Ringblaze, our main goal was to provide a phone business solution that will help small and medium businesses.

Smaller businesses don’t have the resources for a large phone support system, so VoIP software like Ringblaze can enable them to operate on a high level with many features included, and at a reasonable price.

Call transferring with Ringblaze

We created a transferring call system that covers all your needs. We know that pricing structure can be overwhelming, so we decided to offer a simple pricing plan that includes all the features. Having an affordable pricing plan enables your business to excel with the help of all the transparent features you can use. 

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We know how important it is to have a global presence. Actually, one of the biggest benefits of Ringblaze is its low international rates. They are especially good for customer support agencies, marketing agencies, etc.

Sign up for Ringblaze and see how Ringblaze can transform your business!

#2 RingCentral

RingCentral has been around for almost 20 years, dating back all the way to 2003. Like Ringblaze, they also aim at smaller and medium-sized businesses. RingCentral is appealing because it offers phone support for a lot of countries, along with internet fax, call management, SMS, etc.

Call transferring with RingCentral

What’s great about RingCentral is that it is integrated with multiple apps such as Zapier, Zendesk, Slack, and others, which allows you to be more effective in your work.

While it’s not expensive, their pricing structure might seem too complicated to understand.

#3 Grasshopper

One of the best features about Grasshopper is its automated attendant. It works like an answering machine that uses a prerecorded message you’ve created or you can hire a voiceover professional. It’s not that other tools don’t have this option — their is the easiest to set up.

Call transferring with Grasshopper

With Grasshopper you also get powerful desktop and mobile apps that allow you to be available anywhere, anytime. They also offer a great feature such as Voicemail transcription that automatically transforms your received voicemails into a written recording.

The biggest downside of Grasshopper is that isn’t available outside of the US and Canada, making this a considerable disadvantage compared to Ringblaze.

Call transferring with Ringblaze

There are a lot of great features of Ringblaze. For starters, setting up Ringblaze takes just 15 minutes. No additional platforms and apps needed.

After you’ve set up everything, you’re good to go! This will prevent your business from missing a call and will allow you to stay connected even when you are at home or out of the office. Being available at all times will improve customer experience. 

Ringblaze widget works around the world
Implement Ringblaze call widget on your website for free calls

Ringblaze works globally and keeps you connected and engaged with your international customers at the lowest rates. A great reporting system is also included, which can help you in analyzing your team’s work and forecasting future trends.

The best thing about Ringblaze that separates it from other VoIP systems is its transparent pricing plan. There’s no additional cost or required apps that might increase the final price.

Our main goal is to make it very easy to understand why something costs as much as it costs. That’s why there is only one price — 15$ per month when paid annually.

Additionally, to a single pricing structure, every feature is included. For example, another great feature of Ringblaze is certainly the collaboration dashboard that is shared between agents, making it easy for them to cooperate. While other tools are overvaluing this feature, Ringblaze includes it in its pricing plan.

Ringblaze also has a unique option called a call-widget link that you may add anywhere from your email signature to your website. It takes one click on a button and your customer can contact you immediately.

Ringblaze call widget customization
Customizable call widget to match your website and brand

Overall, Ringblaze is a great up-and-coming solution for any business in a need of a great VoIP system.

Final thoughts

Call transferring has never been easier with VoIP. There are many tools that will allow you to quickly transfer calls to another phone, with or without answering. You can choose between warm and blind transferring, depending on the needs of your business.

These tools give a variety of options for your business, helping you improve your efficiency. Options such as leaving comments on previous calls from one shift for the next one or efficiently connecting customers to the right department help a lot. They give you a higher chance of converting potential customers

The customers are the most important part of every business, so being able to quickly decide which department can answer what types of calls is very useful. 

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That’s why optioning for a tool that is efficient, simple and quick is a great buy. Ringblaze is free to try — you can request a demo, and we’ll create a custom plan for your business needs.

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