If you're looking for business phone providers for your up and coming startup, where you should begin when it comes to features? First to know is that certain features may be more helpful to small business while others could benefit a larger benefit with full time IT staff and phone maintenance. Here are a few of the most important things to look for in terms of the best features for business phone providers.

Admin Portal

If you have an admin portal, the administrators have complete control over their system. T his gives end users plenty of control over their personal telephone extensions. Because the web portal is password protected, administrators can login to a system wide view of their account. Extensions and special features are quickly administrable from the portal, and employees can quickly update voicemail settings and call forwarding.

Virtual Receptionist

The virtual receptionist feature is a serious benefit to small business or larger businesses. The virtual receptionist telegraphs professionality and poise before you even answer the phone. Virtual receptionists are phone menus for the system and can answer calls themselves, giving callers the option to dial a new extensions. With Vonage Business accounts for example, virtual receptionists can quickly be set up for departments, individuals, or anyone in the company, and can record greetings and direct callers as to hours and services.

Call Logs and Dashboard

The dashboard is a very important part of any phone system, and call logs help business track phone uses and conduct client billing operations. With the dashboard, you'll get a live view of each extension in your system and which ones are in use, what number they are on call with, and the call duration. With call logs, you can get a monthly report on the call history of your system, thereby making decisions as to how best to cut costs or increase productivity.

Mobile apps

For iPhone smart phones or Android platform phones, mobile apps might be a good thing to look for in business phone providers. Administrators can manage phone systems from anywhere using mobile apps, viewing the dashboard or checking voicemail quickly and easily. This way, you can be at any location and at any time of day and be able to monitor calls just like you would in the office.

Ultimately, in any business phone provider, it's important to look for a low price tag, good customer service, and numerous features such as call logs and virtual receptionists, which will help to take your business to the next level.