As an entrepreneur, you should be looking for all of the competitive advantage you can get your hands on. A simple to implement way to gain an advantage over competition of any size is by using a virtual hosted PBX solution. This type of service helps make your business seem bigger than it actually is by using certain very ingenious components.

For starters, an online telephone solution uses a virtual receptionist, also known as an auto attendant, just like the biggest businesses do. This feature automatically answers, and directs, received phone calls so that they are routed to the correct employee or area, just like the big boys.

Rules for call answering let you define how inbound phone calls are routed, and thus handled. You can route inbound calls to voicemail, different extensions or totally different phone numbers based on a set of rules you configure. These include the time of day, the day of the week, and even the caller ID of the inbound call.

You can also create a call queue, which can put callers on hold until the next employee is ready to take the call. You can configure what the caller listens to as they wait, including music, or a customizable message. Call queuing ensures that phone calls are taken care of as quickly and efficiently as practical.

A full featured voice mail service is included that lets incoming calls to be handled with customizable greetings and messages to be left in individual mailboxes. You can then be notified when a new message is received, and it is even possible to get the message attached to an email, giving you the ability to efficiently handle the issue.

Many phone extensions give you the ability to quickly route incoming calls to the appropriate department. This helps with giving your small business the facade of having many departments with quite a few employees. Extensions can be added as they are needed, allowing for easy and affordable phone system expansion.

When using an Internet based phone solution, you have the option of a local phone number, a toll free number, or both. While the toll free option will not be more expensive to use, it will give your small company the feel of a larger business.

These are just a few of the benefits offered by a virtual PBX phone system service that will assist in the effort to make your company seem like a larger outfit. Try an inexpensive, simple to use online phone solution and see how its unique features will help with the effort to improve the bottom line of your company.