3 Advantages of VoIP

Like email and video streaming, VoIP uses the internet to transmit voice calls. And just like the vast improvements that came along with email and video streaming, VoIP offers tremendous advantages over the “old” way of doing things. Below I outline 3 of the major advantages of VoIP telephone systems and discuss how easy it is for your business to begin reaping the benefits of VoIP technology!

Advantage 1 – Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

If your business is like most, you are probably already paying a monthly fee for your internet service AND a separate monthly fee for telephone service from a provider like AT&T. You may also be paying an additional fee for outdated telephone handsets and an old voicemail system with limited features that no one in your organization knows how to manage or maintain. These overlapping costs and additional fees add up to a significant monthly expenditure…just to keep your ancient equipment working.

Because VoIP only needs an internet connection to make and receive calls, you no longer need a separate telephone service provider. Say goodbye to your monthly phone bill! Additionally, unlike “traditional” hardware-based phone systems that require specific tools and skills to manage and maintain, VoIP systems are software based and can be managed via a common web-browser. Many common tasks such as; setting up a new user, changing voicemail passwords or moving a user from one office to another can all be done with a few mouse clicks.

Advantage 2 – Work from anywhere, anytime!

Recent studies by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that over 20% of the US Workforce reported performing some or all their job duties from home. While work-from-home employees have historically stayed connected to their offices via email, telephone communication has been limited due to the difficulties in extending corporate phone systems outside of the building. VoIP technology now makes it possible to extend your organization’s telephone system to your remote employee’s home office with ease. Simply connect a VoIP handset to the remote employee’s wired or wireless home network and turn it on. That’s it! They are now connected to your company’s VoIP phone system. Now you can transfer calls to their extension, initiate conference calls between multiple employees and much more!

Advantage 3 – Reliability when it matters most.

Nobody wants to imagine it, but it happens all the time. Natural disasters, fires and floods disrupt businesses, destroy buildings and shut down entire cities for days, weeks, or longer. While the number 1 concern is undoubtedly the safety of your organization’s people, as a manager or business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that the business has a solid continuity plan in place in case such an event were to occur. VoIP telephony has revolutionized the Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plan by addressing one of the most challenging aspects of post-disaster operations: telecommunications.

Prior to VoIP, a business affected by a disaster had very few options when it came to telephone communication. In anticipation of a foreseeable disaster such as a hurricane, businesses could forward their main line to a single manager’s cell phone or home phone…not an ideal solution for a business that relies heavily on telephone communication. Worse, if an unexpected disaster, such as a fire, were to strike, your company’s hardware-based telephone system would likely be destroyed, leaving your business without the ability to make an receive calls on your main telephone numbers or check voicemail to know what calls you’ve missed.

Because a VoIP system is cloud based and doesn’t require any on-premise hardware, your organization can easily reconfigure your main numbers to ring to any internet connected phones. Simply plug in a new VoIP handset at your home or temporary office location and you are back up and running with virtually no downtime. You can be back in business while others wait weeks for the phone company to reconnect lines, and more weeks for a phone system vendor to install new hardware-based system. The VoIP advantage is clear.

As we’ve seen, a VoIP system can reduce your monthly bill, simplify your life, improve call quality, and introduce modern features and capabilities to your telephone system while providing a key element to your Business Continuity plan.

Contact us today to find out how a VoIP system can help your business….