For modern businesses today, their telephone systems are often not at the front of the line for budgeting purposes, however, this is a mistake! With the maturation of the technology for VoIP telephone systems, companies can harness new ways of collaboration, integration, analytics, and mobility. Additionally, this business VOIP service is often a cost saving mechanism as well, saving precious funds for additional projects or investment.
Know the Benefits your Business
Flexible and Mobile
If your business is looking to control costs, harness flexibility and provide lowering operating costs, then VoIP telephone systems should be considered. Both cloud and premise VoIP offer a whole host of included features that used to be additional on digital and analog systems. Some features include caller ID, transfer (both blind and announced), conferencing (often the ability to schedule conference calls through an app), and many other functions.
A feature that gets a lot of notice is the ability for users to operate without being tied to a desk or a specific location. Generally referred to as “mobility” this is usually accomplished through an app or feature tied to the users’ cell phone and uses their data plan or WiFi when available. Salespeople, road warriors, and anybody who travels frequently will rave about mobility features!
Increasing Productivity
If you have a good internet connection, chances are that your employees will be able to access their telephony features from pretty much anywhere, driving an increase in productivity. Just like smart phones revolutionized email correspondence, VoIP is keeping users connected, allowing for faster response, instant communication, and the ability to track employees who are working, but not in the physical office.
Conference calls can be scheduled and invitations sent out to multiple users across time zones, or even continents. Three way calling can instantly connect a team together, giving the seamless connection they desire. Additionally, with conferencing and three way calling, face to face meetings are decreased, thereby saving on travel and also minimizing the risk of passing pathogens or viruses.
Additional features of VoIP
In many cases, the features that VoIP provides surpass that of old digital and analog telephone systems. Need to send a fax? No problem! We can accomplish that with VoIP, eliminating the physical fax machine and replacing it with a simple email or “print to fax” solution. Looking to access your voicemail through your email, unifying your messaging experience? Done! Unified Messaging is a typical VoIP function.
In addition to the above features, all the usual ones are also standard such as redial, call waiting, call forwarding, directory, transfer, hold, speed dial and hundreds more.
Cost
If your business is still using a traditional T-1, PRI, or copper lines (CO) lines, then there is a good chance that VoIP can reduce your monthly expenses.
Traditional providers have not kept up with modern practices and the demands of business today. VoIP is cheaper than the traditional services and, if set up properly, every bit as reliable0- if not more so.
Generally, VoIP telephone systems and services are less expensive than traditional service provided by the legacy carriers, which makes it an ideal technology for companies looking to reduce costs.
Easier to Manage, Use & Troubleshoot
Many companies do not have IT resources available as an onsite employee and either hire them out or do the best they can inhouse with other resources. VoIP typically uses graphical user interfaces (GUI) to make typical changes like names adjustments, voicemail password resets, auto attendant changes and setup, and other usual tasks for an administrator. They are simple to make and easy to understand- you can do it! This not only saves money by not paying others to do a job you can do, it also makes the task faster as it is usually just a few clicks to make changes, rather than opening tickets with a provider and waiting for their response.
Backup
Even though VoIP uses an internet connection for your phone service, that does not mean it is any less reliable than plain old copper lines or t-1. Data services are, nowadays, every bit as dependable as voice services. Additionally, there are several inexpensive backup options. For instance, cellular data can be used to backup the data for our phones with automatic failover in the event of an outage. Further, if the physical office closes for some reason such as a disaster or shutdown, employees can connect to the system with their cell phones and operate nearly like they are in the office, without down time.
