Many businesses couldn’t run at all without being able to make and take phone calls. This means that most – if not all — businesses have some sort of telephony solution installed, and that said solutions make up a significant portion of their monthly expenses. VoIP
But did you know that traditional phone systems, ones that use copper cabling and which require PBX (Private Branch Exchange) hardware to be on your premises, are not as affordable as digital solutions like those that use Voice over IP (VoIP) technology?
It’s not just down to call costs, either. When you add cloud to the mix, VoIP solutions really show their worth.
This article will explore why that is, and endeavour to convince you that you have better options for your business telephony than the old solution you have been using for years.
No on-premises hardware required
For starters, a VoIP solution that’s hosted in the cloud doesn’t need your business to pay for expensive on-premises telephony hardware like a PBX, which manages your internal and external calls, as that function is now virtualised because all PBX functionality is provided by a server in the cloud.
That’s a huge saving right off the bat while still giving you the control you need to monitor your phone solution. With a VoIP solution, this is handled by a dashboard hosted in the cloud that you can access in a browser.
Lower call costs
A cloud-hosted VoIP solution uses the internet to make and take calls, which means providers of those services are able to connect you with your destination at far more competitive rates than, say, an incumbent telecoms provider can.
When you call landlines and cell phones with your VoIP solution, your calls will still need to connect to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). That means traditional network operators will still get a cut of your call costs, but overall, your costs per call will still be lower because you’re using the internet to connect, which VoIP providers consider in their call cost structures.
This is especially true when you make international calls, which up to recently were prohibitively expensive. Today, you can make international calls that are nearly free if you use the right solution.
Maintenance is not your problem
The beauty of adopting a VoIP solution for your calls is that any problems that might arise are the responsibility of your VoIP provider to fix. Furthermore, because the majority of the technology that powers your solution lives in the cloud, most problems can be solved remotely.
And if an issue with a handset arises, it’s very easy for your provider to just swap it out with another unit, as VoIP handsets offer plug-and-play functionality where the back-end does all of the configuration heavy lifting. Simply plug in a new unit, tell it who its user is, and boom, job done. In fact, many of the maintenance tasks for a VoIP system are so straightforward that even non-technical personnel can do them.
All of this lowers your maintenance costs as support is built into the monthly subscription fee you’ll pay.
What’s more, Service Level Agreements that are negotiated before adopting a VoIP solution provide concrete guidelines on how long the provider has to sort your issues out. These times are usually structured in such a way that disruptions to service don’t impact the business for very long.
Network Consolidation
As you might already guess from the above, a VoIP-based voice solution can easily integrate into your existing data network. Not running two separate networks means you can consolidate your business infrastructure down to just one, which also contributes towards lowering your costs. It also makes managing your network much easier and increases the efficiency of your overall infrastructure.
Infinite and Easy Scalability
The most compelling aspect of any cloud solution is that it’s almost infinitely scalable. That means adding and removing users can be done with just a few clicks, and there is no meaningful upper limit to the number of users you can add to the system.
But perhaps most importantly this flexibility means your cloud-based VoIP system can easily adapt as business requirements shift, without incurring much cost (if anything at all).
VoIP is the future
There’s really no good reason to stick with an existing phone system that’s built on outdated technology. A new one, built on VoIP, will cost you less and is much more flexible and easier to manage and maintain, while also providing better call quality.
Things to think about the next time your old phone system gives you problems.
