The sound of ringing phones is so common in many offices, that it almost seems to blend into the background. Call after call is made between workers, clients, customers, and partners. In short, over-the-phone communications are crucial for the vast majority of businesses. But many modern firms are actually moving away from traditional phone systems and towards a more technologically advanced alternative: business VoIP (or voice over internet protocol). And if your business is still struggling with phones, it might be time to make that switch. This guide explores key signs that your office is ready for business VoIP.
What Is Business VoIP?
First, a quick intro to business VoIP, so you know exactly what this tech is and how it all works.
VoIP uses the internet to make calls, rather than phone lines. If you’ve ever used an online communications platform like Skype or Zoom to call and connect with family, friends, or colleagues, then you’ve already used VoIP. As you make your call, your voice gets digitized and sent over the digital airwaves to the person on the other end of the line.
There are loads of advantages to VoIP tech. It’s fast, efficient, and reliable. The quality of calls is generally very good, as long as both sides have decent internet connections, and the costs are significantly reduced when you compare VoIP to a typical phone bill, especially if you ever need to make international calls.
Signs Your Business Could Benefit from Business VoIP
Not sure if you’re ready for VoIP? Here are some signs that show when the time is right:
You Have Remote Workers on Your Team
In the past, it made sense to use physical phones, as workers were more or less always at their desks. But times have changed. Now, workers tend to be on the move much more or even operate from the comfort of home either part-time or full-time.
When you have workers in that kind of situation, it’s far less viable and less secure to rely on physical fixed phone lines. But with business VoIP, remote workers can make secure, reliable calls, no matter where they happen to be.
Your Phone Lines Have Limited Feature Sets
Some landlines come with a few fancy features. They might show you caller ID or let you configure a simple voicemail system. But they pale in comparison to the many features available with business VoIP.
Auto-call distribution, forwarding, automated attendants, email alert integration, mobile app support – you get a lot of options and useful features with VoIP. So, if ever you’ve said something along the lines of “I wish our phone lines could do X or Y” then it’s likely that you’d benefit from VoIP technology.
You Have to Deal With a Lot of Phone Maintenance
Ever had your phone system break down? Or have you experienced issues with calls failing to connect or random losses of connection when you least expect them? Traditional phone lines can have all sorts of issues, leading to costly maintenance and even more expensive periods of downtime.
The beauty of VoIP is that it’s such a reliable form of telecommunications. There are still problems that might occur, but they’re few and far between, and you’ll generally have a much more straightforward experience using VoIP and fewer connection problems to fix.
Your Business Is Growing
Growth is the goal for the majority of businesses. But as your business grows, you have to support that growth. If you bring in more workers, for example, you have to add new phone lines, which can, again, be complicated and costly. And the more lines you have, the greater the odds of one breaking down.
Business VoIP, meanwhile, is almost infinitely scalable, and the process is incredibly convenient. When new workers come along or even if you open a whole new office, it takes very little time to set up VoIP across more devices to scale up your service in an instant.
You Sometimes Experience Low Call Quality
It can be a frustrating experience for workers if they’re trying to make a call to a client, and they just can’t get a good connection. Voices are fuzzy and unclear, and it’s hard for any real discussion to take place and convey a message from one side to the other.
But a great thing about VoIP is that call quality is generally and consistently good. It’s almost like being in the same room with whoever you’re speaking to, even when there are multiple people on the same line for meetings and conference calls.
You’re Spending a Small Fortune on Phone Bills
We’ve touched on cost earlier on, but it’s worth reinforcing just how much money you can save with a business VoIP plan. Because with VoIP, you only need one service – the internet. You don’t have to pay for telephone lines separately or in addition to your net costs.
Then, there’s also the fact that you don’t need to buy loads of physical desk phones, either, as workers can make calls directly via their PCs, laptops, or even their smartphones. As such, the total price works out to be a lot lower.
You Need to Make a Lot of Long Distance Calls
Lots of businesses operate internationally these days. You might have customers locally, but also around the world. The same goes for your business partners or suppliers, who you might have to contact regularly to discuss terms or negotiate.
Either way, if you’re making a lot of international calls, you’ll know how costly and difficult it can be, as there are more possibilities of quality problems with long-distance calls. But with VoIP, making an international call isn’t really any different from making a local one. It’s cheap and easy, and the quality is usually flawless.
Invest in Better Business Communications Today
Business VoIP is well and truly a game-changer for businesses of all sizes, and if you recognize your own firm in some of the signs and situations listed above, it might just be time for you to make that transition away from traditional phones and to a superior system.
Docutrend can help you. As experts in office technology, we help businesses across New York, Totowa, Cherry Hill, Edison, and Ft. Washington improve their productivity levels with top-notch tech solutions. Contact us to learn more.