The greatest question facing anybody who’s interested in updating to newer technology is that — what is in it for me? Especially when it comes to upgrading your business telephone service. In other words, what can I get for my investment? After the technology is brand new and untested, the advantages and costs can be quite unclear. But even though VoIP has been around for the better part of a decade, rather a lot of individuals continue to be curious and ask “What can VoIP do for me?”
VoIP deployments have come a long way since the early days when they were considered just an experiment or a toy for tech-savvy people. While the primary reason to utilize VoIP was to make cheaper phone calls, but there are lots of other advantages for enterprises and consumers alike now.
Whether you are an individual looking for a landline replacement or a huge corporation considering utilizing advanced telephony features, VoIP has something for you.
VoIP technology has matured to the point at which it can meet many requirements, be it for a small local company or an online website. The technology is flexible and scalable which means it can do the job just as well for one individual or 1000.
Someone who is looking for only bare-bones calling and messaging performance may benefit just as much as a business that desires digital faxing and ERP integration.
Let us have a peek at how VoIP can benefit individuals and companies in different circumstances.
THE INDIVIDUAL CONSUMER
For an army of one looking to replace their landline with VoIP, service providers offer you an assortment of subscription plans. Vendors like MagicJack and Ooma offer a hardware box for buy and package unlimited phoning or a prescribed number of free minutes with it.
Others offer you pay-as-you-go plans for businessmen and businesswomen that aren’t sure about their calling quantity, don’t really care about quality and/or features.
VoIP programs are often cheaper than equivalent plans from carriers, especially since most of them bundle Internet and TV together with the landline.
Oftentimes, local calls into the US and/or Canada are free. International calls to many countries are very affordable, purchasing a local number in another city (say London or Paris) even allows others to call you at local rates rather than paying international charges.
THE FREELANCER
VoIP might help freelancers just too. With the increase of the knowledge economy, an increasing number of people are starting to do their freelance job rather than a normal 9-to-5 job. Self-employed individuals usually cannot afford enterprise-level services or equipment but at the exa
ct same time, customer plans cannot fulfill their requirements.
Business Telephone Service via VoIP is perfect for such situations and many vendors offer plans tailored to the needs of small compani
es with just a single or handful of workers.
Services like Vonage include company level plans that are acceptable for a couple of people. You may make calls from several dev
ices using the exact same amount and forward them to certain numbers based on specific rules.
Characteristics like voicemail to email automatic and functionality holiday responses might also be included at no cost or at a small price. It allows you to present a professional image to customers and comp
ete with other businesses efficiently.
THE SMALL BUSINESS
The term small business covers a wide variety of enterprises. A local bakery, a professional accounting firm, a technology startup or a housekeeping service can all fall under the umbrella of a small company but their needs can be quite different.
For such businesses, hosted VoIP is most frequently the best solution as it doesn’t require any experience or technical knowledge. Advanced enterprise functionality that is crucial for any company can be obtained for very low prices in comparison to conventional operators.
Hosted VoIP services are delivered over the Internet and the business doesn’t have to buy or maintain any hardware of their own. In the majority of cases, the only investment is in a few IP phones, and employees can also use their cellular devices to create and receive business calls.
Automated secretary, IVR, find me follow me, call hunt groups, etc. make it feasible for smaller organizations to offer excellent service to their customers without breaking the bank. What has been considered a luxury for a small company is currently eminently affordable?
THE LARGE CORPORATION
Many people find it difficult to believe that VoIP can serve the needs of individuals and multinational corporations with equal ease but it’s certainly true. Bigger companies might opt for hosted their own on-premise SIP deployments for much better control and reduced costs per call. Some vendors even enable customers to mix-and-match so that the central office may have its own SIP trunks while smaller divisions are connected via hosted VoIP.
Many organizations utilize VoIP for business telephone service as a foundation for implementing unified communication farther down the line. UC is a package of applications, software, and hardware that enables integration between various communication channels through a common interface.
Companies can manage email, voicemail, voice calls, conference calls, instant messaging, and other forms of communicating in one case. In all of this VoIP has an important part because it powers the crucial voice element.
Updating to newer technologies could be costly, frightening, and utterly bewildering. But the VoIP industry has matured to the point where anybody can begin without technical knowledge, ample investment, or even the necessity to buy special equipment (besides a couple of phones).
VoIP is certainly the future for voice communication and the sooner you change, the more benefits you’ll reap by staying ahead of the curve. Call the professionals who have been advising and setting up cloud-hosted phone systems for 15 years.
