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How Your Business Can Benefit From a VoIP Phone System
Imagine the convenience of being able to read your voicemails on your computer. No need to dial into your phone’s voicemail and try to take notes on a long, detailed message. The information is available in written form right on your computer. This convenience is just one of the many Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP offers. Although providing most of the same features such as hold and call transfer, VoIP differs from PTSN (traditional phones) in that voice conversations are transmitted over the Internet instead of over a traditional phone network.
While placing a VoIP call from a computer to a landline phone is on average much cheaper than a call between two landline phones, a VoIP call between two computers is even cheaper than that--free. Having a call between two computers often invokes the image of people that cannot leave their computer during a call, but this is not true. VoIP does not have to mean chained to the computer with the service. Wireless VoIP handsets and telephone adapters mean that VoIP users can move around, usually within about 30 ft of their computer and do not have to be at one particular computer to use the service. Take a look at more details about VoIP’s portability as well as some of the other benefits of the service below.
VoIP Benefits
- One benefit business travelers will love is the portability of VoIP. Use a regular phone that will work with VoIP service via a VoIP phone adapter when on the go. Employees can enjoy the luxury of using their VoIP phone number when traveling on business, wherever there’s an Internet connection. This feature particularly comes in handy to employees who must travel overseas or who are staying in a hotel while away on business.
- The most obvious benefit is, of course, computer and phone integration. Users can access phone, email, fax, web conferencing, Internet and video applications all at once.
- Another interesting feature of VoIP is the ability to choose any area code for the phone number. So a business located in one location, but serving customers in a different location can select the area code of their customers so that when they call, the call will be charged as local. Thus, your business alleys, associates, and customers won’t have to pay for long distance charges. Talk about customer-friendly!
Best Time to Get VoIP
With all the great benefits of VoIP service, and many of the problems from years ago (such as not showing a caller’s location to the 911 operator when dialing 911) resolved and voice quality improved, many businesses are now using VoIP service in some capacity.
- VoIP may cost higher initially than a traditional phone system but should save you money on calls in the long run so companies need to decide if the investment is worth it. The option of starting small and building out is an option for companies who are not ready to invest in the entire service.
- A number of companies are also taking advantage of the ability to include VoIP as an addition to their traditional phone system initially. Then, they build from there as they need to. One specific convenience of VoIP is its capability to work alongside other systems. For instance, you can try VoIP out in your customer service department and then expand the service to include other departments such as finance and operations as needed.
- For anyone who is considering VoIP service, there is no more perfect time than when moving into a new office to get it. Because you don’t need to worry about any infrastructure already in place, moving into a new office is the ideal time to get VoIP. In fact, choosing VoIP over a traditional phone system will allow you to save on not having to get separate cabling for your phone system. While a traditional phone system designates a whole phone line to each call, VoIP condenses and distributes voice data over a computer network.
Besides VoIP using less channel capacity than a traditional phone system, managers may also find operating costs to be lower with VoIP than with traditional phone systems because since VoIP is based on software and not hardware, it’s easier to modify and maintain.
Consider combining phone and internet. A VoIP phone system is a proven communications investment with exciting, unique features that if used properly will save your company money in the long run.
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