How Can Small Businesses Benefit From VoIP?

VoIP used to be unreliable and not suitable for business. The quality is now much improved though, and therefore businesses are able to consider using VoIP as an alternative to traditional telephony. Small businesses can particularly benefit from the services available. So, what exactly are these benefits?

Lower Costs

The main, and best known benefit, is the cost savings that can be made. With many VoIP providers a flat monthly fee is paid. For each VoIP phone a business wishes to have they will pay this flat rate. This means that businesses can make as many calls as they wish at no extra cost. They are not paying more if they make a large number of calls, but rather paying a fee to be able to use the phone as much as they need to. Businesses that make a large number of calls therefore stand to make larger savings, as without VoIP their telephone bills would be the highest. Businesses with international customers, suppliers or partners can also greatly benefit, as these are the most expensive calls with regular telephones. With VoIP, which destination you are calling usually makes no different to the price you pay. A monthly flat rate plan also has the benefit of making it easier to budget for calls, as the bill is the same every month.

The reason why VoIP providers are able to offer a cheaper service is that running the technology is significantly cheaper. Data sent across a broadband connection (as is the case with VoIP) makes it cheaper than regular telephone calls. In fact, much of the technology used for VoIP is already existing, meaning start up costs are not as high.

You Can Have Specific Numbers / Extensions

With the majority of quality VoIP packages each phone can have a specific extension number so, where possible, callers can reach the right person immediately instead of having to be passed on by someone else. This is the sort of thing that will be set up with most specific business VoIP packages.

Internal Calls

Internal systems are set up so internal calls between employees can be made more easily. As well as within one building, this is also possible between two or more offices. This is useful if a business has two offices in different parts of the country, for example.

Voicemail

With most business VoIP packages it is possible to have voicemail set up. Although this is also the case with regular telephone systems, it shows the improvement of VoIP, as this has not always been the case. It is one of the past weaknesses of VoIP that is no longer relevant.

Portability

One of the major advantages of VoIP over traditional telephony is that users can make and receive calls from other devices using the same number. When on the move, for example, it is easy to divert calls to another VoIP enabled device. You don’t need a separate phone number. This makes things much easier for employees who are often working away from the office.

There are many benefits for business that utilise VoIP. The technology and services have improved significantly over recent years. It is now a genuine alternative to regular telephones for businesses of all types.

Andrew Marshall (c)