How VoIP Can Benefit Your Business

VoIP has long grown past the days of late-night TV ads and cheap ways to get long-distance calls using services such as Vonage. Today’s VoIP technology has taken its place in the business world as modernized, cost-effective communications. VoIP offers an extensive array of features at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephone services. Learn why your organization should consider making the switch to VoIP.

What is VoIP?

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) uses your LAN (Local Area Network) to transmit data. The main feature of VoIP service is that it uses your existing broadband, in other words, the same lines that run your Internet. This means one less wired drop at every workstation, and more flexibility when it comes to where and how you can make and receive calls.

How Does VoIP Benefit Your Business?

Effective communication is one of the most important assets a business can have and can, in some cases, be a significant expense. We’re not just talking about the rates you get from your traditional phone service either. Most older, more traditional phone systems require expensive hardware, expensive lines (trunks), and the software to run it typically has a cost associated with it as well. We’ve seen scenarios where a business just needed to add a couple of lines for some new employees, and the cost difference between upgrading an older system versus moving everything over to VoIP was similar. VoIP allows an organization of any size to level the playing field between their business and larger enterprise-sized competitors when it comes to telecommunication.

The type of VoIP solution your business needs to rely upon isn't something you purchase from the local big box store. All companies are unique and require a VoIP solution that is sized to fit their needs. When you invest in VoIP solutions, you'll get features such as:

• Call forwarding
• Call waiting
• Call monitoring
• Voicemail to Email Transcription
• Conferencing
• Unlimited Long Distance and much more

These benefits allow your team to engage with customers at a level that rivals and even exceeds your competitors, especially those who are still using traditional on-premise PBX services.

Communication Is Critical to Your Business’ Success  

With recent events (heat waves and winter storms, for example) disrupting business as usual, your organization must be able to remain in contact with your team and your customers. Traditional communication requires your team to operate within specific parameters, which may not be practical if your location is under stress. VoIP allows your team to access and manage their communications remotely as if they were still in the office. VoIP has made it much easier for businesses that switched to fully or partially remote, as well. Users can make and receive calls from a software-based phone on their desktop or laptop, or through an app on their mobile device. Other systems even allow users to plug a physical desk phone in and use it just as they would at the office.

As an overall part of an organization’s IT, VoIP brings your business opportunities by increasing productivity while reducing expenses. However, VoIP, like most managed services, works best when combined with other IT standards. Examples of this are cybersecurity, in combination with backup and recovery, which ensures your data is secured. Spam and content filters work best when your team is trained to recognize phishing attacks, and so on. 

As Austin, Texas’ premier Managed IT specialists, we can help your business develop a plan designed to take advantage of today’s technology advancements. Managed IT allows your business to compete not only against your competitors but against larger, even enterprise-sized companies as well. VoIP is only the tip of the iceberg. Call (512) 343-8891 today to learn more about managed IT and how it can help your business grow.