If you’re a business looking for better quality voice calls and enterprise-grade features from your telecoms system, you’ve probably heard people recommend VoIP. You might be wondering what is it, why is it better than a traditional phone line and how can it benefit your business?
Luckily, at Carden Telecoms, we’re VoIP experts and have helped companies across the UK to see the benefits of VoIP for their business communications.
1. What is VoIP?
VoIP is short for “Voice over Internet Protocol”. It refers to making phone calls over the internet, rather than through a standard landline or mobile phone network.
A VoIP system works by transforming your voice into digital signals and then transmitting them via your broadband line as data.
Although you can use VoIP with a standard desk phone, VoIP platforms can run on almost any digital device including your PC, Laptop, Mobile Phone or Tablet.
Your VoIP phone number, also referred to as virtual number, is not connected to an analogue landline but to your customer, the number will look like any other phone number.
As you’ll see, converting your business communications to a VoIP telecommunications network offers many benefits. Let’s look at some of the ways of making this change, while increasing your call quality and productivity, can reduce your costs and simplify your enterprise communications.
2. Lower Cost Per Call and Fixed Price
Cost savings are a benefit of VoIP that any business can appreciate. Installing a single phone line is expensive enough and if you need a lot of them, the costs quickly add up.
Unlike analogue phone systems, adding an additional user no longer requires installing a new phone line, the VoIP platform is incredibly scalable. Perfect for a growing business.
Most VoIP providers will offer fixed price “call bundle” packages so your communication costs are set and can be more easily budgeted. VoIP decreases domestic and international call costs significantly.
Calls between users on the same VoIP system are free and the cost per call to standard phone numbers is significantly cheaper compared to a standard phone line.
3. Improved Call Quality
This is important because low voice quality on phone calls costs businesses time and money. Every time your line is bad, and you have to ask a customer or colleague to repeat themselves is time wasted.
4. Flexible and Scalable
A further advantage of VoIP is that it is extremely versatile. VoIP’s parameters can be altered to your company’s needs. Your internet bandwidth is the only real limit to how many users you want to add and if your line is good enough you can potentially connect thousands.
Unlike analogue phones where adding a new user would require you to install a new phone line, adding a new user to VoIP is as simple as clicking “new user” in your admin panel and giving them a username.
5. Works from Anywhere in the World on Almost Any Device
With modern business’s workforces becoming more dispersed, VoIP offers a method for keeping a consistent communications system for all your employees, no matter where in the world they are or which device they are using.
An employee sat at their desk at your head office can use all the same features and get the same great call quality as an employee working remotely from a coffee shop, airport or from a beach in the Bahamas.
6. Enterprise Features at No Extra Cost
Many VoIP packages include advanced enterprise features for no extra cost. Call queuing, auto-attendants, hold music, hunt groups, call recording and conference calls are included with many of the most popular VoIP platforms.
Each of these features would be a costly addition to a standard analogue phone system but can be turned on instantly for no extra cost from your main VoIP admin panel.
7. Integrate Text, Video and File Sharing into your Business Communications
The V in VoIP stands for Voice – but that’s not all that VoIP can offer. Many VoIP platforms include text and video chat as standard and are more akin to using a modern chat app like WhatsApp.
File sharing improves productivity by allowing users to share documents, screenshots or links directly within the chat.
Are There Any Disadvantage To Using Voip Telecoms In Your Business?
There are no direct disadvantages to VoIP when compared to a standard PSTN telephone line. However, to use VoIP in your business, you need to have sufficient bandwidth. Luckily, at Carden Telecoms we also provide business broadband, with FTTP, FTTC, and leased line options available. Our team can help you calculate your expected bandwidth requirements and let you know whether you would need to upgrade your internet line in order to use VoIP.
Which types of business is VoIP suitable for?
If you only have a single phone in a back office, you probably don’t need to upgrade to VoIP. However, if you have multiple phone lines or run a business which makes a lot of phone calls (like a law office, call centre, head office, etc.) VoIP can help you cut your call costs and increase the quality and reliability of your calls.
Is Your Business Ready To Make The Switch To VoIP?
Looking over the benefits above, it’s clear that the advantages of VoIP greatly outweigh those of analogue phone lines.
At Carden Telecoms, we’ve helped organisations both large and small make the switch from conventional telephone systems to streamlined communication solutions.
As there is no physical phone line to install, VoIP can be implemented in a business quickly and with minimal disruption.
Choosing the right business broadband for your company is a big decision and one you should consider carefully. We hope this guide has given you a good overview of a few of the most important factors to consider.
For more information about VoiP and other enterprise-grade telecoms solutions like business mobiles and broadband, speak to a member of Carden Telecoms’ team today.
