Is VoIP Good For A Business Telecommunication System?
If you are looking for a new telecommunication system for your business or company, you should consider getting a VoIP system. A VoIP telecommunication system has pros and cons in a business sense, like all potential systems, and whether it is the best system for you will depend on a variety of different factors.
In this article we tease out the different characteristics of a VoIP phone system and compare it to other types of business telecommunications systems, to give you the information you need to make an informed and suitable choice.
Voice Over Internet Protocol
VoIP phone systems are made possible thanks to the advent of high-speed Internet throughout the world. VoIP is a technology that uses your Internet connection, instead of your regular phone line, and as a result, can provide you with a very similar service to a phone line at a much cheaper cost.
Affordability is one of the main drivers of Business VoIP system popularity and why it has become the dominant form of a business telecommunications system in the world.
But aside from the fact that VoIP is cheaper on an ongoing basis, there are many other advantages to using VoIP for business telecommunication systems.
Much Easier To Set Up
A VoIP phone system for business tends to be a lot easier to set up and manage, than a traditional business telephone system.
With a traditional business telephone system, the connection arrives at your building and you then need to build the internal wiring and divert the phone lines accordingly to support multiple phone lines with multiple different extensions to multiple different departments. This is expensive in terms of the materials required, and also expensive in terms of the labor for a qualified professional to set up and then maintain this system.
Compared to a VoIP system where you just need your regular Internet connection to the building and the VoIP service does the rest.
Hosted or Cloud
There are many types of VoIP systems that you can consider getting for your business each with different strengths and weaknesses. These are what is known as hosted VoIP (or ‘On Premise VoIP’), and Cloud VoIP.
Hosted VoIP
Hosted VoIP refers to a type of VoIP system where the Internet connection comes to your business premises and then your information technology team create your own VoIP server to facilitate the VoIP system. Hosted VoIP pricing is more expensive and requires expertise to set up and maintain it but it does come with some advantages.
Cloud VoIP
Cloud VoIP is a type of VoIP system where the hosting and software are based on the cloud and you just sign up and pay a monthly fee to access that cloud system. This type of VoIP system just requires a simple monthly fee for the plan you select but you do not require any service or expertise within your business to set up and manage the VoIP system in an ongoing capacity.
Which Is Better For A Business?
Whether a cloud VoIP service or a hosted VoIP system is better for your business will depend on the size of your business and its communication needs. A cloud VoIP is much easier to connect to and will be much cheaper but there are some limitations.
You have no ability to configure the system the way you want and you are vulnerable in that if the cloud VoIP system you are using goes down, or goes out of business then you have to find a new provider or just live with having no business telephone system.
Whereas if you host your own VoIP system even though there are additional costs in the equipment and expertise required to establish and maintain it, you at least have full control over the system, and if it goes down or there’s an issue then you are the only one responsible for fixing it.
As a result, many large companies find it more suitable to host their own VoIP so they have increased control, whereas many smaller companies find cloud VoIP systems to be quite adequate because the cost saving far outweighs the downsides of potential downtime and lack of control.
When is VoIP Not Suitable For A Business?
The main situation where VoIP is not a suitable solution is where the business does not have access to a secure and high-speed Internet connection.
Given VoIP requires the Internet to operate, if your business either does not have an Internet connection or it has one, but it is not fast enough to handle a VoIP system then of course VoIP will not be a solution you can consider.
For this reason, in cases where there is no Internet then you will need to consider other traditional business telephone systems.
Final Thoughts
VoIP can be a great telecommunications system for small to medium-sized businesses if they have access to a high-speed Internet connection. Whether hosted VoIP or cloud VoIP is better for them depends on their particular needs and preferences if the business does not have access to high-speed Internet, then they will be forced to consider a traditional business telephone system.
