VoIP: Letting Business Owners Focus on Business

Cell phones were a revelation when they became widely available to the general public. They gave us a way to keep in constant contact with our friends and family, meaning that no matter where we happened to be, we were never “off the grid.”

Of course, calling your loved ones was just one of many possible applications for these new phones: they also single-handedly ushered in a new era for small and large business owners. Now there was an effortless way to stay in contact with employees “in the field” when they left the office to conduct business elsewhere; they no longer had to remain dependent on, say, pay phones or hotel room telephones. Their calls could be private, and best of all, mobile.

Today, another new technology is about to take business telephone systems to the next level. VoIP phone services (Voice Over Internet Protocol) are positioning themselves as the next big thing not only in business communications technology, but for the average citizen. Here’s how it works:

VoIP, quite simply, lets you use the Internet to place and receive phone calls. This isn’t some far-future concept with entirely new technology, however; as millions of people across the globe have already discovered, with services such as Skype and Apple’s FaceTime, VoIP can be entirely unobtrusive and easy to use on the devices you already own. The telephones offered by VoIP providers are very much like the phones you’ve always used, meaning there’s no learning curve. While the phones themselves may be familiar, the modern conveniences are anything but; now you can take advantage of such features as having voicemail available on all of your connected VoIP devices.

As with any phone system, VoIP phones are physically located in your workplace. That’s where the differences end, however. Thanks to the power of the Internet, the software that manages your calls is located in the cloud, which means wherever you or your employees travel, you’ll have access to your phone system as long as there’s an Internet connection available.

Photo Courtesy of King Chung Huang via Flickr

VoIP providers offer software-based alternatives to traditional copper wire landline telephones. What this means is that your VoIP phone service offers the ultimate in versatility. It used to be that business owners would face significant upfront costs to install phone lines around the workplace, and again when the business expanded. With VoIP, adding new lines is entirely painless.

Another significant advantage of VoIP is the way it’s able to turn just about any phone into a work phone. In addition to regular telephones, calls can be placed from desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and most smartphones. Calls can be audio-only or, depending on your device’s capabilities, video calls.

Best of all, the upfront savings on installation are just the beginning. Many VoIP providers offer their services at low monthly fees with no maintenance contracts. Compare this to the rates of traditional phone companies and you’ll start to get an idea of how the savings add up. VoIP service in the office also makes use of your existing Internet service, so essentially, your two most invaluable communications technologies have the potential to be rolled into one.

What this all means is that no matter how large or small a given business happens to be, there soon won’t be any reason not to switch to VoIP. By taking inconveniences,unnecessary expenses, and distractions out of the equation, you can get back to the most important thing: growing your business.

Author Bio: This post was written by Cindy Johnson. Cindy is part of a contract author collective that specialize in hot topics within the business and technology field. This piece is completed together with Broadview Networks, one amongst the nation’s leading business telephone system suppliers.