The telecoms industry is gradually switching over to an all VoIP model. But as a business you don’t have to wait for it to change, there are some advantages to be had by switching now.
1 Future proof
As we’ve said, the old PSTN network will eventually be switched off, moving everyone to IP – https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/19/bt_pushes_ahead_with_plans_to_switch_off_traditional_telephone_network/. By upgrading to VoIP ahead of time you don’t risk your system becoming redundant and you ensure that you’re future proof.
2 Reliability
In its early days, the quality of VoIP was somewhat hit and miss. However, thanks to faster internet connections and improvements in technology it’s now just as reliable as PSTN and may even be more so.
3 Cost
The big driver for VoIP is, of course, cost. Using AZ termination from a supplier like https://www.idtexpress.com/blog/category/voice-termination/ can save you money on call costs, but you are also saving on not having to rent an ISDN line, and maybe by doing away with your in-house PBX and hosting your phone system in the cloud instead.
4 Flexible and scalable
Because it’s largely software based, VoIP telephony offers a lot of flexibility. You can have as many features as you need and easily add new ones as required. Similarly, it’s flexible; if you need extra capacity as your business grows there’s no need to suffer the lead times of installing an extra ISDN line. Provided you have sufficient internet bandwidth you can simply ramp up your call capacity.
5 Mobility
Another advantage to VoIP is that all of your staff can use the same system. It doesn’t matter whether they are in a branch office, working from home, or out and about with a smartphone, they can all access the same system. That means they have all the advantages of features like voicemail, conference calls and so on, wherever they are. They also need only one business number and calls will be able to find them anywhere.
6 Business continuity
It’s important to plan for the worst, and with a VoIP phone system, it becomes much easier to get your business up and running again in the event of a problem. Provided you have an internet connection you can access your phone system from anywhere, so it’s no problem if you have to relocate your office.
