Even though, Internet Protocol Telephony has a lot of potential, yet it is one of those underused tools for small businesses. Savvy businesses prefer using the cloud, but cloud technology is far costlier than IP telephone. It also offers better flexibility and functionality also than those prototype telephone systems.
Another name for IP telephony is Voice over Internet protocol, in short VoIP. It is a simple process of making calls online instead of a telephone connection. It has other benefits too, which is slowly being understood by the small business concerns.
Nowadays laptops and almost all mobile devices have internet on them. This is the best platform for the IP telephony, and since it is backed up with self-help instructions, customer care desks they are gathering momentum in their preference.
The Benefits
Medium and small enterprises can derive immense benefits from shifting to VoIP calls rather than the telephone calls. With the advanced broadband IP technology has immense scope for SMEs.
Here are how they are more preferable-
1. Less costly: This is the primary reason as due to excessive competition the cost has come down significantly, and this is just the aspect the medium and small businesses need to utilize. Even a lower investment in the area can reap immense benefits than the traditional calling facilities.
2. Ideal choice: There are various choices in telephone services meant for businesses and each of them has their own individual feature in internet protocol telephony. Land-line business service providers are delimited with features, and they also need to establish a proper infrastructure to start working. But not so with IP telephony; the infrastructure of communication already exists in most cases and only the plan has to be availed, hence a lot of plans are noticed. Well this encourages competition surely!
3. Extremely flexible: Flexibility is immense in IP telephone and you can expand your network any time you want to. As your business spreads and flourishes you must understand how beneficial it will be.
4. Functionally better: IP telephone gives you options that are not available for the land-line connection. They are video conferencing and calling three ways.
5. Capability to connect remotely: Remote working is the latest trend in businesses and this poses a lot of competition to the SMEs. But with the IP telephone technology getting connected remotely will become extremely convenient. This convenience is even hard to think of for the traditional calling services. A basic broadband connection can let anybody get connected to the work force.
Will the shifting be extremely difficult?
You must be wondering how to establish IP telephony in your office, but this is not at all a difficult task. Only an internet connection and 56k modem can let you establish your IP telephone. If you have fiber optic broadband it is unbeatable and hence the best for IP, and with the various plans and deals this is extremely convenient also. Many large businesses have their own IP systems.
Who is availing the benefit?
IP telephone is not a novel concept. It is rather some years old now, and many have successfully shifted over to this mode of communication. Take, for example, the incidence of the largest libraries of USA called JMRL. As soon as they improved their broadband capacity they shifted to VoIP from their existing landlines.
Small entrepreneurs are making the best use of IP telephony nowadays. It is flexible, functional and extremely cost efficient.