Submitted by voipexperts
Fri, 22 Jul 2011

If you run a small business, then you are probably always on the lookout for ideas that will maximise efficiency and lower your costs. So why not consider VoIP? Its voice over IP allows you to use the internet in order to make and receive calls.

Internet telephony is not a new technology, however only in recent years have technological advances made it a serious contender for business communications. So where once internet telephony may have been unreliable and unfeasible, these days a well-planned and implemented VoIP system can provide a small business with decent quality and reliability that can rival its landline competitors.

Benefits for Small Business

VoIP can offer small businesses with a range of advantages; they generally boil down to a lower cost, less complexity and a far more advanced communication setup.

It has to be said, VoIP’s main attraction where small businesses are concerned is the potential to save costs. Conventional business phone service can be quite expensive when you think about the cost of multiple phone lines along with extra charges for some features such as a conference call.

VoIP allows business to take voice calls across the same data network which is used for everyday web access and email. This eradicates the cost of dedicated voice lines. Additionally, VoIP providers don’t usually charge extra for those added calling features. Often you will find that VoIP providers offer unlimited calls (both local and long distance) for a flat fee. For these reasons it is not hard to see how VoIP could save your small business some serious money.

On top of lower-cost phone calls, VoIP will simplify the systems technology infrastructure. As you will be getting rid of your dedicated voice line there will no longer be the need to administer separate data networks. Since each data network usually has its own separate equipment and host, you will be paying less.

Beyond saving you money, VoIP could also increase productivity in your small business by allowing communications and the freedom to become mobile in a way which it has not enjoyed before. Whilst mobile phones allow you to keep in touch with staff members that are on the road, they will not have access to the whole office whilst away. However, take a VoIP phone and they will be able to receive and make telephone calls as if they were at their desk. Also if a member of staff is travelling on business then they will not have to worry about extortionate roaming charges, as they will have their VoIP phone which will allow them to make calls back to anywhere around the globe.

In order to get the most from VoIP your small business will need a high speed broadband internet connection. A good way to measure this is consider your amount of employees; you will need to have enough capacity for roughly one third of them. So if have thirty staff members you should allow for ten of them to be on the phone at any given time.