Twin Cost & Flexibility Drivers Spur VoIP for Small Business

According to the FCC, 15 percent of all American businesses have now adopted VoIP—leaving a significant, untapped opportunity within that other 85 percent. In particular, flexibility and cost-effectiveness are the two big reasons why VoIP and IP PBXs—and in particular hosted VoIP/PBX—resonate with small businesses. And, new benchmarking information bears this out in very concrete ways.

For one thing, hosted VoIP cuts down on equipment costs.  “Very little hardware is required, and initially, apart from the computers you already have, it could be zero hardware as you can use your computers and mobile devices for communications,” explained My Business Voice, in a media column. “However, VoIP phones are a good option. They look like a phone, work like a phone, are affordable and even at the entry level have a great range of features, with upgrades which include more sophisticated features such as your company logo on each phone screen and buttons which display any extension’s active status.”

It also cuts down on IT overhead. Unlike on-premises PBX systems, simple VoIP doesn’t require a technician every time a change needs to be made. Adding an extension and the like are easy to self-service.

Then there’s the flexibility part of the equation. Hosted VoIP systems aren’t wedded to circuits and channels—so companies can take only as many extensions as they need, and can “pay as you grow.” That goes for functionality too; companies can add features on-demand, like toll-free numbers, voicemail, call forward, conference calls, call monitoring, blocking unwanted callers, voice message-to-e-mail and music-on-hold.

And, VoIP offers the ability to be less geographically constrained.

“The chances are, as a start-up you won’t have mobile staff or maybe you are the mobile staff, with a hosted PBX, one number can be used by your customers to get you in the office and on the road – we all love convenience,” said My Business Voice. “This is possible as your PBX is hosted in the cloud and available anywhere 24/7.”

Third-party stats echo these assessments. According to a study from Software Advice, a VoIP provider comparison site, the highest percentages of small-business buyers seek new phone systems because they need a more scalable solution to accommodate growth (15 percent), or need to replace an aging system (14 percent).

Older on-premise IP PBX systems don’t offer the functionality of newer ones, and they’re more challenging to use. For instance, one buyer with an on-premise IP PBX purchased in 2005 complains, “We have an auto-attendant, but it’s difficult to use. We have remote checking of voicemail, too, but it’s difficult to use and program.”

Edited by Maurice Nagle