Business VoIP Makes the Most Sense for Startups

There are many considerations when setting up a new business, and one is phone service.

When launching a business, there are three major ways that phone service can be deployed: A traditional analogue business phone system can be deployed, a business VoIP system can be used, or landlines can be ignored entirely in favor of exclusive cell phone use.

The advantages of traditional analogue phone service are shrinking by the day, but there still are some reasons why a new business might choose the old school route. If the power or Internet goes out, a traditional phone system will keep functioning. Call quality typically is good, too, and there is a massive ecosystem supporting traditional business phone systems.

These advantages are often dwarfed by the upside of business VoIP systems, however. VoIP systems, often offered as a cloud service, come at a much lower price point because Internet transmission is more cost effective; they often offer unlimited calling for a low flat fee. Further, business VoIP systems such as Nextiva come with a wide variety of features, such as hold music, virtual PBX, silent call barging, call forwarding and voice to text transcription.

The typical issues with VoIP solutions largely have been ironed out, too; call quality often is higher than analogue calls these days, with high-definition voice that surpasses analogue calling. VoIP business phone systems also can be routed to cell phones and laptops if there is a power outage or Internet connectivity issue, making them less prone to outage.

That brings us to the third major calling option for the new business: skipping landlines entirely and relying only on company-provided or personal cell phones.

On the face of it, relying solely on cell phones might sound appealing and like the “modern” way to set up calling. It offers great mobility, and most workers already have some form of mobile access. But there are downsides, too.

Specifically, there are the dual issues of battery life and continuity. While cell phone battery life has increased over the years, there still is the issue of poor battery management that can lead to occasional lack of phone service. There also is the problem of what to do when an employee leaves a company—does the phone extension leave the company?

For these reasons, relying solely on cellular service is not the ideal way to set up phone service for a new business.

Overall, the most compelling route is business VoIP. It offers affordable pricing, has great flexibility, and mixes the reliability of traditional business phone systems with the convenience of modern calling solutions. While each calling system has its place, most businesses will want to go with a business VoIP solution.