Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has been proven to be a cost-saving approach to communications within the enterprise, but pushing for a major upgrade to the enterprise phone system during a recession could easily be met with opposition.

Despite the upfront cost requirements that may present an obstacle, companies must look at the bigger picture to understand the cost savings and increases in efficiency that are provided by a converged voice-data network. In short, a recession is a perfect time to move to VoIP phone service.

 

AVendorGuru.com article, “Making the Case for VoIP in a Recession,” shares the value proposition of a VoIP system in this current economic climate. The article hits on the economic benefits, as well as the implementation and features of VoIP that greatly enhance the overall approach to communications within the enterprise.

In looking at the economic benefit, many companies have been able to realize substantial savings on their monthly bills by switching to VoIP. Not only are there inherent efficiency benefits in using the same network to transmit voice signals and data, but VoIP providers are generally a better value. VoIP can also deliver unlimited long distance, which benefits those companies with multiple locations around the world. 

VoIP can also help to reduce travel costs, which is a significant recession-era benefit. With low-cost communications between different geographic locations, communication between offices, business partners and customers, the need for travel is reduced. There is also a reduced overhead expense as business phone systems can promote remote workers’ access to the company network, allowing for telework and telecommuting. 

Cutting costs is certainly the primary benefit of VoIP phone service, while the efficient use of resources can rescue a business. A VoIP rollout has been proven to help businesses to maximize their human and capital resources. It also allows for phased implementation and operational agility.

Company employees are also feeling the impact of the recession with many of them responsible for more in their daily activities with less pay. Employee cuts have led to more pressure on employees and they need to be empowered to be able to do their best work. VoIP is able to enhance worker productivity by facilitating collaboration among employees and partners.

While on-premise VoIP offers great benefits, hosted VoIP delivers an even stronger value proposition. This platform offers a low upfront investment, access to state-of-the-art technology, scalability, and less IT impact.

According to Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert), the recession is improving the prospects for hosted VoIP in 2009 as,  “the lack of hefty capital investment budgets on the part of many small and medium enterprises (SMEs)” as “the key driver for the North American hosted IP telephony and VoIP access service markets.” The recession offers the perfect time to make changes that streamline operations and cut costs, while also improving overall operations. Hosted VoIP could provide the perfect solution to meet these objectives.