Advances in mobility have changed the workplace drastically and for the better. For example, mobile VoIP enables cheap calling to anywhere in the world while on the go. Meanwhile, many employees are now able to access work networks from their own personal mobile devices thanks to an increase in BYOD (bring your own device) adoption by many companies in varying industries.
However, while mobile VoIP enables employees to ignore the confines of the office and effectively work from anywhere, BYOD has helped create stronger ties to the office. Together, these two business trends have changed the way business is done both in the office and outside of it.
In terms of mobile VoIP, there are numerous options available to users from mobile apps (Google Voice, Facebook Messenger, Skype (News - Alert) Mobile) to provider apps (Vocalocity, 8x8, RingCentral) and softphones (Bria, Opera and 3CXPhone). Any of these allow users to access their VoIP service from any device, making home or remote offices easier to setup and far more viable.
BYOD adoption, on the other hand, has helped repurpose the workplace as it allows users to connect their personal mobile devices — smartphones, tablets, laptops — to the corporate network. This has helped reshape how the traditional office is viewed as it frees employees from their desks and desktop computers. Mobile VoIP also plays a role in this as it severs the other significant tie to the desk: the office phone. Likewise, BYOD allows users to have the exact same calling experience as the office while on the go.
Furthermore, with a more mobile-ready workforce made possible with mobile VoIP and BYOD, fewer employees are necessary in the main office, allowing businesses to share office space for greater cost and space efficiency.
Many traditional VoIP providers, such as VoIPVoIP.com, have begun to take notice of this trend too, allowing users to use virtually any softphone, VoIP adapter, gateway, IP phone or IP PBX (News - Alert) system as long as it supports SIP. In fact, this service enables users to use their own device and place calls to different destinations using different providers to get the lowest call rate every time.
For businesses looking to minimize costs while maximizing efficiency, it seems that mobile VoIP is something of a no brainer.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey