SMB Market: You're Missing Out on Business VoIP Benefits

For the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market, finding ways to do business with fewer resources is pretty much the order of the day. But new reports suggest that SMBs are missing out on one great way to save some cash on making calls in the growing business voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) market, though that may not be the case much longer.

Back in March, Allworx brought out the results of a survey dealing with business phone systems and the SMB market as a whole, and what it found was that SMBs just plain weren't aware of all the options in the field, let alone how those options would work with the companies' needs. But what's particularly noteworthy here is that, despite the fact that the SMBs weren't particularly well aware of the power of VoIP, most—74 percent of those polled—agreed that voice communication was important to the business on several fronts.

Sixty percent called three-way calling one of the most frequently-used features in the business, while 42 percent used intercom functions. 41 percent, meanwhile, put conference call bridges to work. But for the most part, the more advanced features of telecommunications—and some of the more advanced terminology like session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking, hosted private branch exchange (PBX), and unified communications (UC)—were largely unheard of.

But in this lack of understanding there is also opportunity. In the next year or two, almost half of all SMBs surveyed would be looking into new business phone service options. Going out to three years, that number climbs to 86 percent, meaning that there will be plenty of interested businesses looking for new options. One place that many of those businesses will likely be looking to is Nextiva.

With Fit Small Business recently ranking Nextiva as the best overall small business phone system, Nextiva's options for business phone systems might well be some of the best in the market. With personal account representatives to help with installation, and phones sent out to the client's location for setup, Nextiva can offer up what amounts to a professional installation without extra cost. Since Nextiva's prices are also well within line for the SMB market, as Nextiva asks less than $30 per user per month on average, while still offering an array of features. Nextiva can offer unlimited calling throughout the United States, as well as local or 800 number service to allow others to call the business confidently. A professionally-recorded automated assistant or greeting system can be had as well, and both conference calling and online fax are also available.

While Nextiva is clearly a good option for those looking for new business phone services—and there will be plenty of those businesses out looking if the Allworx numbers hold true—there is a clear opportunity here for other businesses to more aggressively pursue the SMB market. Those businesses, therefore, that can make a case for business phone service that particularly emphasizes the needs and expectations of the SMB market will likely come out ahead. Focusing on costs, on benefits returned—the whole value concept—will likely result in new business.

We will have to wait and see if Allworx's numbers bear fruit, and what is done with this new opportunity, but the business phone market may be in for a bit of a renaissance, if companies can take advantage of the new conditions effectively.