VoIP has been around long enough that most everyone knows it is both cost effective and efficient. Beyond that, anyone who isn’t an IT professional or network administrator might not realize the many capabilities beyond the financial and productive ones.
There’s a lot of talk about VoIP – how it’s great but still has its pitfalls. Some say the sound quality is poor, that it is too much of a hassle to implement or that upgrades are really costly. Then there’s the notion that it costs a lot of money up front. In reality, VoIP is full of surprising capabilities, and there are quite a few choices when it comes to which to implement.
1. VoIP is extremely reliable. The technology has improved significantly since its earlier days. All that is required is an adequate Internet connection. By talking to providers, you’ll be able to determine how much bandwidth you’ll need to support your VoIP needs. Knowing this information is crucial to maintaining a good VoIP connection.
2. VoIP is great for the small guy. Small businesses usually don’t have large cash reserves, dedicated research departments, fully-staffed IT functions, strategic planning departments, etc., to address challenges and opportunities, as their resources are extremely limited. VoIP technology is cost efficient, which in turn adds to the savings of consumers and companies using it. Generally, it can save a company almost half on its traditional phone bill (and sometimes more). For small organizations, these savings can be very important.
3. VoIP sound clarity is actually quite good. Since broadband has seen improvements over the years, so has VoIP. What we have now is packets able to travel through the Internet faster, delivering crisp, clear VoIP at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephony.
4. VoIP is secure. Are you comfortable banking with your Internet connection? If the answer is yes, then you shouldn’t be worried about your VoIP connection. Developers are constantly developing sophisticated defense measures like firewalls, redundancy and encryption to ensure solid, reliable security. While the fear of toll fraud is real, it’s not as common as you might think, and methods exist to combat it.
VoIP is one of the most cost effective telephony methods available, which is why millions of people use it and more and more are making the switch each year. With all of its features and capabilities, it’s a sound choice for businesses in need of reliable communications without a complicated bill.
Edited by Blaise McNamee