For small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), deciding to upgrade to an IP phone system can be difficult. There are a lot of factors to consider, but ultimately IP phones offer a host of advantages that will improve an SMB’s operations and give it a leg up on the competition.

For one, an IP phone system will simplify operations. Using analog-digital phones, a company must maintain separate networks for telephone cables and for the IP network data. With an IP phone system, a company only needs to build and maintain one network—the IP network. As such, you could use a single cable to connect the IP network to the IP phone’s two port switch, and then to the computer using another network cable. As it stands, a lot of companies still need two cables to be hooked up to the network switch for redundancy, which is arguably less efficient.

IP phones also offer mobility to office employees because they can simply be moved from one desk to another and still retain all the same configurations and extension number. And, because IP phones that utilize VoIP can operate off of Wi-Fi signals, you can essentially turn your land-line phone into a mobile phone and carry it around the building—so long as you have a Wi-Fi signal—while still maintaining a call.

Perhaps one of the biggest draws to IP phones, however, is their diversity. While analog phones are not available in many forms, IP phones can come in many colors and sizes, so to speak. There are phones that can run on your computer, Voice over Wi-Fi phones that use the wireless network, soft-clients on mobile phones, and hard IP Phones on the desk. But one particularly noteworthy member of the IP phone family is the incorporation of video. Using a webcam, for example, an employee using an IP phone could video chat with a client while talking over the IP network line. But, employees don’t even have to use a webcam if they have an actual IP video phone with a video screen built right into it.

There are a lot of reasons to make the switch to IP phones, and there are a lot of options to consider. To help sort through some of those business phone options, IP phone provider Yealink will be participating in a webinar with Jenne, a family of manufacturers that recently added Yealink (News - Alert) phones to its lineup. The webinar will be held Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. EST.