It’s not a secret that the VoIP solution industry is taking off faster than a Ferrari on an open country road and the space shows no sign of coming to a stop anytime soon as more companies all over the globe are seeing how implementing these next-generation solutions can improve overall operations.
Last month, Telappliant, an Internet telephony provider for U.K. -based small to medium-sized enterprises, conducted a survey which proved that about seven out of 10 businesses located within the parameters of the United Kingdom will be leveraging VoIP by next year.
With 100 businesses from multiple industries participating in the research, an increasing popular trend is that at this time 41 percent of U.K. companies are already actively using VoIP solutions to drive efficiency within their business, while 25 percent are currently analyzing and will be soon be using VoIP.
What were the most common factors for implementing VoIP solutions, you may be asking? According to the company, the two most prevalent answers were the need "to reduce overall telephony costs for our business" coming in at 68 percent, and "to allow staff more flexibility to work from home or from another location" at 22 percent).
Tan Aksoy, chief executive officer at Telappliant, said in a statement, "In reality, VoIP telephony has moved a long way forward since the days of staff having to plug a headset into their desktop computer. Modern VoIP services are easy to set up, reliable and offer crystal-clear call quality. With advanced telephony features usually only found on high-end phone systems, VoIP gives SMEs a range of tools to compete more effectively with their larger competitors. Functionality such as audio conferencing, call recording and IVRs (Interactive Virtual Receptionists that automatically route calls to the correct department) will enable businesses to work smarter and more efficiently."
Some of the most important facts uncovered from the survey were that VoIP adoption is continuing to grow by the day, with 50 percent of businesses with 100 or more employees already leveraging these services. Also, a quarter of small businesses with at least five employees are already utilizing VoIP telephony services.
Moreover, according to the survey, VoIP solutions, such as those offered by Teo, are helping promote a much more mobile workforce. In fact, over the summer the VoIP solutions provider sponsored its own study entitled, “The State of Unified Communications (News - Alert) : Adoption Drivers in 2011” which clearly depicts that most individuals who played a part in this survey are at this time heavily limited in their ability to work effectively outside the office due to lagging or virtually no UC functionality at all, and that organizations not leveraging unified communications technology may not be reaping the true value of UC in its entirety.
"VoIP is also extremely scalable – and is not just limited to the office," Tan concluded. "Staff can use a special SIM card to extend their office phone extension to any 3G mobile handset, meaning they can carry their desk phone in their pocket. This is ideal for staff that spend a lot of time on the road, home workers or any employee that does not want to be tied to their desk. And because staff are linked directly to the office VoIP network, there are no expensive mobile phone bills. This kind of improved efficiency and saving can’t be ignored by businesses that want to improve their bottom line, or by London-based companies that need to ensure business continuity during the Olympics."
Edited by Carrie Schmelkin