Why VoIP is Better for you Small Business
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is nothing new to the average American consumer- many of ususe Skype and Google Voice. However in the business and enterprise space, traditional phone PBX systems are becoming obsolete.
Now, with the large influx of start-ups and small businesses in the US, the need to generate revenue requires employees to be off-site, meeting with prospects and customers, or working from home. The amount of small businesses accounts for an immense part of the US business population. 89.8% of US businesses are made up of 20 workers or less, and 99.7% of business have 500 or less workers (according to US Census Bureau).
The large amounts of small businesses in the US have driven demand for VoIP phone systems- a cheaper, more effective “bang-for-your-buck” communication network. VoIP is suitable for small businesses, since many employees are nowadays off-site or working from home.
So, what’s great about VoIP? Instead of plugging your phone line into the wall, VoIP converts analog voice calls into packets of data that are sent over the Internet, and travel from point A to B. The packets travel like any other type of data, such as e-mail, over the public or private Internet Protocol (IP) network. Using your smartphone, computer, or even your old analog phone with an adapter, you can call landlines or cell phones, or computer-to-computer.
Telnexus, located in Berkeley, CA is a phone system, Internet and managed service provider. It services many professional service businesses that have traditionally used old analog PBX systems. Telnexus VoIP service combinesvoice, data, and video into a single, easy-to-manage solution.
A PBX with VoIP means that other apps can interact with it in the same network. A cloud-based PBX takes this concept even further, removing the hardware infrastructure and providing a standard API for application access. Telnexus provides both of these. The Telnexus Cloud PBX does not require an on-premise server – instead we use the most modern and reliable hosted PBX service.
Just like any cloud computing service, the Telnexus Cloud PBX is ideal for quickly growing, multi-location enterprises. We partner with Kazoo’s 2600 Hz platform, and our customer communication systems are backed up on multiple different servers to prevent information loss. All systems and phone lines are managed in the cloud- making it easier to add or remove lines and users.
VoIP Helps You Focus on your Business
As I speak with more and more of our customers, I continually notice the competitive edge they are receiving. I’ve broken down the benefits to four key points:
- When you switch to an IP-based unified communications system, you can increase productivity because all your communication tools are simplified. You can secure your voice and data. Employees can maintain access to your company’s network, whether they are working on or off-site. They’ll will stay connected, and can work anywherewith an Internet connection.
- It saves money. Especially for a small-medium sized business, the costs associated with the old phone companies(AT&T, Verizon) do not offset the time and resources required to add new lines or services such as online conferencing. VoIP makes it easy to add extra phone lines as small businesses onboard new employees. The IP network allows you to send multiple phone calls across the network. You’ll save money by having one network to manage instead of multiple separate ones. You can easily add, move, or change phone extensions and locations, which saves money and gives you more flexibility.
- VoIP helps you improve communication with customers and employees, which drives your revenues. I once spoke to a customer that previously used AT&T technology. The customer mentioned that their phone and Internet systems were down for a day and they reached out to that old phone company. A couple days later, still no response. The customer quoted they were “sitting on their hands” without their communication systems up and running. This put them at an extreme competitive disadvantage- especially as a start-up in a market with low barriers to entry and high quantity of competitors. AT&T couldn’t service its customer, which affected that customer because it couldn’t communicate with its customers (confusing, I know) – something I like to call the linkage effect.
- It works on top of your existing system. The technology is scalable, and adding users is easy. Many business are still using the traditional PBX systems, and even if companies are buying IP PBXs for new employees or executives, they can maintain the older phones.
If a network problem comes up, small businesses don’t have the resources, capital and time to spend fixing their own technology problems. Instead. they should be focusing on running their own business. With many larger companies I’ve worked with, they often adopt both VoIP soft phones and traditional hardware phones. Today, a small business phone system is becoming part of a converged network—an Internet Protocol (IP) network that ties together voice, data, video conferencing, wireless, instant messaging, and other communications tools. The converged network makes business communications more affordable.
The Bottom Line:
Small businesses are constantly looking for ways to grow. And adopting VoIP provides a platform to help employees be more productive and collaborative, which in turn produces speedy, efficient decision-making.
For more information about how you can save money on your phone bill, get a quote!
