If you’re tired of paying the exorbitant prices being dictated by the large corporation phone companies, you might want to look into what the VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) companies are doing nowadays. If you have an internet connection, the only other things you need are a subscription to a hosted VOIP system and the USB connected equipment. Once you have downloaded the VOIP program and connected your phone system, you are all set.
Who in their right mind would not consider this landline alternative, especially after doing a simple cost comparison. Why pay the high monthly fees exacted by the major telephonic corporate entities when you can get the same, perhaps even better, product and service for just a mere fraction of their costs?
Why is it cheaper? Instead of calls being processed over the old commercial telecommunications lines, VOIP voice traffic travels on the internet or over private data network lines. It also reduces the cost of equipment, lines, manpower and maintenance. Everything is integrated into one network, so there is no need for separate PBX lines and any required maintenance and management by a network administrator is now centrally located in just one physical location.
This also eliminates the need for separate teams to manage both a data and voice network, which means there is no need for additional manpower to operate and maintain a VOIP system. The biggest advantage is that this stream-lined operation allows the VOIP company to pass along greater savings for both subscriptions and local and long distance usage, while also reducing costs for international calls, making it even more attractive to consumers and businesses alike.
The other advantage is that while the old phone lines provide voice and fax services, VOIP service allows the users to make live, interactive video calls. Unlike the old phone lines, it also provides media rich communications, which enables users to establish real time tracking of their business associates, friends and families.
Another added bonus is that as long as you have IP access, VOIP also allows you to take your phone number with you wherever you go. This makes it much easier to keep your same phone number when you make a move to a new residence. Plus, if your work requires you to travel extensively, or if you are away on vacation, you won’t have to worry about missing any important calls to your home or business: because its voice mail accounts are accessible through email, VOIP is a must for workers who travel.
Many companies are now using hosted VOIP services for their businesses. The older systems were expensive to set up and maintain and they were always much more difficult to reconfigure. As the demands for better and more cost effective ways of communicating have grown, businesses needed to find a better means of connecting with their clients and employees. By using HTML5 components, VOIP allows for more reliable phone access with faster connections and more complex video data exchanges than the old line system ever offered.
Since there is no hardware involved, VOIP is simple to set up and with the latest technologies, there isn’t even any software to install. Any changes to this system can be sent as a simple update to the entire system. VOIP also offers the standard calling features most companies now rely on: call hold, call transfer, find me/follow me, auto attendant phone menus and, of course, the all-important conference calls. Perhaps the best feature is the virtual faxing (technically known as IP faxing) which uses the VOIP hosting systems internal email to let employees instantly send and receive important documents without the added expense of a separate fax machine, paper or ink. For most businesses, this is a huge savings for the company.
Because VOIP calls are internet-based, hosted VOIP systems are easier to integrate with the business ERP applications you use every day. You can do things like place outbound calls through any established email client your company uses while simultaneously bringing up individual customer records with that customer’s inbound calls. Some hosted VOIP phone systems even offer voice mail transcription as an added option. This invaluable feature actually transcribes voicemail messages into text and routes them to your email account, so you never have to worry about taking detailed, concise notes while conversing with clients or employees.
CEOs and Purchasing Managers used to have to play a continual guessing game when it came to ordering and purchasing telephonic equipment, especially whenever the company would upgrade or change their communications systems. This guess estimating game has been pretty much eliminated because with the VOIP system, you can add a separate phone line for each employee; if and when that employee leaves, you can simply reassign their number to another employee.
Systems administrators have logistic nightmares whenever their company decides to either remodel or move the entire office to a new location. With VOIP as part of their ERP program, that nightmare is over; an employee can simply take their phone number wherever they are reassigned or moved to, either temporarily or permanently.
When taking everything into consideration, this is why it makes perfect sense to use a hosted VOIP system for any business or personal calls. Besides the incredible cost savings for call making, there is an even greater savings because so much less time and manpower is needed to set up, upgrade and maintain it.