VoIP is defined as voice over internet protocol. But let’s not get hung up by technicalities – VoIP is just a term used to describe the way that phone calls are carried in a modern context. Like pretty much everything else in the 21st century, like booking a holiday or banking, the internet is used to take care of telephony. So, if you haven’t switched to VoIP as a way of carrying your calls you have to ask yourself why?
Why should I switch?
Well for starters, the old way of making calls is near end of life. The plain old telephone service (POTS) which also is known as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) - is being switched off. By 2025, virtually all of Europe will be using VoIP to make calls. Germany, the Netherlands and Estonia have already gone 100% VoIP and it's forecasted that the rest of the globe will be calling via VoIP by 2030.
So, should my business just wait until then?
Well, your finance chief may not like the fact you’re throwing away money. The average saving for customers of IP Telecom is 65% off their current bills, so if you’re happy to keep throwing money away that’s up to you but doing it for the next three years could be seen as more than a little reckless.
But what about the call quality?
It’s got HD voice and is far superior to the quality of the calls across the old PTSN network. So, quality of the call doesn’t come into your decision – in fact, there are a lot more reasons that you should look at making the switch to VoIP right now, especially with hybrid working and work from anywhere a fact of business life.
What other capabilities does VoIP have?
VoIP gives you the capability to integrate your phone system with multiple business software products and applications – the sort of things that your business already uses on a day-to-day basis like CRM systems, social media advertising, service desk tools and more – have a look at our one-stop-plugin IPT Connect and find out more about the sort of things that VoIP calls can integrate with. And why integrate? Because you can quicken processes, eliminate duplication and keep all customer interactions in one space – allowing you to give your customers a great experience.
Plus, integrated VoIP capability allows you to keep your team fully connected whether they are in office or working from home – calls can be made via the office phone system via systems like Salesforce, Zendesk or Microsoft Teams (via IPT for Teams) – eliminating call forwarding and mobile bills.
VoIP is key when it comes to getting the most from your phone system as well. A phone system – sometimes known as a PBX – gives you all those great business features like multiple phone lines, extensions, voicemail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, conference calling, etc. But because it’s VoIP you can eliminate almost all the line rentals that you’re currently paying saving you a huge amount every month. IP Telecoms Hosted Phone System gives you the best features of a PBX, but because it's cloud-based, it’s 100% accessible from anywhere, will never come to end-of-life and avoids the upfront costs of on-premises machines.
Want to learn more? Talk to our team today and see what the IP Telecom solution suite can do for your business