About one in three employees worldwide is now working for a company using 100% remote working – according to research by Buffer.

The rapid rise in remote and flexible working in the last few years has seen a huge shift towards cloud based tools and applications – and their phone systems have been no exception.

Voice over Internet Protocol has already seen significant growth in recent years, and the trend is expected to increase for at least the next few years with the global market for VoIP products predicted to reach $102.5billion by 2026, up from around $85.2billion in 2021.

One of the reasons is the cost effectiveness of Voice over Internet Protocol phone systems and other cloud based platforms.

More than 80% of companies that have moved to cloud based services and applications like VoIP later reported a reduction in operating costs, according to a study by Microsoft.

So, with the long-term cost effectiveness of VoIP services clear for all to see, how much does it cost to start with a Voice over Internet Protocol phone system?

Breaking down the costs of a VoIP phone system

The initial breakdown of costs for a VoIP phone system is essentially the same as that of a traditional phone system in that you’ll have to account for:

• The initial upfront costs for the hardware, software and internet connection
• The monthly ‘subscription’ costs for your internet connection and applications

One thing that’s worth noting though is that the initial upfront costs for a VoIP phone system are significantly cheaper than a traditional phone system.

You can purchase dedicated VoIP phones (which are compatible with the messaging and video calling that comes with voice over IP) but you can just as easily use your company’s existing smartphones, laptops or tablets if you want to avoid any capital costs.

After any upfront costs, the recurring costs will be for the licences for the VoIP platform based on the number of users you have.

This is also significantly cheaper than using a traditional landline because you know you’re only paying for the number of licences you’re actually using – rather than buying excess phone lines and only using a few of them.

As more people join the company you can buy new licences, or you can cancel them if you need less capacity.

The ongoing maintenance costs are also significantly less than a traditional PBX phone line too.

With a traditional phone line, any issues require an engineer to come out and assess any problems with the cable, and also potentially check issues with your hardware, this isn’t just costly, it’s time consuming.

With VoIP phone systems, because the platform operates over the internet, there’s no need for the ongoing maintenance costs as upgrades are handled remotely and performance issues can also be handled remotely.

Is a VoIP phone system cheaper than a landline?

In short, yes.

Not only does a VoIP system not need the same hardware costs as a traditional landline, it doesn’t have many of the ongoing costs and maintenance expenses you’ll have.

This is particularly true when it comes to making international calls.

Because old phone lines carry international calls over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTD) it adds additional costs to the caller because the signal is travelling over such a large distance.

However, because VoIP calls work over the internet, you don’t have the additional charges to make international calls.

Ultimately, a voice over IP phone system drives down the costs of phone calls in your business while increasing the flexibility of the calls you can handle.

Get a more cost effective, and efficient phone system with VoIP from Communications Plus

If you want to take your business’ communication to the next level then get in touch to find out how a VoIP system can benefit you.

By removing the rigid, static phone lines you’ve relied on in the past and moving your call management to a cloud based platform, you can release employees from their shackles of outdated phone systems and allow them to manage calls from anywhere.

At Communications Plus we provide a range of internet based phone networks that can help improve how your business handles calls.

Want to find out more?