If you’re a small business you might want to grow your team without the expense of an office.
But that creates the challenge of how to keep your team in communication with each other and, just as importantly, how customers can easily get in touch with you and speak to the right person without going through dozens of steps.
You might have heard of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the benefits it has for business by consolidating voice, text and video calls into one network and using the internet (rather than traditional phone lines and copper wiring) to send more data between devices.
But does VoIP actually fit into a small business or is it something that’s more suited to larger organisations with dozens or hundreds of employees spread out over multiple locations?
That’s what we look at in this blog.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is a VoIP phone system?
VoIP is a digital, cloud based phone system that enables users to make and receive voice, text and video calls over the internet, rather than relying on traditional landlines.
Using VoIP can turn all your internet enabled devices (phone, laptop, tablet etc) into a VoIP phone.
You can make these calls to other VoIP phones or enabled devices, as well as phones connected to the old ISDN lines.
From a business perspective, VoIP phone systems are a more effective, cost efficient, flexible and scalable method of managing your calls.
Are VoIP phone systems just for big businesses?
You might think that VoIP is ideal for big businesses (and it is).
But it’s well suited to businesses of all sizes.
Especially today when more businesses are embracing remote working, or adapting to a hybrid model of office and remote.
The biggest advantage of VoIP is that it doesn’t rely on a static phone line like the existing network.
This requires a physical line installed from the street, into the commercial premises and then connected to a physical handset (which can’t be moved).
It’s highly restrictive for small businesses.
VoIP on the otherhand, provides a central business number, but one that can be answered by any employee, on any device, from anywhere.
This is perfect for small businesses.
Not only do you not need the investment of a physical phone line and the hardware, but you have an adaptable phone system that can be managed from anywhere, and easily scaled.
How would a VoIP phone system work in a small business?
There are many advantages for small business using a VoIP phone system.
One of the primary benefits is cost.
It can cost anything upto and above £100 to install a physical phone line into a property.
Then you have the cost of your network and hardware.
With VoIP you only need the cost of your internet connection and the licence subscription (which usually works on a per user basis).
Next is the flexibility you have with VoIP. Not only do you not need dedicated hardware, you don’t even need a phone.
Because VoIP works over the internet it means any internet device can effectively act as a VoIP phone, so employees could just use an app on their computer.
For a small business operating a remote or hybrid working model, VoIP makes the ideal phone system.
That’s because your employees won’t need their work number fixed to a single location and they can answer calls from anywhere.
Are VoIP phone systems for small businesses cost-effective?
Yes.
As we’ve already mentioned, the costs of installing a fixed ISDN/PSTN phone line can cost multiple hundreds of pounds per line.
That’s not even including the cost of ingoing maintenance and support.
WIth a VoIP phone system you just have the cost of your broadband connection and the subscription with your VoIP provider.
Even if you decide to invest in a new broadband connection specifically for your VoIP phone system, the short and long-term costs are significantly cheaper than relying on traditional fixed phone lines.
The maintenance costs of a VoIP system are also signficantly lower. Because it’s cloud based most issues can be resolved remotely, without the costs of an engineer visit.
You don’t even need to buy hardware for your VoIP system provided employees have a computer or phone that can connect to a broadband, 4G or 5G connection.
VoIP is more easily scaled too. All you need to do is add a new user to your subscription and they’ll be ready to go in minutes.
Using traditional fixed lines, you’d need to arrange an engineer to install the new line and buy the necessary hardware.
So from a cost perspective, a small business VoIP phone system is far more effective than traditional lines.
Get the best VoIP small business phone system from Communications Plus
A small business VoIP phone system is an efficient, cost effective and highly scalable communication network that can provide better quality services than traditional phone lines.
By putting all your small businesses voice, text and video calls on one platform that can be answered by any employee, anywhere, and on any device, you can turn your company into a flexible enterprise that can operate in today’s hybrid environment.
Plus, with the existing ISDN/PSTN phone lines due to be turned off in 2025, now is the ideal time to get ahead of the game by moving to an internet phone system that will future proof your business.
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