Whilst other technologies such as email and online chat are growing, the telephone system is still considered an essential communications hub at the heart of any business.
Phone systems tend to have a long lifespan, unlike computers, and can last decades as oppose to years – serving the same purpose. However, whilst a phone call is a phone call, there are business benefits to be had from moving to an updated modern VoIP phone system.
What is a VoIP Hosted Telephone System?
A VoIP telephone system runs over a data or internet connection as oppose to traditional phone lines such as ISDN or basic analogue. Note: ISDN in the UK is to be discontinued by 2025.
A Hosted Telephone System simply means that the phone system hardware is located at a data centre and only the telephone handsets are located in the office (or at people’s homes).
Is a VoIP business phone system reliable?
VoIP has been around since 1995 and is well established with an estimated 204 billion corporate consumers of VoIP by the end of 2020. Gartner predicts that by the end of 2021 90% of IT leaders will cease purchasing traditional on-premise phone systems.
Usage and reliability of VoIP is now well established and more reliable than traditional systems because in the case of equipment or line failure, calls can be easily re-routed.
A VoIP Hosted Telephone System is often just referred to as a Hosted Phone System.
The Top Business Benefits of a Hosted Phone System
- Reduce cost
Whilst the cost of calls within the UK are already free or very low for both fixed lines and VoIP, it is the savings on the line rental itself that is beneficial. You can share your internet line with your phone lines without sacrificing quality or reliability.
Most organisations now have fast reliable internet services which are typically available at a much lower cost these days.
VoIP calls take very little bandwidth. 10 concurrent calls, the equivalent of 10 lines, takes around 1Mbps. Even with internet circuits of 10Mbps (slow in today’s terms) that still leaves 9Mbps for internet and 1Mbps for calls.
A typical ISDN line (channel) from BT is 26 pounds per month. That’s 260 per month for 10 channels! Whereas Hosted Phone Systems are often around £10 per user per month with little upfront cost.
- Feature Rich
Hosted Phone Systems are packed with features, often at a low additional cost or no extra charge, which are either expensive or difficult to update/maintain on traditional phone systems; some of those features include:
- Call Recording
- Call Management Dashboards
- Wallboards
- Voicemail to Email
- Extension Portability
- Desktop Dialling and Phone Features Access
- Phone System Mobility
The majority of Hosted Phone Systems come with a mobile app you can connect to using your iPhone or Android device. With this app you can connect to your extension just as if you were connected to your desk phone.
This feature is ideal for business managers or sales teams where they are often away from their desk but would benefit from the full range of features on their desk phone, such as call recording, whilst not in the office.
- Reliability and Disaster Recovery
A concern often raised about Hosted Phone Systems is the fact that if the internet stops working, so does the ability to make calls. However, this doesn’t have to occur with the right technical configuration in place.
Call-forwarding, like other features in Hosted Phone Systems, is incredibly flexible.
The capability to choose where your calls are forwarded, and how, means that you also don’t have to lose productivity because of local power outages or weather-related events. If the office phone can’t be answered, your mobile device or laptop can.
- Software Integration
Most Hosted Phone Systems now allow integration into CRM systems or Office applications which can make tracking calls against clients, filing call recordings or auto/click dialing for sales teams much simpler.
With the phone system being IT based, it makes it much easier to integrate the IT into the phone system.
Hosted Phone Systems bring a range of business benefits and cost savings. With 90% of IT leaders choosing Hosted Phone Systems by the end of 2021 we believe it is time for everyone to look at this option.
To take the next step contact Pensar to arrange an assessment of your existing phone system and calculate the savings by moving to a Hosted Phone System.
The Top Business Benefits of moving to a VoIP Hosted Telephone System