Benefits of VoIP for your business: Five things you should know

Not sure whether to switch to VoIP phones in your office? There are a few key benefits of VoIP for your business so we’ll try and sum them up here.

VoIP – or Voice over Internet Protocol – has surged in popularity over recent years.

According to Juniper Research, there will be one billion VoIP users on mobile devices by 2017. That’s a lot of people – but it doesn’t make it the right fit for your business.

Sceptical? Say no more. Here are five of the biggest benefits of VoIP over traditional phone systems:-

1. VoIP is great value

VoIP is considerably cheaper than using traditional phones. What’s more, calls are free if made between two users with VoIP systems.

The only regular cost is the monthly fee for broadband, which you pay anyway of course.

Studies have found that VoIP can save businesses up to 90% on international calls and up to 40% on local ones.

2. More flexibility on the go

Using VoIP on your smartphone while travelling gives you all the options you would have if you were back in the office.

For example, setting up a conference call is a walk in the park. You can also easily access your office voicemail via email.

There is no more need to forward calls from a work phone to your mobile number – with VoIP you just have the one virtual number, wherever you are in the world.

3. Screen sharing

One of the biggest benefits of VoIP as opposed to traditional phones is the ability to share your screen with others on a conference call.

This can be vital for delivering presentations as the host chooses which files everyone can see and at what time.

4. Video conferencing

Another main benefit of VoIP is the option to host video calls. This feature is very useful for those times when you want to have a meeting in person but can’t, due to distance problems.

When combined with screen sharing for presentations, video conference calling is as close as you can get to a face-to-face meeting without leaving your desk.

5. Instant messaging

Instant messaging through a VoIP system can increase productivity in the workplace by helping cut back on the number of internal emails sent by staff every day.

It is estimated that 40% of staff time is lost on reading internal emails and some companies, such as Atos, have banned them outright!

Instant messaging provided through a VoIP system discourages staff from composing unnecessarily long and formal emails – removing the need for others to read them.

Instead, instant messaging encourages a much quicker form of communication.

Moreover, they help declutter your inbox. Gone are the days of coming back from a meeting to find scores of unread emails.

As instant messages are conversations, you only receive a maximum of one notification from each person who contacts you, no matter how many individual posts they send you.

Summing up – the benefits of VoIP for your business

VoIP can be a godsend for any business looking for a cheap and flexible option. It also has the added bonus of screen sharing, video conferencing and instant messaging.

Southbank-IT provide the outstanding VoIP Cortex, which is highly flexible and can be tailored to suit your specific needs.

If you would like to find out more about the full range of benefits that VoIP can bring to your business, contact our team and we’d be only too happy to help.