Communication plays a critical role in holding up any organization. In fact, studies have found that businesses that have a strong communications network can outperform their competitors thrice the number of times than others with a not-so-impressive communications network. However, not too long ago, business communications networks were anything but extraordinary. If anything, they were incredibly basic with maybe a couple of phone lines bound to office desks and manual note-taking.
But in the last couple of decades, communication solutions have evolved a great deal and the technology of VoIP has a huge part to play in it.
What is VoIP?
VoIP is the new era of communications. While traditionally phone systems involved transmitting calls via underground cables through a PBX (Private Branch Exchange), the technology of VoIP takes communications online by delivering calls over the internet. The VoIP network makes use of SIP Trunking to break down voice messages sent from one end into tiny data packets, which are then delivered over the World Wide Web to the other end of the communications network, after being reassembled with the help of codecs in the system. This doesn’t just eliminate the need for extensive wiring, but it also allows people to work in and out of their office space, offering complete mobility.
By incorporating VoIP solutions into their business communications networks, businesses can enjoy a wider range of communication possibilities than they could with traditional telephony. This is especially helpful for small businesses because traditional phone systems don’t offer much more than a few extension lines, a voicemail and a dial tone (if we’re going all out here). On the other hand, IP phone systems can be a real game-changer. For example, let’s assume you run a convenience store and one of your employees have called in sick, with the help of a VoIP run network, you can inform all your other employees of being one member short at once. This way, not only are you able to communicate the situation with your staff better, but you’re also able to find a replacement almost immediately for your absent employee because if there’s someone on the team who wants to cover the extra shift can do so simply by pressing a single button on their IP phone.
But that’s just one of the many advantages of using VoIP to improve your internal business communication networks. In reality, introducing VoIP to your communication network can do wonders for your internal communications and that’s because there are so many options that you can incorporate into your system.
Types of VoIP Communication Networks that Your Business can Enjoy
You can either go for a cloud-hosted VoIP service, like RingCentral or Vonage that’ll allow you cost-effective communications with minimum installation charges and free or inexpensive services.
Other than this, you can build your own IP communications network and host it on-premise. This might come with a high initial cost, but you’ll have complete control over your connections.
Finally, you can enjoy a hybrid system, where you incorporate IP phones into your current phone system, so you can keep making use of your existing phone lines, on days when the power is out because VoIP runs on your internet connection, which might go out if there’s no power.
How Does a VoIP run Communication Network Benefit Your Business?
VoIP solutions for your business communications are indefinitely better than traditional telephony because unlike landline that just works at providing you with communication solutions, VoIP strives to make your communications better.
In fact, it does so in a number of ways, some of which are listed below:
Cost-Minimization
With minimum equipment and installation gear involved and extremely inexpensive calling rates, especially for long-distance calls, VoIP solutions make it incredibly for your team to communicate and collaborate no matter where you are. In fact, many VoIP service providers offer unlimited calling to a number of countries, so you can call anytime, anywhere you like and that too free of cost. And even when you run out of your allotted free international minutes, the per-minute charge is still marginally lesser than what you would be paying on a landline connection. As a result, you’re able to allocate your budget and resources to improving your employees’ productivity levels, perhaps by arranging for training sessions.
Boost in Productivity
Speaking of enhanced productivity and efficiency; VoIP communication networks allow for seamless call transfers and forwarding, improving the overall communication experience of your team, which automatically increases their job motivation, encouraging them to perform better.
As a result, your organization as a whole grows and benefits from the smooth flowing communications.
Business Conferences
Your business no longer needs to have a designated conference room, neither are you required to assemble all your team members in an office space to communicate your instructions or collaborate on ideas. With VoIP solutions, you can call for a virtual conference whenever, wherever. In fact, since many VoIP services also provide video calling, you can host entire presentations on your mobile devices. This allows your remote workers to explore their horizons while still staying connected to the main server. So, you could be sitting in your home study and still lead your team through project details.
CRM integrations
Having VoIP solutions for your communication network, won’t only improve your internal communications, rather it’s beneficial for your customer relations as well. This is because VoIP solutions can integrate with CRM platforms like Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and many more that enhance your customers’ communication experience. As a result, your customers are satisfied with your services and stay loyal to your brand.
Is it Safer?
Security usually gets swept under the carpet when it comes to communication solutions because businesses are primarily concerned with getting their word across but as the modern world is progressing, security is a major concern for firms because there are parties on the internet that can infringe your privacy and misuse your internal data.
The good news is that having an on-premise VoIP network can completely eliminate this concern as it’s entirely under your control. However, if you’re signing up for a cloud-hosted service, which is extremely secure as well, you should consult your VoIP service provider to inquire after their privacy policy.
