Traditional landlines have been centerpieces of the office for decades, but this tenure in the corporate environment is dwindling. Voice-over-Internet-Protocol services are becoming more viable options for businesses interested in promoting enhanced communication at a more affordable rate.
In an interview with BusinessNewsDaily, Tom Hughes, vice president of small business marketing at a major telecommunications company, explained the advantages of VoIP solutions compared to older landlines.
“Being able to connect a phone system with a mobile phone allows for the most efficient and flexible call handling for the small business,” Hughes told the news provider. “This leads to higher customer satisfaction and possibly more business.”
Simply relying on landlines alone may not be enough to remain competitive with more agile firms in the long run.
If employees can communicate with coworkers and customers anywhere at any time using their mobile phones, it goes a long way to supporting the type of service traditional landlines cannot deliver. Not every group of staff members operate from an office, so it is important that businesses keep this in mind when weighing the pros and cons of older options and new services such as VoIP.
Reservations dwindling
Some organizations may believe that Internet speeds have not reached a suitable level to support this new type of workforce. However, Aaron Charlesworth, vice president of marketing and product at a VoIP provider, said broadband connections are becoming more widespread, especially in North America.
SourceChoosing a VoIP vendor that delivers consistent service is a key consideration for first-time adopters. Internet connections can go down for a period of time, making call capabilities challenging. Charlesworth asserted that businesses must ensure they partner with a service provider that offers a contingency plan to avoid downtime, BusinessNewsDaily reported.
VoIP solutions have made such significant strides that some customers are unaware they are even using these services. David Lee, vice president of product management at RingCentral, explained that many carriers have switched over to VoIP “and most folks can’t tell the difference,” according to the news provider.
North American VoIP market will total $9.4 billion in 2019
As Charlesworth emphasizes, North American Internet speeds are constantly improving, so it is not surprising that the North American VoIP industry is poised for healthy growth. A Frost & Sullivan report indicated that the market will expand from $2.8 billion in 2013 to roughly $9.4 billion by 2019.
Michael Brandenburg, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan’s information and communications department, said companies are replacing legacy equipment with unified communications solutions and are implementing both VoIP systems and SIP trunking services to support these suites. He noted that the business recovery and mobile features of VoIP and SIP trunking are not available on older platforms.
Competition among service providers will likely be a major reason behind the North American VoIP market’s impressive growth in the near future. Brandenburg explained that vendors must deliver a wide range of solutions with consistent pricing models to attract customers.
“Many customers are trying to decide whether to keep their communications platforms on-premises or move to the hosted model, and hence, service providers should leverage VoIP capabilities to deliver customer value, rather than continually battle on price,” Brandenburg suggested.
Organizations still relying on outdated communication methods should strongly consider adopting newer options such as VoIP. In addition to the clear productivity and customer service benefits of the solution, VoIP is also a cost-effective platform.