Having the right technology is critical for any small business. You operate lean and focus on growth, so your investment in tech must be at the right time and for the right reasons. VoIP (voice over IP) adoption can deliver many advantages for you. The VoIP benefits for small business are substantial.
When will you know you’re ready to transition to VoIP? Let’s find out.
The Signs You’re Ready to Adopt VoIP
VoIP is the next generation for voice calls. It’s not like legacy phone systems that use traditional analog signals. Instead, you make and receive calls over the internet. This provides many benefits that a modern business can’t grow without.
If you’re unsure of “when” to look into VoIP, then you’ll want to look at these eight signs. If they illustrate your business, it’s clear you’re ready for VoIP.
You have remote workers
Since the pandemic, the work from wherever scenario became a necessity. No matter what the next few years hold, a hybrid workforce is likely the model of the future. This is because traditional phones aren’t available outside your physical space unless you configure a way to forward the calls.
On the other hand, VoIP provides your team the ability to use their phones from anywhere. They can use a desktop or mobile app. As long as you have an internet connection, there’s no disturbance in availability.
Accessibility without the literal cord is one of the most important benefits of VoIP for small businesses. It will enable you to grow and scale without being beholden to your office constraints.
You’re in hyper-growth mode
For companies thriving and hiring, you don’t want a phone system that can’t scale with ease. On-premises phones require a call to your provider, new hardware, and other hoops to jump through to add users.
When you’re in rapid growth mode, that slows down your new employee onboarding process. You need those employees to get up to speed fast, and VoIP lets you do that. The admin only needs to add the new person to the account. It takes a few minutes, and that’s it.
Your call volume is growing
If your company is witnessing substantial growth in call volume from customers, prospects, or partners, it’s time to consider the switch. Old telephony systems don’t have the sophistication that VoIP has, which offers the ability to use IVR (Interactive Voice Response).
IVR delivers the messages that play when anyone calls your main number. It provides callers with options on where to direct the call. It can also include standard information like your address, hours of operations, and more.
By using IVR, you can manage your queue better. Additionally, with a modern VoIP platform, you can easily change and update your IVR to meet your callers’ needs.
Your call quality is worsening
First and foremost, a phone system has to work properly. If you’re constantly hearing static or finding calls drop, your service isn’t reliable. In addition, any downtime to your phone system likely translates to lost revenue.
VoIP phones are clear, no matter where you are. Further, they typically have a much higher uptime than other products. VoIP has high-definition audio, so you can expect high-quality sound from this type of solution.
Your call costs are increasing
Finding savings is a pursuit of any small business. Your phone system is one budget line you can reduce. On-premises phones are expensive to maintain and scale. You’re paying for on-site hardware and technician time.
With VoIP, you’ll save tremendously on your phone costs. There’s no hardware to maintain, and technicians aren’t necessary to make changes or add new lines. You’ll see a dramatic cost reduction relating to your phones that you can reinvest in other parts of your business.
You’re adding a new location
As your business expands, your technology stack must be able to meet the needs of multiple locations. Continuing with traditional phones will require a significant investment to get things up and running. However, there are better ways to spend that money.
VoIP is a flexible technology that can encompass your entire organization, no matter the location. All you need to do is add the new lines. Managing more than one facility is already challenging; your phone system shouldn’t make things harder.
You want to integrate communications into one platform
VoIP is one part of a unified communications (UC) solution. If you want to consolidate voice, chat, video conferencing, and file sharing, you’ll need to adopt VoIP for phones. Integrating with a legacy phone system isn’t possible.
In one system, you can offer all the tools that your employees need from one interface. It will also reduce costs and streamline processes. Your team will be more productive and efficient because they don’t need to bounce around between systems. This seamless integration of resources can make your employees’ day-to-day workflows simpler.
You have concerns about business continuity
If a disaster strikes, old phone systems are dead. As a result, you may not be able to serve customers or communicate internally. One essential element to surviving such an ordeal is to maintain a working communication system.
With VoIP, you can still make and get calls on mobile phones. By accessing the app, you remain available to all stakeholders, suffering as little interruption as possible.