How Much Can You Save with a VoIP Phone Service?

One of the most common reasons for a business to switch to VoIP is cost. Business owners and managers want to reduce their monthly bills. VoIP will – almost always – give you overall cost savings. You can even manage individual costs to increase the savings even more. Service providers are used to hearing the same question from managers – how much will I save if I switch to VoIP?

While it is almost certain that you will pay less with hosted VoIP, the exact number will depend on the choices you make. VoIP allows you to choose the type of hardware, the number of lines, and even the exact features you need. That means no two businesses will have the same setup or reduce their bills by the same amount.

A few areas where VoIP will significantly reduce costs for your company include:

Fees Per User

Businesses are familiar with the concept of billing per user. The VoIP industry uses this as well. However, the definition of a user is one you may not be familiar with. Most VoIP subscription plans have nothing to do with the number of employees or the number of phones in your office. Your service provider cares about the number of lines you need open simultaneously.

If you expect to have a maximum of 50 customers on the line, then you need 50 users. An employee can have their line active on more than one device at a time. It still counts as one user. More than one user can share a single phone line as well. In general, small businesses with a handful of workers will pay more per user. But your overall bill will still be quite a bit less than your current landline plan.

Fees and Charges for Specific Features

Most service providers include the essentials in their basic plans. The ability to use multiple devices, easy call management, access to a web dashboard etc. count as essentials. If your business needs only the basics, then your monthly phone bill will be small. But quite a few organizations need more than that.

Hosted VoIP vendors have you covered even then. You can add many of the optional features to your plan for a small fee. What’s more, you can remove them at any time as well. That means, you only pay for the feature when you use it. You are under no obligation to continue paying long after you have no use for it.

This means that your savings can fluctuate depending on how many lines and features you are using at any given time. What’s important is that you can get started with a basic phone service for very little.

Phone Contracts

Unlike traditional carriers, most VoIP vendors don’t rely on contracts for everything. You don’t need a service plan, maintenance plan, and pay even more for periodic upgrades. But you can get a better price if you enter into a two-year or three-year agreement. Longer contracts are cost-effective but if you are new to VoIP, you can always start off with a month to month plan. Switch to a longer contract if you are satisfied with the vendor and the service.

Hardware

You need SIP compatible phones to use VoIP. Fortunately, they’re not the only devices you can use for making calls. Your employees can use their personal mobile devices, laptops, desktop computers, and even a tablet to make business calls. Most vendors will have a softphone app for their service. All this means is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on new phones for the entire office. Buy a handful at a time and gradually phase out the older hardware.

Maintenance and Equipment

A traditional enterprise phone system requires on-site equipment and periodic maintenance. With hosted VoIP, the only thing you need is hardware to make the calls. It immediately eliminates the majority of costs related to your new phones. You don’t have to hire experts to maintain the system either. Make any changes you want at any time through the online dashboard. No more waiting around for a technician to come to the office!

Best VoIP Phone Service for Small Businesses

As you can see, there is no surefire way to estimate how much you can save by switching to VoIP. Some businesses managed to cut their phone bills by half or even more. Others are happy to keep paying the same monthly amount because they can use more features than before. By the same token, there is no single best phone service that will cater to every organization. The best VoIP phone service for your business is one that can give you the features you need at a price you can afford.