Is VoIP Suitable for a Small Business with Single Location?

If you’re a small business, you’re likely considering the option of upgrading to VoIP. You are interested in the cost savings and productivity benefits. But you’re not sure about quality, reliability or even if VoIP is worth the effort for your business. The technology offers benefits to organizations of all sizes and types – whether you’re a small business operating out of a single office or a large, multinational corporation.

Is VoIP Worth It for a Small Business?

Unfortunately, many people think that VoIP is only useful for midsize or larger companies that have multiple locations or have a high volume of long-distance calls. This isn’t actually true. One of the biggest advantages of VoIP is that it is flexible. A VoIP phone service can accommodate whatever requirements you might have.

If you have a small business with just one office, a VoIP phone system can appear expensive. This is even truer if your existing phone system is working well. Why should you fix something that’s not broken, right? On the contrary, switching to VoIP is inevitable. Phone companies in many advanced nations are already setting out their roadmap for the future and it does not include PSTN.

In little less than 10 years, you might be facing a situation where continuing to use PSTN lines is cost prohibitive. It would become too expensive to maintain for any small business. At that time, you would have no option but to switch. But even without that extreme scenario in mind, VoIP is very suitable for small business with a single location. Let’s take a look at the advantages you can get from upgrading to VoIP even if you cannot benefit from its most hyped features.

Long-Distance Communication – Not Just for Multiple Locations

Just because you don’t have multiple offices scattered throughout the world, doesn’t mean you don’t make any long-distance calls. In this day and age, it’s hard to find a small business that does not have contractors, suppliers, and even customers in multiple countries.

Even if you don’t have another office location, you have any employees who telecommute, work from home or on-site at a client’s office? What about the staff that travels to other states or nearby countries as part of the job? Whether is a temporary or permanent situation, your business makes a certain volume of long-distance calls each month.

With hosted VoIP phone service, the cost of long-distance calls is only a fraction of what you would pay your phone operator. VoIP can save you money because the ITSP will route the call on data networks (and/or the internet) for as long as possible. You only pay for the portion of the call that travels over the PSTN.

Get Rid of Excess Hardware

VoIP allows your business to consolidate the services into a single system. For example, you no longer need any fax machines if your service provider offers digital faxing. Workers can send and receive faxes directly in their inboxes and print them out as needed. While you’re at it, you also don’t need a separate video conferencing line for those project meetings. Many VoIP services support group video calls with multiple participants at little or no extra cost.

At the same time, you also don’t need that many IP desk phones in your office. Some employees can use their mobile devices to make business calls with their VoIP number. Others may prefer to use their laptops or desktops for calls. If you have to dozen employees, you don’t really have to purchase two dozen IP phones. You can get by with purchasing 5 or 6 to start with and buy more if you need them later on.

VoIP Levels the Playing Field

Most small businesses don’t have the resources to compete against larger corporations. You may be competing for the same clients as some other large company with fewer resources – whether it is financial or otherwise. VoIP allows you to present a professional image to customers and offer communication services that you cannot afford otherwise.

Features like virtual receptionist, multi-device ring, ACD queues etc. are expensive on landline systems. On the other hand, quite a few VoIP vendors offer them for free in even the most basic business plan. It means that you can make a good first impression on customers and potential partners who never have to know that you are a small business with a handful of employees! Sometimes, that professional image can make the difference between success and failure on a big contract.

All of this seems impressive but VoIP has even more advantages. As you grow, your IP phone system will too. You don’t have to purchase new software licenses or equipment when you expand. Start with only the features you need today but also prepare for future growth with VoIP!