VoIP – A Solution for Productivity and Not just for Calling

Every organization has communication needs. It is key to the success of a company in any industry. Though it became popular early on as a cheap alternative to voice calling, VoIP has become so much more. A bare-bones VoIP phone service won’t cost much but even a more advanced system is inexpensive compared to traditional enterprise tools.

VoIP – More Than Voice Calls

Many organizations switch to VoIP as a means of reducing costs. Purchasing VoIP services from a hosted vendor turns it into an operational expense. There is no capital investment involved unless you want to set up your own SIP trunking solution. You know exactly what your monthly bill is going to be, with no hidden fees or charges. You’re even free to switch vendors at any point so long as the equipment is compatible with the SIP protocol.

Once a business starts using VoIP, they come to realize that it is more than a cheap way to make calls. VoIP phone services have the added bonus of integrating with existing enterprise tools like CRM software. They’re equipped with advanced features like digital faxing and visual voicemail. In fact, VoIP can save you quite a lot of money. Apart from that, it can also improve productivity, streamline collaboration, and reduce communication annoyances for employees.

High-Quality Voice

Poor voice quality may be acceptable for consumers in personal situations. No business can hope to survive with a system that drops calls or forces users to yell to be heard at the other end. Lack of high-quality audio was one of the roadblocks preventing mass adoption of VoIP when it first launched. Fortunately, improvements in the technology have resulted in VoIP calls being indistinguishable from traditional landlines.

Voice quality goes hand-in-hand with reliability. How can any business hope to communicate effectively when employees hesitate to call each other because of the poor calling experience? VoIP services from a reputable vendor can improve productivity by leaps and bounds. Since Internet calls are free, there is no need to limit employees to a certain number of calling minutes each month. You don’t have to cap international calls or curtail outbound calling to customers.

Bring Mobile Devices into the Picture

With traditional PBX systems, there was very little flexibility in the type of devices used to make calls. Many people carry two mobile phones – one for business and the other for personal use. If you’re away from your desk even for a few moments, you can miss important calls from a client. You don’t have a way to stay in touch with your office if you travel, telecommute regularly or work from home for the day due to illness.

VoIP offers a number of alternatives in such situations. Suppose a senior executive of the company has access to a landline, a laptop, a personal mobile device, and a secretary who screens calls. They can use features like multi device ring to route certain calls to specific devices based on the time, location or some other variable.

Similarly, you don’t have to purchase landlines for each and every employee in the workforce. Some may prefer to use their mobile phones while others require no more than a Bluetooth headset to make calls from their work computer. Mobility is a tremendous boost to productivity and VoIP enables it for very little expense.

Integration with Third-Party Enterprise Tools

Most organizations use more than one application or enterprise system for various purposes. Integrating the phones with third-party tools is a valuable aid for employees. The most common type of integration is to connect the phones with CRM software or contact center applications. Salespeople can call clients from within the CRM app, without having to switch devices. Similarly, you can automatically record all details like duration or timestamp without manual intervention.

The same principle applies to contact centers, customer service agents, and technical support teams. When a frustrated client calls your helpline with the problem, the last thing you want to do is aggravate them even more. But that’s exactly what happens when your agents ask them for the same details like account number, put them on hold because they reached the wrong person or transfer them several times before solving the issue. By integrating the phones with enterprise software, your employees become more productive and they can solve problems in less time.

These are only a few ways in which VoIP can solve productivity woes in any enterprise. And it’s only the beginning. VoIP systems serve as a foundation for unified communication suites, which is often the next step for organizations. As innovation continues in this industry, there is no telling what the future holds for VoIP. as a few nations take steps to sunset the old copper line networks, the way forward is clear. VoIP is all set to become the favorite solution for enterprise calling as well as improve productivity at the same time!