The Key to Improving the Efficiency of Your Organizations Communication Could be Making Use of VoIP Systems

Making use of systems like VoIP for business and organisational communications can improve and enhance both internal and external communications. These systems are evolving at a regular pace and frequently make use of new technology that is designed to streamline communication processes and reduce costs. VoIP systems could transform the communication side of your business’s operations.

When it comes to modern business, communication is king. While more traditional phone systems can be fine, they often won’t offer the flexibility and range that new systems can. This is why Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication systems are growing in popularity for businesses that understand the true value of streamlined and effective communication structures. VoIP systems are often cheaper, and always more versatile than traditional counterpart systems. 

This article will cover the benefits of using a VoIP system, what might make a VoIP system stand out from the crowd, what challenges implementing and using a VoIP system might hold, and close with a brief look at what the future might hold for VoIP communication systems.

Why use VoIP? What exactly are the benefits

There are a variety of advantages that VoIP offers over more traditional business telephone schemes. The most salient among these advantages for the modern world is the significant reduction in costs associated with calls that are long-distance or cross international boundaries. This is because VoIP uses the internet for the transmission of voice data, which is cheaper by far than using phone lines or mobile networks. Another reduction in cost should be expected when it comes to the maintenance of VoIP systems, as most updates can occur remotely.

The next most important advantage that VoIP offers is its flexibility. Calls on a VoIP system can be placed from anywhere with an internet connection. This means that companies with modern business phone system integration can have employees spread between in-office, hybrid and remote work positions who are all using the same communication system. Adding to this VoIP systems are designed to be able to seamlessly integrate with other digital tools that are likely to be mainstays of modern business operations such as email, customer relationship management (CRM) and video conferencing software.

The third strongest lure for businesses towards using VoIP for their communications is that VoIP systems are easily scalable. This is most valuable for businesses and companies that expect growth in the future but need strong communications systems to be developed early on, perhaps in aid of this growth. It would also be useful for companies that have seasonal fluctuations in staff numbers, as VoIP systems can scale up or down with ease. All of this means that a company using VoIP for their communications will only be paying for what they actually need.

Lastly, VoIP systems also often offer advanced features that can be useful for different aspects of business work. On the client and customer service side, things such as call queuing and routing capabilities being built into the communication system means that it is a simple matter to train staff to route traffic efficiently to the department or individual best suited to field the call. When it comes to internal communication, having inbuilt functionality for video conferencing and screen sharing should allow for remote meetings and presentations to be smoother for team members to collaborate.

What to look for in a VoIP provider

While it might not be a saturated field, there are a fair few different VoIP system providers to choose from. The best thing for any business to do is to figure out which metrics are most important for them and to whittle down the options based on which providers promise greater functionality in as many of those metrics as possible. This could involve prioritising things like call quality or scalability.

There are other more advanced features that could be useful for specific business operations or might be a good way to sort the wheat from the chaff. Providers that offer call forwarding, auto-attendants and voicemail-to-email transcription as part of their systems packages should be considered highly if those functionalities are useful to your business. The protection and security measures that a system offers should also not be overlooked, choosing a provider that has substantially stronger threat detection could be wise.

Other features that could lead one provider to stand out from the competition are the analytics and reporting capabilities that the system might offer. Having insights into a number of metrics such as call patterns, duration and quality could prove useful in identifying issues before they become issues, optimizing the amount of staff and the hours they work, and improving the effectiveness of your overall customer service. Some systems will provide real-time reporting on these metrics, which unlocks the ability for you to make decisions based on data to improve your communications.

It can’t all be roses, what are the challenges that a VoIP system brings?

It’s true, it can’t all be roses and while a VoIP system comes with many benefits, there are some challenges that must be faced, especially throughout the process of transitioning to a VoIP system. The most common problem is ensuring that the internet connection for your employees remains stable, without a stable internet connection, VoIP systems will not work effectively. This is fixed easily enough by investing in high-quality internet and preparing redundancy plans for when that internet service drops out.

There is also a learning curve that many employees will face to become proficient with a VoIP system. This might necessitate training programs and ongoing support to make sure that all employees are using the system in the most efficient way. 

Another problem that can occur in networks with high traffic is Quality of Service (QoS) issues. This is because voice packets need to be prioritized over other types of data or the calls will no longer be clear and uninterrupted. This can be combatted by configuring routers and switches with QoS policies to ensure that voice traffic is given priority over other data.

What does the future hold for VoIP systems?

It is a relatively safe assumption to make that as technology continues to advance VoIP systems will benefit from some of those advancements. Technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) and advancements in analytics are likely to impact the communication sphere. Some AI features are already proving somewhat disruptive, with voice recognition and automated responses being features to watch in this regard.

Other technology trends like 5G are also poised to offer much more reliable and fast internet service, which will only make VoIP systems more reliable and robust in turn. By staying in the loop when it comes to technological developments that impact the communication technology sphere you will be poised to make intelligent decisions about the future of your business.

To conclude, VoIP systems offer a slew of benefits for companies that wish to secure reliable, cost-effective and flexible communications services. Savvy companies are able to make a VoIP provider choice based on which, out of several different metrics, best suits their needs. While VoIP communication systems might be far from perfect, the issues that they bring with them all have relatively simple fixes that can limit or remove entirely those issues. By investing in high-quality internet, implementing training programs on the usage of VoIP systems and properly configuring the internet infrastructure in use by your company, the major issues that VoIP brings with it can be eliminated.