How to Leverage VoIP Services to Extend Your Business Reach

How to Leverage VoIP Services to Extend Your Business Reach

VoIP or Not to VoIP
At the risk of sounding like a car salesman, I've done some research regarding various methods for reducing operating costs and have found that VoIP services (such as Vonage, ViaTalk, and AT&T's U-Verse Voice) have several industry benefits that should be considered.

VoIP telephony is typically approached with trepidation in work environments, and rightly so. Until recently, insufficient bandwidth, poor implementation, and unreliable service providers have managed to showcase a less than stellar acceptance in many business-based applications.


The Broadband Variable

Enter broadband communications - fast, high-quality networks connecting most of the world, and at last report ‡, now available to 99 percent of US Zip codes. Deployment of this magnitude suggests that it is likely that two endpoints can now share faster, higher quality data speeds. Or, in layman's terms, the consumer or business you call has what it needs to talk to you over the Internet in a fashion that is equal to, or superior, in call quality.

The Bottom Line or 'the Part You Can't Ignore'
So your business already has Internet service for email or Internet use. Chances are if you are running a business within the traffic-laden zones of your nearest metropolis, you've got broadband as well. Either way, the costs incurred to pave the way for VoIP service can be included as a tax write-off for your last quarter, or to put it more eloquently - you're already paying for the method required to implement VoIP communication. It's now a matter of whether or not you are going to utilize this bandwidth to its fullest potential to save yourself the costs of standard telephone service. There is little mystery as to why local phone carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Qwest have jumped on the VoIP bandwagon; long distance phone companies and local carriers stand to lose when the emergence of less expensive and more widely available communication technologies offer a cheaper, more competitive service. With low or no per-minute charges, unlimited local or international calling plans business owners would find it difficult not to take advantage of these features for what would end up being a fraction of what the normal carrier would cost. Suddenly, $24.95 per month isn't a lot to fork over per month for unlimited calling to your parts supplier located in Rio De Janeiro, Taiwan, or Paris. In fact, the more bandwidth you have, the more lines you can use simultaneously - which gives your business the leverage to host conference calls, multiple extensions, and extended features typically associated with expensive PBX systems.

Plug and Ring. Are you ready?

It's hard to build a solid case without a point of reference. Many of the benefits realized through conducting business over VoIP systems rely on the quality of your Internet connection, regardless of connection speed. Factors such as packet loss and data lag affect how clear and error-free your conversation will be. There are many free tests online to check how well equipped you are to host VoIP lines from your home or business. I can only urge you to check into this emerging technology - it is here to stay and early users are already reaping the benefits in the form of substantial savings. Many companies are also offering free phone hardware (handsets, headsets, and even wireless units) as incentives to assign up for VoIP service, and getting this hardware to work out-of-the-box is fairly trouble free.