VoIP Offers More Than Cost Savings
When it comes to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), there’s more than cost savings to consider when deploying a new VoIP system.
Granted, there are some cost savings to be gained from moving to VoIP including fewer toll calls and a possible reduction in a company’s telecommunications staff. If your company has multiple locations – branches, telecommuters, remote sales offices – that are already connected to a company LAN or WAN, you are a perfect candidate for a VoIP system and will save a bundle each month on long distance. But when you compare a traditional phone system with a VoIP solution, the cost savings may be minimal for most installations.
The single biggest advantage of VoIP is for businesses with multiple locations. With VoIP, any and all offices on your network can get the benefits of having a common office phone system, including extension dialing, seamless call transfers, and all other features. In addition to making it easier to communicate, this can enhance collaboration as employees at different locations can truly feel like they’re part of the same organization. Plus, if they are on the company network, the phone calls are free – even it your offices are located thousands of miles apart.
But aside from the toll free calls between extensions, VoIP’s biggest benefit to any company is increased functionality. VoIP can enhance communications that help users find the best way to contact co-workers – whether through a phone call, IM, or email. When integrated with CRM applications, it can boost productivity by letting users place a phone call simply by clicking on someone’s name in the CRM or web page. With proper implementation and training, these systems can boost productivity for a broad range of companies.
The Yankee Group found that companies with VoIP systems are 25% to 35% more responsive to customers, and the productivity of their employees who spend a significant portion of the day on the phone rose by the same amount.
One benefit of converging voice and data is that is allows users to create a centralized place to store messages. Today people are contacted by phone, fax, e-mail, pager and cell phone, and checking all of these separate places for messages can be time consuming. With VoIP, all of these means of communication can be centralized using a single message box.
That’s something that appeals to Joan Shipp, partner for Applefield Shipp Insurance Solutions. She said unified messaging would be a help to our employees and would likely boost productivity.
But for many, the potential for cost savings remains a key factor for any new technology purchase.
Leo Judge, MIS director at Indianapolis-based mortgage lender, The Money Station Inc., said that new applications and the possibility of unified messaging was not a factor in his consideration of VoIP.
Judge said his company, which has four remote locations, could benefit from avoiding toll calls, having easier remote system management and enabling employees who switch desks to simply pick up and move their own phones without help from the IT staff.
However, he said budgets are tight right now and that visible return on investment is the biggest priority. “The bottom line is that the technology has to save us money,” Judge said.
Companies with that kind of bottom-line mentality may want to save money by migrating to full VoIP slowly, over time. It rarely makes sense to rip out a functioning private branch exchange (PBX) in favor of a complete VoIP system, particularly for those companies that are hesitant about making the investment in the new systems and network upgrades that often accompany VoIP projects.
The difficulty for most companies in deploying VoIP is the initial investment. And if you are having trouble making a solid business case then you may have to wait to move to VoIP. No one is buying technology for technology’s sake any more. It’s time for companies to start thinking about how the technology can help them improve the way their businesses work.
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For the past seven years Spiritel Solutions has been dedicated to helping our clients reduce telecom expenses. Our team of experts have successfully helped companies reduce their annual telecom spend by an average of 30% or more. Spiritel also provides telecom analysis and consultation that is guaranteed to lower costs for all types of voice, data and Internet service. For a free consultation, please visit us at http://www.spiritelsolutions.com or give us a call at 866-770-0300.
