Working With Telephony Companies – IP Phones For Small Businesses
One thing that all IP Phone systems have in common is that they can be divided into two major categories. There are the traditional telephone networks like AT&T or Verizon with the older analog signal technology. There is also the new world of Voice Over Internet Protocol or VoIP technology. If you have an Internet connection, then there is a good chance that your voice will come over the Internet Phone instead of through your regular phone company. It is this very fact that has made Voice Over IP so appealing to companies who want to provide telephone access to their employees and clients. But there are a few things that you need to know before making this type of purchase.
Basically, there are two types of IP telephony services: hardware based and software based. For business users, hardware-based VOIP providers can prove more cost-effective. This kind of system is most commonly used by companies that have a dedicated IT staff. On the other hand, software-based IP telephony systems are typically more flexible and convenient for the average company. With IP telephony, employees can easily switch from one software program to another, allowing them to use any existing system as long as they are connected to the Internet.
With the rising popularity of VOIP telephony services, IP phone companies have begun offering a wide variety of services at lower prices. This is in stark contrast to the early days of the Internet, when IP was just a concept and not yet considered practical to provide reliable telephone access. It is this drawback that has led many companies to turn their backs on VOIP telephony. In addition to the high costs involved, some companies believe that it took a significant amount of time and effort to learn and properly utilize the benefits of IP Telephony. For example, they may not have realized the significance until it was too late to make the appropriate adjustments.
The good news is that IP telephone companies are starting to change this view. They now realize that it is more practical to offer software-based IP phone service because it requires little initial capital and does not require too much training for the employees. Moreover, the benefits of software based VOIP are immediately apparent. Employees can immediately start using the new features once they are trained. This is not the case with the older technologies such as ISDN and traditional phones. Users need to be trained for the use of the newer software tools.
Most telephony companies are also realizing the importance of this trend. They recognize that it will eventually become impossible to survive without IP telephony if they do not embrace it. As the popularity of VOIP rises, IP phone companies will face stiff competition. The long-distance phone market will also experience strong growth. Even AT&T, which is well-known for its fiber-optic cable business, is now offering high-speed IP telephony as well.
To deal with all these challenges, both the IP phone companies and the small business owners need to find a way in which they can work together. Small businesses often have limited resources and therefore cannot afford to invest in IP phones. However, they may realize the importance of having an IP phone service. This is where telephony companies can work with the small businesses to offer them IP phones at low rental rates. Such joint ventures allow the small businesses to have IP phones at reasonable prices while the large telephony companies can concentrate on their core services.
Telephony companies can also work with the home office of the small businesses to provide them with professional answering services and other professional voice quality options such as recording, transcription, and VoIP gateway service. These services help the customers to record voice messages, transcribe them into text format, and send them out as emails. This helps the small businesses to streamline their workflow and increase the productivity of their employees. Since most telephony service providers now offer software based call management systems, this makes it easier for the companies to manage the calls. For example, instead of monitoring the conference call or sending email reminders to remind the employees about the meeting, the software-based answering system will send a text message or an email to the user automatically.
It is a dream of every small business to have IP phones because it helps to save money, increase the productivity of the employees, and keep the communication lines open. The new trends in telephony are changing the face of business communications and making it easy for businesses to function effectively. The best part about using an internet-based VoIP Phone solution is that it is easily affordable. Thus, small businesses should invest in these services to streamline their daily operations and take their businesses to the next level.