The days of the landline are quickly diminishing. Several states — including Michigan, California and Texas — have passed bills making it easier for a company to stop using traditional landlines, and telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon Wireless have begun lobbying states to eliminate them altogether.
It’s estimated that by decade’s end — just five years away — the landline will be a thing of the past, replaced by technology like a hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.
Whether your business is small, medium or enterprise-sized, hosted VoIP can provide several benefits.
However, switching to a new technology can be an anxiety-producing thought for any business owner. After all, if it’s not broke, why fix it, right? But clinging to outdated technology can cost you time, money and efficiency.
If you’re unsure whether it’s time to ditch your landline in favor of hosted VoIP, here are four signs it’s time to make the switch.
You’re Experiencing Software or Hardware Failure
If voice communications are vital to your business, a hosted VoIP solution keeps your phones ringing in times of disaster. A simple gust of wind could knock out your landline phone service. Many VoIP providers have disaster recovery programs in place that continue phone service in the event of power outages or hardware failures. This works by rerouting calls to an alternate number, cell phone, home phone or voicemail.
Additionally, if you need to relocate employees in the event of a disaster, a hosted VoIP solution allows you to simply unplug a phone and plug it in at another location that has high speed internet access.
You Want to Cut Costs
If you’ve been using a landline phone service, you are likely familiar with the costs that come with it — the equipment, software and ongoing maintenance.
Unlike a legacy landline phone service, a hosted VoIP solution can provide significant cost savings because it allows all your business functions — phone, email, fax and video — to be transferred to the world of IP, which requires only a monthly maintenance fee. In addition, maintenance issues are handled by your provider, sometimes even before you know they exist, eliminating the need for costly maintenance fees or the extra staff needed to perform upkeep on the system.
You’ll also likely see cost savings translated into increased employee productivity. Features like simultaneous ring or voicemail to email save employees time by allowing them to take calls anywhere and easily go through their voicemail.
You Need More Features
Today’s office is becoming more virtual, and employees need to be able to take calls whether they’re working at the coffee shop or stepped away from their desk to get coffee. VoIP is designed to meet these needs. For example, softphone features allow computers and tablets to be used as phones — giving remote or travelling employees the flexibility they need.
In addition, features like advanced auto attendant options, voicemail to email and simultaneous ring can help meet your unique needs.
You’re Having Capacity Issues
If your business has multiple locations or you’re planning on expanding, hosted VoIP can eliminate the headaches that come with adding an additional location or staff.
Most landline phone systems leave users with either too many or not enough phone lines, which can affect cost. You don’t want to pay for something you’re not using, and having an inadequate number of phone lines for employees can cause a variety of issues.
With hosted VoIP, there’s no uncertainty when it comes to deciding the size of phone system to purchase. It can easily be scaled up or down to accommodate your needs.
