Not Your Grandad’s Business Phones – VoIP

Handsets keep breaking, and you can’t find any more replacements on eBay. The PBX crashes every other day, leaving the business without phone service for at least an hour while it reboots. As much as you’d like to keep limping your existing business phone system along, it’s time to start shopping. 

Another Look at VoIP Business Phones in Lafayette, Indiana

You looked into voice over IP (VoIP) phones when you replaced your old system with this one about 10 years ago. You heard horror stories from fellow business owners — calls dropping, voices crackling, systems failing. It was an easy decision at the time — stay with a tried-and-trusted analog phone system.

But, the phone industry has shifted tremendously, with many business owners now preferring VoIP over traditional phone systems. So, what’s changed? 

Internet Speed and Quality 

Do you remember 2011? According to 10 Years Ago, a website showing you what specific pages historically looked like, this was the Amazon homepage. (Raise your hand if you remember when Amazon only sold books!) Just like Amazon, VoIP phone technology has also changed a lot in 10 years.

Internet speeds are higher than ever before. Latency, the time it takes for a packet of data to travel from one designated point to another in a network, and packet loss, the percentage of packets sent by a source but not received at the intended destination, are at their lowest. The FCC’s Measuring Broadband America program, first conducted in 2011, studies and reports all of this information. 

Service providers and consumers focus on internet speeds; however, latency and packet loss can be major controlling factors in the overall performance of internet services. They are the most likely culprits behind poor call quality on VoIP phone systems. 

With significant improvements in internet speed and quality (i.e., latency and packet loss), VoIP phones are much more reliable than they used to be. 

Phone Vendor Know-How 

Internet-based phones operate like computers with much more robust software than analog phone systems. Basically, they “break” differently than traditional systems. Business phone system providers had to become experts in this new VoIP technology, and that, as you know, takes time. (About 10,000 hours, according to Malcolm Gladwell.)

With expert-level VoIP technicians, engineers, and support staff now available from phone system providers, business owners are more comfortable transitioning to the technology. 

Business Owners’ Needs 

Industries and products change with their consumers’ needs. VoIP phone systems are an attractive option with an increasingly mobile workforce and more virtual offices because of the features and flexibility. Here are some of the key advantages.

• Not restricted by the number of phone lines
• Don’t need a separate phone vendor – one point of contact now
• Initial equipment investment is cheaper
• Monthly cost is typically lower (free long distance, toll-free, etc.)
• Features that help your business (think voicemail-to-email, hold music, auto-attendant, cell phone integration, business texting, etc.)
• Easily scalable

Your Local VoIP Provider – Lafayette, IN

If you haven’t shopped for a new phone system recently, it can be quite a daunting and time-consuming task. Let the experts at UpLync Communications, a business phone service provider in Lafayette, Indiana, guide you through this process. Contact us for a free consultation.