Is VoIP right for your office?
The buzz around office VoIP phone systems has been so convincing that many businesses think about diving into one without fully understanding the benefits. However, installing a VoIP system is not a guaranteed way to save money -- so make sure you carefully consider the costs and benefits of voIP phone systems before committing.
Businesses with multiple locations
If your company has multiple locations (remote branches, telecommuters, external sales offices) that are already connected on a Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) you are a prime candidate for VoIP. In fact, this is the primary reason for a business to consider upgrading to VoIP, as it will allow you to share the full features of your phone system across all your locations.
Even if you have one office in Connecticut and another in California, VoIP allows for extension-to-extension dialing between locations, making internal calls seamless and virtually free of cost. For businesses that spend a hefty amount on communications between locations, this alone can be an attractive enough reason to upgrade.
Infrastructure savings
An office VoIP phone system can also save you money if you're running new wiring, because you won't have to run separate cabling for your phone system. However, if you are setting up a new data network, setting up a parallel voice network is relatively inexpensive, so the cost savings here might not be as large as you would expect.
The best solution is often a system that uses existing phone wires within your main office and VoIP for interoffice calls. This combination works well when you have relatively new telecom equipment because many existing PBXs can be IP-enabled with mere software upgrades and minor hardware additions. However, if you are already looking to replace an aging PBX anyway, now may be a great time to move to an IP PBX.
