Advantages of Hosted VoIP vs. Traditional Business Phone Service

Is your business reconsidering its phone service contract? If it’s been a while, you’ll notice substantial changes. Traditional landline services used to be the only option, but now, advanced VoIP solutions have gained popularity.

Local businesses of all sizes in Laurel, Waynesboro, and Hattiesburg are increasingly opting for hosted VoIP. We highly recommend VoIP to local customers evaluating phone services or looking to optimize their telecom budget.

Here are the key reasons why.

1. Massive Cost Differences: VoIP Is More Affordable

The primary driver behind the adoption of VoIP, especially for Pine Belt bussinesses, is its cost-effectiveness. The average monthly expense per “line” (although VoIP doesn’t exactly use lines) is often half that of traditional phone services.

In all honesty, we could conclude the post here – slashing your phone bill in half (or possibly even more) is a compelling reason for most businesses to make the switch. However, the cost savings extend beyond this point.

Unlike traditional phone systems that necessitate an on-site PBX (private branch exchange), which can be prohibitively expensive, VoIP eliminates the need for a PBX. Moreover, there are no additional costs associated; everything operates seamlessly on your existing network and hardware.

For those considering a building remodel or constructing a new facility in the Pine Belt region, VoIP presents another local cost-related advantage: wiring. Traditional phone service involves running copper wires alongside your network cabling. In contrast, VoIP consolidates all communication over a single LAN cable (full-duplex service), encompassing both voice and data, and in some cases, even power. Choosing VoIP for your business means not only substantial cost savings but also a streamlined and efficient communication solution tailored to your local needs.

2. Wireless, Location-Agnostic Service

VoIP proves invaluable for remote or hybrid teams, liberating employees from desk-bound phone numbers. With certain VoIP services, your team’s VoIP extension links to their overall system login (like Microsoft 365 or Active Directory). Simply put, wherever they log in on their laptop, instant VoIP extension access follows.

3. Massive Hardware Flexibility

If you considered the previous point and pondered, “But what about the phone? People won’t carry an office phone everywhere they go,” that’s accurate.

Yet, transitioning to VoIP changes this scenario. VoIP systems offer remarkable hardware adaptability. In the office, employees can use a VoIP phone at their desks, similar to their previous ones but typically lighter.

However, they aren’t confined to this setup. They can take VoIP calls through software, using a USB headset or their laptop’s speakers and microphone—ideal for remote or hybrid work setups.

Microsoft Teams, for instance, supporting both software-based voice/video calls and traditional VoIP calls, accessible to internal and external parties with private extensions.

Depending on your VoIP software, team members can likely make and receive calls from their smartphones, enhancing flexibility for Laurel, Waynesboro, and Hattiesburg businesses.

4. More Capability Than Landline Service

We’ve hinted at this already, but modern VoIP systems can do more than landline systems—without costly add-ons and purpose-built hardware. Number portability, easy transitions in and out of group calls, fluid connection to your productivity suite (allowing you to share or collaborate on files during a call), seamless transition between voice and video calling, and many more features come standard with most VoIP contracts.

Landline service either can’t offer these or makes you pay extra.

5. Better Voice Quality

Last, you’ll get better voice quality by switching to VoIP.

Yes, you read that right.

We know: if you tried VoIP a decade or two ago, you probably don’t believe us here. When the technology was new, voice quality was generally awful, as was reliability.

But everything is better today: processors, internet connections, the software powering our VoIP experiences, and the microphones and speakers in our everyday devices. All of these improve the call quality far beyond cellular quality and usually well beyond what you get over traditional landlines.

Ready to Learn More? We Can Help

For most businesses, switching to VoIP service is a no-brainer. There are a few technical details to be aware of, like overall business bandwidth requirements and the importance of a backup or failover internet connection (which you likely need anyway if you’re moving to the cloud). But generally, even after we help businesses work through these considerations, VoIP is still the obvious winner.

Questions? Ready to discuss what a VoIP transition would look like for your business? We can help.

Reach out to our team today to learn more or discuss next steps.