What is VoIP and how can it help me with my business? Although it might sound like an illness, it is actually a very powerful tool that will allow you the flexibility to answer your business phone from almost anywhere. VoIP is an acronym that stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Really, all it means is you are using your internet connection to place or receive phone calls, basically eliminating the need for a traditional land line and providing you with more flexibility and usually a cost savings.
A requirement for VoIP is a good quality internet connection, even your wireless connection will work, a personal computer, a VoIP phone or a regular digital phone with a VoIP adapter and a VoIP provider.
What are the benefits of VoIP? The top benefit is being able to take your phone, and your business with you making you instantly mobile. Allowing you to work from home when you can’t make it into the office or just want to play hooky.
There are also some really cool extras that are available. One, is your voicemails can be transcribed and sent to you via email. This is great because all of the pertinent information is already written down for you, of course if the caller is not speaking clearly, the messages can sometimes be comical. There are also some pretty cool call screening features. You have the option to automatically redirect numbers that you choose. For example, perhaps you always want your husband or your mom to go directly to your cell phone and not ring on the business line. Or that certain telemarketer that always calls, you can enter that incoming number to always automatically disconnect, never even ringing your business line. There is also the auto attendant that allows the caller to interact with a menu to automatically reach their desired extension.
In addition to these fun features, VoIP plans are very affordable, usually costing less than $50 per month and usually all of the basic features are already included in the package; including Voicemail, Call Forwarding and Advanced Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, Call Blocking and often unlimited calling sometimes even to long distance locations.
What are the drawbacks of VoIP? Faxing is not always easy or reliable, credit card transactions over VoIP are often declined, some alarm systems do not integrate well with VoIP connections, occasionally there are issues with voice quality and the big one – if the internet goes down, so does your phone.
However, even with the slight limitations, VoIP is constantly becoming more reliable and more flexible and VoIP can allow for more flexible work arrangements while saving your company money. For instance, if you run a call center that receives orders for shipments, all of your employees, whether that number is 5 or 500, could be working from their homes filling those orders saving your company a lot of money on overhead normally spend on a physical workspace. Many large companies are already using this technology - think of that 800 number you dial to order flowers, or Office products or even your favorite clothing store. You might think you are reaching someone in a big, state of the art office, but you could just be talking to someone sitting in their pajamas that just paused Montel in order to take your call on their VoIP phone.
Do you need help deciding which Business VoIP provider is right for you? Remember T. G. Consultants is just a phone call 847-848-7726 or email info@tgconsultantsinc.com away. We are Ready and Able to HELP you Stop Screaming at Your TECHNOLOGY!