Ever watched those sci-fi movies and thought how great it would be if you could catch a glimpse of the future? Well, we’ve got some good news for you! If you’re reading this, you’re already on your way…
Evolution of the office phone
You might remember the old office phones that were popular in the late 1990s. Back then, office phones could have anywhere from 50-100 buttons. Each business site had a phone system that cost as much as a new family car—maybe more. The systems for each site added up, making it a costly solution.
Enter the internet age. As the delivery method for the internet improved over the years, so, too, has VOIP technology. Now we’re seeing offices with equally large quantities of phones delivered at a fraction of the price of their old analogue counterparts. What’s more is that VOIP phones are highly programmable, with some even utilising LCD touch screens. The introduction of LCD screens means that the functionality of the phone can be expanded far beyond that of a normal analogue phone. For example, an analogue phone with 100 buttons might be able to store 100 numbers, while a VOIP phone can store many more by way of pagination. This is where a page of contacts is displayed on the LCD screen and divided into a number of separate sections.
While there are many misgivings about VOIP reliability—mostly due to the bad reputation of DSL internet connections—these misgivings are slowly ebbing with the passing of time and the introduction of more reliable internet delivery methods.
Saving money with VOIP
So where do the savings come from? Everyone knows that the newer the technology, the more expensive the hardware. However, even though VOIP phone handsets resemble their analogue cousins in price, that is where the similarities end. Newer VOIP phone systems do not need to be kept on site. In fact, the phone system hardware can be done away with completely! Hosted VOIP solutions enjoy the benefit of having the phone system kept in a data centre. This lowers the running and maintenance cost for business owners, as everything is done by the provider. But the savings do not end there. Imagine calling a colleague based at another site and the call being free! Dialling an extension in your VOIP service is treated the same way a call to the person sitting next to you is. Due to the way calls are delivered, rates are also generally cheaper than a standard phone system.
The way of the future?
With the NBN being rolled out to more and more locations within Australia and copper being ripped out of the ground to make way for it, copper solutions such as PSTN and ISDN services are fast becoming a thing of the past. Thanks to the large bandwidth the NBN provides, we are now able to have high quality phone calls by way of VOIP technology. This means large file transfers no longer cause issues on VOIP services, unlike the early days.
Like PSTN and ISDN services, VOIP technology offers different options that can be catered to suit whatever your business needs. So where do you start? Right here. Contact us to discuss how we can future-proof your business.
