The Biggest Problem with VoIP and How It Isn’t a Deal-Breaker

VoIP, like most other business-grade technologies, was developed to give businesses (and other organizations) a chance to utilize the technology they spend so much money on for more than just for productivity. That’s not to say that VoIP platforms don’t have disadvantages, but the major disadvantages of VoIP are generally tied to the availability of a reliably strong bandwidth connection.

The cost of bandwidth is still substantial. If you are a business that is looking to improve its telecommunications situation because you are paying too much for the solution you currently have, considering a cloud-hosted VoIP solution could be in the cards. Today, we will talk about bandwidth, and how the value of VoIP mitigates any additional costs you will incur as a result of rolling out a strong solution.

Uncorking Your Bandwidth

Like you would at home, your organization goes through your local ISP to get an Internet signal. The speed of which is dictated, largely, by the level of bandwidth you purchase. Do you need more bandwidth to run the applications your business relies on? Where are your applications and storage located? Which solutions demand the most bandwidth? Today, most businesses have a couple of available ISPs they can go through, but for the fastest, most business-friendly services, you are going to pay a premium price.

Of course, there are lesser options at smaller ISPs, but whatever you choose to do, if you are thinking of implementing a cloud-based VoIP platform, you will likely want to shy away from the base service plans. If you are deciding whether to jump on the opportunity to add a hosted VoIP platform to your business’ communications strategy, you will first want to know that you have the bandwidth in tow to make calls and take advantage of higher-end features of the service.

A good rule of thumb is to have at least 100 Kbps for each concurrent call. That means if you have 20 people in your business that need to make calls at the same time, you will need a bandwidth that clocks in at no less than 2 Mbps. This figure alone doesn’t tell the entire story, but it's a good baseline of knowledge to start with when considering the implementation of a VoIP platform.

The Value of Cloud-Hosted VoIP

When your organization decides to make a change, you then want to decide whether you want to buy a dedicated PBX server or host your VoIP solution online. SCW can deploy a cloud-hosted VoIP solution that features the following benefits:

1. Access to a fully-integrated communications platform - Cloud-hosted VoIP is easier to deploy and will typically integrate with any CRM tool, email, and videoconferencing solution your company may use.
2. Provides complete customization - With a cloud-hosted VoIP platform it allows the business to pick which features they need, and which ones they don’t.
3. Dynamic communication and integrated business features - Not only do you get superior features like call center and auto attendant; you have access to several features that aren’t available with traditional telephone systems.
4. Integrated mobility - With a VoIP solution, you can receive calls in the office or on the move with integrated mobile support.
5. Flexibility - Hosted VoIP helps present any business additional opportunities by giving them the ability to scale the amount of users to their particular needs.
6. Cost reduction - Moving away from traditional phone systems to a cloud-based hosted VoIP solution will invariably reduce both capital costs and operational outlay compared with other business-grade telephone systems.

As you can see, the biggest drawback of a cloud-hosted VoIP solution is that you may have to pay more for your Internet connection, but with all the benefits, it’s definitely not a deal breaker. Call our IT professionals today at (509) 534-1530 to learn more.