What are the Pros and Cons of a VoIP system?

It’s easy to brim with enthusiasm when you read or hear about the many merits of switching your corporate telecommunications to a VoIP system. However, don’t allow yourself to get so excited that you are clouded in your judgment of VoIP’s drawbacks in a business context.

Before you decide to definitely proceed with a VoIP solution, weigh up these pros and cons…

Pro: the costs can be virtually limited to internet costs

Did you know that, with a VoIP system, the expense of your monthly phone bills could be slashed by as much as 90%? That’s the saving that, according to Planet Numbers, a hosted VoIP service from that particular telecoms company could bring.

It makes sense, if you think about it; as a VoIP system delivers calls over the internet, you can wholly avoid landline charges and leave the billing as just the internet usage price, says Information Age.

Con: the system’s reliability depends on the internet

VoIP’s dependency on the internet leads us nicely onto highlighting one of the technology’s major drawbacks. As a general rule, the faster your internet speeds, the better quality of service you can expect to experience when making calls over a VoIP system.

However, on the flipside, if your internet speed drops, perhaps due to the bandwidth being tested by users’ increasing demands, voice quality or even entire business calls could drop.

Pro: VoIP is super-flexible for meeting business needs

A business can be a very fluid thing, rapidly changing as the marketplace and other circumstances necessitate an abrupt change in tactics. You should feel reassured, then, that you can easily tinker with a VoIP system to account for unexpectedly-arisen fluctuations in your corporate requirements.

With the Planet Numbers system, for example, you can add extra hosted numbers, assign each line an office handset or allocate lines to mobiles in the pockets of workers often out of the office.

Con: if the power goes, so does the VoIP system

A VoIP system depends on not only the internet but also a good, consistent supply of power. Your VoIP hardware can only work when plugged into an electric power supply. Therefore, unlike PSTN phones, VoIP handsets would be rendered unusable if power is interrupted.

A UPS – Uninterruptible Power Supply – would provide a useful safety net, but only for a few minutes at the most, Lifewire warns. This situation can leave VoIP’s power reliance an ever-present risk.

Pro: a VoIP system can be set up delightfully quickly

Given that the only new hardware your company needs for arranging its VoIP system consists of VoIP handsets, it’s clear to see that most of the set-up process happens on the software end.

After configuring and ordering a VoIP system, you might only have to wait a few working days for it to become operational. Planet Numbers cites the wait as five working days or less if you want this telecoms provider’s hosted VoIP service; how long exactly will depend on how big a network you need.