Why Traditional Phone Systems Fail at Modern Businesses
As organizations in Oklahoma and the surrounding region strive toward greater efficiency and stay ahead of the latest technology, traditional telephone systems are falling short. Specifically, we’ve noticed five key areas where those systems are falling those businesses short.
- High Cost
It’s simple: traditional phones are just more than VoIP systems, oftentimes a lot more.A study by Frost & Sullivan revealed that businesses spend an average of $1,000 per user on traditional phone systems, including hardware, installation, and software licensing. This presents a significant financial burden for businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses.
In contrast, companies can expect to reduce their monthly telephone costs by over 50% when switching to VoIP. In our experience, that’s a huge reason why businesses decide to make the change.
It’s not just a high one-time cost either. In terms of operating costs, traditional phone systems rely on dedicated, on-premises hardware, locking businesses into fixed contracts with phone providers. This limits control over ongoing costs, with charges quickly adding up, especially for long-distance calls.
Maintenance costs can be another downside, as aging telephone hardware is susceptible to failures. The associated repair or replacement costs can be disruptive and unpredictable. In addition, the technicians required to manage and troubleshoot these legacy systems can add another layer of operational overhead. These factors come together to create an environment with spiraling costs and limited control.
- Limited Functionality
Over the years, the communication needs of businesses have evolved significantly. From video conferencing to voicemail transcription and integrations with CRM or other business applications, VoIP provides functionality that unlocks the full power of your network technology.But traditional business telephones remain a barebones service that struggles to keep pace with the fast rate at which other technologies have progressed. The very basic, hardware-centric design of traditional telephony systems means that it’s not possible to deliver the advanced features that are increasingly crucial in business today.
- Poor Scalability: Businesses have dynamic needs and often need to scale up or down with changing requirements. With traditional phones, scaling is both complicated and time consuming, as the provider will have to come to your location and wire new phones or expand your PBX. When it comes time to expand to a new branch, you’ll need to repeat the installation process all over again.
- Lack of Mobility: Traditional telephone systems are limited by physical lines and devices. This, in turn, limits your employees’ physical movement and their ability to communicate and work effectively outside the office. Tethering employees to their desks for calls not only complicates changes in work location in today’s POST-COVID culture of work from home, but it may also present a serious misalignment with the goals of your organization or employees.
VoIP Positions You for Maximum Productivity and Efficiency
The landscape of business communication has undergone a drastic shift, and the speed of work has grown faster, competition has grown fiercer, and both business leaders and clients have increased expectations for fast, personalized service that didn’t exist just a decade ago.
Besides just lowering costs, here’s how VoIP can help you stay ahead of the competition.
Address Your Customer’s Evolving Expectations
The choice between a traditional telephone system or VoIP doesn’t just shape your organization internally, but it also shapes your customer experience. Today’s customers want seamless and immediate communication that traditional landlines simply can’t provide.
According to McKinsey, 86% of customers expect to shift harmoniously between multiple communication channels, but phones don’t allow your staff to use voice, email, and chat interchangeably in the same way that VoIP does. Beyond omnichannel connectivity, with VoIP you can also personalize communication with call routing, custom greetings, and a unified number of outgoing calls, allowing you to better serve your customers.
Faster Response Times, Better Customer Experience
When customers reach out to your organization, it’s just not realistic to ask them to leave a voicemail that leaves them unattended; they’ll simply call another business until they get a good response.
VoIP solutions support advanced call forwarding, allowing calls to be directed to the right person quickly. This includes routing calls to mobile phones, voicemail boxes, or designated colleagues based on time of day, caller ID, or department.
According to a Zendesk benchmark report, 67% of customers expect businesses to offer self-service options.
VoIP systems can even be connected to an interactive voice response (IVR) system that allows customers to direct themselves to the right department, or even self-serve by accessing frequently requested information through automated prompts.
This not only reduces wait times but also caters to the growing trend of customer self-service.
Empowering and Modernize Your Workforce
Over the last few years, working trends across the globe have shifted massively. Employees are no longer limited to working from within the perimeters of the enterprise. Distributed teams and remote work have become the norm across countries.
98% of workers want to work remote at least some of the time.
Businesses that want to embrace remote work need a communication solution that isn’t limited by their physical location.
One of the main characteristics of VoIP solutions is their ability to tie together multiple locations. Staff can make and receive calls from any device with an internet connection instead of being tied down by physical lines, while always appearing to be calling from inside your company.
With several other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, businesses can empower their employees with VoIP, allowing them to collaborate seamlessly as they work remotely.
Streamline Telephony Management
There’s a good chance that your IT department supports the critical business operations at your company. By bringing the management of your telephone system into an existing department, you can expect to reap several benefits, which include the following:
Web-based interfaces and centralized management empower your IT department to simplify setup, configuration, and troubleshooting of your VoIP system, without the need to contact a telephone company.
VoIP integrates with existing CRM, ERP, and other business tools, streamlining workflows, and eliminating data silos. Even security features and disaster recovery plans are easier to implement and manage on VoIP, making it an ideal choice.
How to Select the Right VoIP Partner
So we’ve established that VoIP can dramatically cut costs and position your businesses for success in a more connected and competitive business landscape. What comes next?
How do you go about making the most of VoIP technology, while avoiding some of the common pitfalls that businesses may encounter during their transition, such as lackluster call quality, poor integration, and cybersecurity vulnerability.
We recommend finding a partner who understands both VoIP technology and the network technology that underpins it, such as a managed IT service provider (MSP). For a flat-monthly fee, a reputable MSP like NSN Management can ensure professional VoIP deployment and integration with maximum efficiency.
Seamless Integration
The right MSP will go beyond simply providing a VoIP system. They’ll take a holistic approach to managing both your VoIP system and the underlying network infrastructure as a unified whole. This means systems that speak to each other the way you need, with no configuration conflicts or call quality issues.
Proactive Management
The right partner will identify and address potential bottlenecks in your VoIP network before they disrupt your operations, minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth user experience.
This proactive approach extends to security and performance. From routine maintenance tasks like patching network devices to conducting security vulnerability assessments and planning for future capacity needs, the right MSP partner ensures that your network has sufficient bandwidth for optimal VoIP performance, both now and as your business grows.
Consistent Call Quality
While crystal-clear call quality is the backbone of a successful VoIP system, achieving it can be a challenge. Here’s where the right MSP partnership adds significant value. They’ll configure your network to prioritize VoIP and improve Quality of Service (QoS), ensuring your calls consistently remain crisp and clear, providing a seamless communication experience for your business.
If you work with a vendor who only handles your VoIP system, it will be difficult to achieve that level of comprehensive service quality.
Cost Predictability
It’s worth repeating that one of the major reasons that businesses choose a VoIP system comes down to dollars; VoIP systems are more feature rich, more flexible, and more cost effective than traditional systems.
A reputable MSP will provide flat-rate maintenance plans that include total support for your phone system. This helps you streamline your budgeting and ensure optimal VoIP performance with completely predictable monthly costs.
NSN Management—The Mid-West’s VoIP Partner
For nearly two decades, the NSN Management team has been helping businesses in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and the greater region replace their old, inefficient telephone systems with modern VoIP systems that lower costs and position them for greater success.
Ready to speak with a VoIP expert? Contact our friendly team any time at 918 770 7400 or visit the VoIP page on our website. We look forward to speaking with you!
