A VoIP switchboard is a telephone exchange system that works internally within the IP protocol. Voice IP can be linked with saving time and money and agility in telephone communications. How do you save money? Simply because the services connected to talk fees are lower. VoIP eliminates maintenance fees and the fact that internal communications are free (either between one or different locations).
VoIP is a novel system of telephony where multiple companies can be added, multiple people added to a system, and multiple sites all using it online at the same time.
Companies that offers VoIP:
Now that we are facing a major shift in office work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees as well as employers are challenged to work from home as much as possible. Companies below are some of the best that provide VoIP services which can be very beneficial to business transactions.
- RingCentral – RingCentral offers a versatile work-from-home solution that includes integrated messaging, unlimited video conferencing, and cloud-hosted VoIP service right out of the box. Their plans include many amazing features that other providers charge extra for (such as generous toll-free minutes). Small businesses don’t even have to worry about whether they’re getting raked over the coals for their cloud-hosted VoIP service because RingCentral offers price matching on plans with less than 50 lines. Another good thing is that Ring Central’s experts are proactively monitoring and optimizing the platform 24/7/365, ensuring service remains at the highest level possible, with available 99.999% uptime SLA.
- Nextiva – Nextiva is great for medium-sized enterprises operating on a tight budget. It delivers an impressive balance of pricing without compromising the quality of their services. Nextiva’s mobile and desktop apps allow your employees to ditch the ponderous office phones of the past making it easier to perform multiple tasks at once. Even if they are all working from different locations their online management platform connects and performs for you. The Nextiva app lets you use your business phone number to make calls remotely from your desktop or mobile devices. If you are worried about spending a ton upfront for new VoIP phones, Nextive can also convert your traditional systems with ease.
- Switchvox – an award-winning business phone system solution built on the power of Asterisk with countless installations worldwide. The Asterisk communications engine is an open source toolkit that drastically simplifies the process of building communication applications while Switchvox isn’t just another VoIP business phone system. Switchvox is the smarter way for your business to take advantage of Unified Communications (UC) and collaboration tools – without a high price tag. Features like chat, video chat, quick dial, status, presence, and call rules all work together to allow your staff and clients to interact more efficiently. The combination of Switchvox and D-series phones provides a complete (UC) solution for small and mid-sized businesses by integrating all of your office communications, including phone, fax, chat, and web conferencing, to give you a customised communications experience.
- Ooma – talk about affordability? Ooma business VoIP solutions fit any size business. Ooma Office works right out of the box and you don’t need any technical knowledge to set it up. It should take you less than 15 minutes to set up the small business phone system. Even better, you can keep your number or we’ll give you a new one. Traditionally, business landlines will cost you around $40 to $50 however, with Ooma’s subscription pricing at $19.95 per user per month (which includes a phone extension), Ooma Office can help small businesses save between 40% to 60% compared to their current provider’s monthly per line charge. With Ooma Office there are no contracts or long-term commitments.
- Grasshopper- the virtual phone system designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Grasshopper works just like a traditional phone system, but requires no hardware. They offer a mobile or desktop app to allow communication from wherever business takes place – on your mobile, in the office, or at home. Grasshopper tells customers when an incoming call is for business so you can answer accordingly and sound professional. It creates an automated greeting to welcome callers and direct them to departments or employees. You even get a superb greeting by taking advantage of professional voice talent in the voice studio. Grasshopper helps business owners find the perfect number to build their business identity from our inventory of local, toll free, and vanity phone numbers.
Who manages the switchboard?
You can manage your VoIP switchboard and have the technology integrated in your workplace to boost productivity by saving time through a swift communication system. As remote teams of workers and employees are becoming more and more general now. As the years go by and more specific technology is perfected in this area, one of these is known as, again, “VoIP” which is not just technology focused towards customers but also gives numerous benefits to the company making use of it.
Voice-over-Internet protocol can be used for online phone calls with or without video. More benefits will be discussed below. It is important to first understand the reason for pushing this technology in this day and age. VoIP is relevant since businesses are slammed with the challenge of maintaining operations throughout the pandemic. Using VoIP for this purpose gives the added benefits below:
- Remote Working Optimal Productive and Easier
No one predicted that people can work even if they are away from their office. When the late 2010s began, we heard people working from home called freelancers, contractors, and full-time employees without having to set foot in an office.
This happens because people are used to the office set up and the technology that supports the office environment. As the world continues to rise to the challenge each day, every kind of business is becoming more and more technologically inclined. This gives companies the chance to hire employees in other countries and locations, which makes for more innovation and creativity.
- Allows Anywhere Productivity
Have employees who are always on the go? Having the option where to finish tasks from their mobile devices or their personal computers is something employees today need. This adaptability is possible through VoIP, since no one has to compromise their personal lives or take a sick day for a medical appointment.
Today, there are countless online options where one can work from their computers and take up where they left off on their smartphone. Given this set-up, it allows employees to catch up on work during their downtime. The long durations in waiting rooms or standing in line or being stuck in traffic don’t have to be wasted.
- Employee Benefits
Having a productive environment can lead to positive energy vibes in the workplace. If you own a company that allows its employees to work from home, employees can be happier, more productive and better at their jobs, They feel trusted and valued. They could be offered work from home part-time, and only come into the office when absolutely needed. This saves your employees a lot of time preparing for work and traveling. It saves them money, as well as saving your business time, money, energy and effort.
In fact, giving employees the option to work from home instead of taking a sick day would prevent them from losing wages if they work on an hourly rate. This is the same if an employee has a sick family member at home or a pet. They could benefit from the support and comfort of working from home.
- Save more money
It’s important, so we will say it again. Employees who have the chance to work from home also save on many financial and emotional costs. For example, they save some money since spending for daily transport is not necessary. If they own their own vehicle, they wouldn’t have to put in petrol very often or the other maintenance fees that come with owning a vehicle. If your company covers the transportation of your employees, remote workers could save their organisation these expenses too.
Transport isn’t the only cost a business has to consider since they have essential in-house workers. Utilities like space, electricity, Air conditioning, water and gas, and the company must have a well-stocked break room to boot. With VoIP, organisations could spend less rent on office and obviously save on hardware costs since remote employees would have their own setup in their home.
- Higher Productivity
VoIP providers ensure that employers can effectively convey their instructions to their employees no matter where both parties are located. Since the market of VoIP is to reduce the barrier of communications as much as possible. Such that, when employees find the benefits of working from home to their advantages, they would more likely put in more effort. Having said that, happy employees who can contribute better output in work would generally feel more kindly towards their employers.
If employees are mentally relaxed in their home, they would tend to give more attention and detail to their tasks. The benefit of VoIP could include employees working without any mental distractions with respect to their home situation. In many ways, VoIP-based management of remote workforces benefits both employers and employees. Why? Since employees are not causing stress, employers are happy too. Did you know, some studies show that working from home may increase productivity by as much as 30%.
What is the difference between Voip and PBX switchboard?
Voice over Internet protocol or VoIP and public branch exchange systems or PBX for short are two different tools but share the same goals of achieving one end result which is to make and receive phone calls.
Traditionally, PBX systems have been working for years and are primarily used by businesses that need a dedicated phone network. On the other hand, VoIP is a recent development that uses the Internet to make calls.
Internet? What if the internet fails? Is VoIP still functional?
If you are deciding between the two, of course you will have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of both options and note that most of which are largely dependent on your case and your primary mission.
System Connection Protocols
As stated earlier, it is obvious that the main difference between PBX and VoIP is the way they connect users.
For PBX systems, it is the use of a small telephone network that uses standard telephone lines for incoming and outgoing calls. A typical setup of PBX according to Cisco, includes a computer server, a manual control board and multiple lines that connect to the public system. Having those cables will connect to users to an internal switching system that routes calls to individual phone lines throughout the company.
Complicated? Well here is the other one to which you can possibly easily relate…
A VoIP system is considerably less complicated.Yes! The only thing it requires is the transfers of analog voice data over the Internet, it requires an Internet connection and a computer or an IP phone.
Potential Equipment Options
One of the most notable and necessary distinctions between VoIP and PBX is the equipment that you can use to create calls. PBX systems use standard analog phone equipment like corded or cordless phones and, for hands-free applications, a headset. In VoIP systems, it uses multiple equipment options depending on your situation. If you like a replication of the traditional phone experience, you can use an IP phone or a wireless phone to connect to the Internet, but if you want to receive and make phone calls directly from your computer or mobile device then some VoIP services also include a softphone client that does the work.
User-Friendly Configuration
Of course, we all want what is best and easy to navigate. We don’t want complicated instructions especially when the technology would be used by different people. Now, VoIP systems offer more configuration options than PBX systems.
Why? Because VoIP systems are controlled directly from a computer, meaning they are easy to program and reprogram, even if you don’t have expert-level knowledge. A VoIP system can be configured to transfer calls to multiple numbers or one number based on specific conditions. Moreover, it also offers voicemail-to-text transposition.
A downfall of PBX system is when it comes to flexibility that VoIP setup provides since PBX can be configured to route calls to specific extensions or to forward all calls to a specific number, changes must be made by an administrator with in-depth knowledge of the system rather than by random employees.
Have you made a final choice? If not, did you know that there is still an ALTERNATIVE to the VoIP communication system?
The VoIP is good but there is a more innovative version available. ConXhub is non-VoIP & doesn’t require data, so you can start making crystal clear calls without the stress of a bad connection. You can call anywhere in the world just like chatting to your neighbour. Say goodbye to frustrating low-quality & dropped calls & trying to find decent internet connections. ConXhub gives you the highest HD quality calls while saving your personal data allowance without communication strain.
