Hosted voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is growing rapidly, especially in this new era of remote work due to its affordability, efficiency and flexibility. Hosted VoIP also can solve your mobile communications challenges.
VoIP is simply a telephone service that uses the internet—the sound is converted into a digital signal and sent across the internet in packets, instead of over the traditional analog public switched telephone network (PSTN).
A hosted VoIP system is managed by a service provider with equipment based off-site in their data center. You don’t own the system; instead you typically pay a monthly recurring subscription fee per user or seat
What are the features and benefits of hosted VoIP service?
Scalability
It's impossible to know where your business will be a few years down the road. Hosted VoIP is like an insurance policy against unexpected changes in your organization's size. A hosted VoIP service lets you scale up and down the number of users or seats you pay for as needed. With a hosted VoIP service, you can also add or remove features from individual seats as your employees' needs and business requirements change.
Lower costs
Hosted VoIP is cost-efficient because of its predictable, subscription-based pricing model. Because hosted VoIP is fully managed by a service provider, there is no need to upgrade or replace costly on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) equipment. This means that hosted VoIP also has a lower total cost of ownership.
More predictable costs
With traditional on-premises PBX systems, there are always unexpected costs for upgrades, maintenance, services and more. But one of the main benefits of a hosted VoIP service is its simple, predictable subscription-based pricing model without any surprises or unforeseen investments.
A more level playing field
The right hosted VoIP service can give small businesses all the bells and whistles that much larger organizations get with an enterprise-grade communications service, including toll-free numbers, individual employee phone numbers, call transfers, virtual receptionists, message alerts and many others. A hosted VoIP service also provides actionable analytics that rival what’s available to large companies.
Lower workloads
Your IT department is likely already stressed and overworked. Hosted VoIP is a fully managed solution where upgrades, maintenance and management of the solution is the responsibility of your service provider.
Business continuity
Dealing with natural disasters and other unforeseen events is challenging enough; you don’t want to risk having your phones go down for potentially long periods of time or sustaining damage to any equipment you have on-site including PBX hardware. One of the main advantages of a hosted VoIP solution is that, because the phone system is in the cloud, it supports business continuity and disaster recovery.
Making the mobile connection
Some hosted VoIP solutions are mobile-centric, which means the advantages of VoIP are extended to all devices, including smartphones and mobile devices. One number means all calls ring on your employees devices, so they are reachable whether they're in the office, remotely working from home or on the go on their mobile device.
In essence, hosted VoIP solves many challenges facing businesses today, including scalability, cost concerns, and business continuity. Because of its mobile capabilities, VoIP can also keep your employees connected no matter where they are or where they go.
Is a hosted VoIP right for me?
However, there are a few things to consider in regards to VoIP. Unlike the traditional PSTN telephony system, VoIP requires electricity and a connection to the internet to work. So when the power or your internet connection is out, you can’t use your VoIP phones or phone system.
Migrating to VoIP isn't the right choice for every company. But for those who want an affordable, easy to implement and use cloud-based solution that offers business continuity and disaster recovery, it will likely be the right decision.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what VoIP is and the features and benefits it can offer, learn about the types of VoIP solutions available.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.