VOIP Options for Small Businesses: A Guide

Small to mid-sized businesses like yours are adopting voice over internet protocol phone solutions at an accelerated rate. Recently, the market surpassed $40 billion and looks to reach $100 billion by 2032.

This rapid adoption is thanks in large part to a reduced need for equipment, maintenance, and IT staff with VoIP. However, just because VoIP business phone systems are a good idea doesn’t mean you can work with just any provider.

When looking into VoIP business phone systems, your company has to choose which type of solution fits your needs. Let’s look at why so many SMBs are switching and what your options are.

Key Takeaways:

If your business is still on a traditional analog phone system, you should switch to VoIP for the cost savings and flexibility.
Hosted VoIP gives you access to inexpensive voice calls over the internet and is simple to set up.
Unified communications use VoIP technology to put all of your contact channels into one convenient service.
SIP trunking allows you to retain an existing business phone system and gain the advantages of VoIP.

Why You Should Switch to a VoIP Business Phone System

Because of the lower cost and greater flexibility, a VoIP business phone system is an excellent option for small and mid-sized companies. With VoIP, there’s no need to pay for individual phone lines or to invest in private branch exchange hardware.

Also, because voice data packets transmit over the internet, your users can take and make calls from anywhere with an internet connection. As a result, your team is no longer office-bound. That means your company can let employees work from home or on the road.

You can also operate a remote call center with a cloud-based contact center solution. Plus, with lower IT costs, your business will have more capital to invest in other needs. Overall, VoIP allows SMBs to boost resilience with professional location-agnostic communications.

Get an even better idea of how practical a VoIP business phone system is by looking at these numbers:

After switching from a traditional phone system to VoIP, businesses see, on average, 50 to 75% lower costs.
Startups save around 90% in starting costs when they implement a VoIP system instead of a traditional system.
VoIP phone solutions are easier to use, with 67% of employees finding it simpler to handle calls using a VoIP solution.

However, this technology has evolved over the years and operates through various methods. If you’re a small business owner or IT manager looking for a VoIP business phone system, you’ll need to know the different ways to get started.

3 Approaches Your Small Business Can Take

When internet-based phones first started, users had limited choices for taking advantage of all the beneficial features. Today, you have unparalleled flexibility for customizing a modern VoIP business phone system that suits your needs.

Review the three primary options to determine what’s best for your teams.

1. Hosted VoIP

VoIP encompasses all phone systems that rely on the internet to make calls. If your small business wants to replace your current analog PBX, switching to VoIP eliminates the costs of managing an in-house phone system.

Here’s how it works:

A third party hosts the server that handles your phone system. This means the company securely manages the infrastructure and hardware at an off-site location.
Your company subscribes to a service from a VoIP provider. Users download an app on their devices to make calls.
Your team can make calls with a laptop, desktop, or mobile device. You can also obtain preconfigured phones that quickly connect to your provider’s remote server for additional security and top-notch call quality.

A hosted VoIP business phone system offers you access to secure, high-definition voice calls with the least amount of hassle.

2. Unified Communications

Technically, hosted VoIP is only a voice solution. What if you want video conferencing, chat, email, and file sharing? If your small business would benefit from an all-in-one communications solution, consider unified communications.

Think of UC as the next step in internet-based business communications. You start with VoIP infrastructure to use it, but it also syncs all of your communications tools and data into one system.

Unified communications as a service has become the best way to get hosted unified communications. This offering is a cloud-based solution offered in a SaaS model.

The great thing about UCaaS is that it levels the playing field for small businesses. Your company can take advantage of advanced communication tools, experience the efficiency and flexibility of a cloud solution, and keep your IT costs low.

As with basic hosted VoIP business phone systems, you don’t need to invest in or maintain on-premises infrastructure or hardware for UC. Simply sign up for a software subscription for your users. Once they download the app, they can get started.

3. SIP Trunking

Your company may already have an extensive phone system with traditional components. What do you do if you want to keep those existing lines but still gain the reliability and cost savings that come with making calls over the internet?

SIP trunking lets you modernize your current setup into a VoIP business phone system.

A SIP trunk is a virtual version of a phone line. In this case, the service routes your calls over the internet. That means no more paying for more costly physical phone lines.

Depending on your phone equipment, you might require a VoIP Gateway. This device translates analog and digital calls into VoIP data. Once your provider sets you up, you can start saving money on calls and access advanced communications features through your current setup.

How Intermedia Helps You Experience the Benefits of Modern VoIP Business Phone Technology

Countless small businesses are turning to hosted services that offer a dynamic communications solution. Others are rapidly updating their existing on-premises phone system with SIP trunking. Either way, VoIP is your gateway to modern communications that are cost-effective and efficient.

Intermedia offers reliable and secure cloud communications to businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re looking for UCaaS, SIP trunking, or other services, we provide a worry-free experience.

Learn more about how we can help your company start benefiting from VoIP business phone technology and industry-leading cloud-based communications solutions today.