Communication technology has come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and is pushing boundaries and breaking new ground with each new development. Unfortunately far too many companies fail to move with these developments, and nowhere is it more evident than businesses holding on tightly to their legacy phone systems.
Many companies look at their phone systems with a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, and naturally telecom vendors are reluctant to provide evidence contradictory to this view. As such, too many businesses stay mired in systems that are simply lacking in comparison to other technological options.
Enter Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
While not a new technology, growing numbers of companies are making the decision to change how they conduct communication by switching to VoIP, which offers a wealth of advantages, such as flexibility and lower costs. VoIP systems work by converting sound into digital voice communication and transferring it through internet broadband, essentially allowing users to use the internet to make phone calls.
Naturally legacy phone system vendors aren't in a hurry to advocate that businesses shift to VoIP, so the responsibility rests on decision makers within the business to notice signals denoting it's time to consider making the change to VoIP.
Signs Your Business is Ready for VoIP
Signal 1: Nobody is Using Their Deskphone Anymore
It may sound trivial, but in reality employee behaviour is a strong indicator that change is needed in the workplace. Legacy phone systems generally have ongoing monthly costs that remain at a general fixed rate. These expenses often remain fixed even if usage of the of the phone system has declined. It's up to you to gain insight into your employees' communication preferences through observation.
If your staff are choosing to conduct the majority of their communication through IP-based communication, or chatting via text more often than having voice conversations, it may be time to look at changing to a more integrated communication model.
Signal 2: Your Legacy System is Killing Productivity
As mobile devices offer greater freedom to employees in the workplace, the inflexibility of legacy phone systems is highlighted. IP-based communication technology allow employees the opportunity to communicate on their own terms, and have features that enhance that communication, such as presence and notifications, and are also much easier to manage.
Choosing a VoIP system allows staff members to collaborate more efficiently and utilise the same set of tools across the entire enterprise, making communication seamless.
Signal 3: Voice Gains More Value as Data
Phone systems are great for voice communication, but they're limited to just that. VoIP is essentially a form of data that runs over a network that supports other modes of communication as well. The ability to integrate VoIP with other communication modes offers users the ability to work together with greater ease.
With greater numbers of millennials entering the workforce, a strong need exists for companies to meet the technological demands of this generation of workers. Millennials are digital natives, having grown up with the internet and all its functionalities, and expect the ability to communicate in richer contexts across multiple modes. Relying on dated phone systems could harm a business's ability to attract employees, and hamper their ability to recruit fresh talent.
Signal 4: Your Legacy System is Costing More
It's a common myth that VoIP systems are exorbitantly more expensive than legacy phone systems, when really they are surprisingly cost-effective to implement and offer much better value for money. It can be tempting to assume that because your legacy system is paid up that it'll be more cost-effective keeping it over introducing a newer mode.
Telephony vendors are only too happy to perpetuate this view, knowing full well that as your legacy system ages it'll require maintenance and support, which they will be able to bill you for at the end of the day.
Choosing to change from traditional to IP-based telephony can seem like a huge step, but it's really the natural progression of communication as modes shift along with technological developments and user preferences. Making forward-thinking decisions regarding your company's communication methods can open up a whole new world of possibilities. Now who wouldn't want that?
