Coleman Technologies Blog

VoIP Improves Inter-Department Communication
Landline telephones in the office have been dated for quite some time. Even if they were once necessary to get in touch with coworkers and other departments, they are now quite antiquated compared to modern solutions. After all, there’s no guarantee that an employee will be available to take your call, as the workplace is filled with countless tasks that often require their full attention. Sure, you could leave a voicemail, but there’s no guarantee that the employee will see the message until it’s too late to respond. Since Voice over Internet Protocol doesn’t rely on your employees having a traditional handset, and instead has them using more mobile devices, they’re more likely to be available when you need them most.

VoIP Is More Flexible
Some organizations have employees who aren’t always able to work in the office for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are simply on the move for conferences so often that they are just never in the office, or perhaps you have employees who work remotely from time to time (or even permanently). VoIP lets you stay in touch with these employees in the same way you can with your in-house team. Since VoIP can be used on mobile devices, laptops, and even desktops, it doesn’t matter where your employees work, as long as they have the VoIP application and a headset. In this way, VoIP is much more flexible than any traditional landline.

VoIP Allows for Additional Features
Landline phone services tend to have features built into them, but many of them are decided by the cable company that provides your telephone service. These features are often not what your business wants or even needs. VoIP services give your business all the features needed from traditional landline telephone services, including conference calling and voicemail, but with lots of additional features that add a quality to your business’ ability to communicate. You can take advantage of video conferencing and instant messaging built right into your VoIP solution. By going through a VoIP provider in this way, you save money by only paying for services you will use rather than those your cable provider assumes you want.

To get started with a VoIP solution today, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

A business telephone system has picked up some pretty costly requirements over the past several years. Not only does your business need to have a clear and concise calling system internally, it needs to incorporate video conferencing and remote communications. This can get pretty costly if you don’t have the right technology in place. That right technology is VoIP and it can save your business money and present options that allow your employees seamless communication capabilities.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol, which is the basis of the technology. Instead of using traditional phone lines to carry communications, these connections are completed through the Internet. Most businesses have surplus bandwidth that just goes to waste. By shifting your communications to VoIP, you remove the need for traditional telephone service and conduct business communications over the Internet. It provides some serious benefits, including:

Cost Effectiveness

One of VoIP's primary advantages is its remarkable cost efficiency. Traditional telephone systems often have hefty installation, maintenance, and long-distance calling charges. In contrast, VoIP leverages the power of the internet to transmit voice data, eliminating the need for a separate infrastructure for voice and data. Businesses can significantly reduce their communication expenses by adopting VoIP, especially for international or long-distance calls. The cost savings extend beyond just call charges, as the simplified infrastructure requires less maintenance, further reducing costs.

Flexibility and Scalability

VoIP offers unparalleled flexibility and scalability, adapting seamlessly to the evolving needs of businesses. Unlike traditional phone systems that are often bound by physical limitations, VoIP operates over the Internet, allowing users to make and receive calls from any location with an Internet connection. This is particularly beneficial for remote workers.

VoIP systems are highly scalable, making it easy for businesses to expand or reduce user accounts without the hassle of rewiring or reconfiguring a traditional phone system. With this, VoIP provides the agility needed to adjust communication infrastructure on the fly.

Innovative Features

VoIP goes beyond basic voice communication, offering a plethora of advanced features that enhance productivity and collaboration. Features like voicemail to email transcription, call forwarding, auto-attendants, and video conferencing contribute to a more dynamic and efficient communication environment. VoIP integrates with other business applications and tools, fostering a unified communication ecosystem.

For example, integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems allows businesses to streamline workflows and provide better customer service by accessing relevant customer information during calls. This integration saves employees a lot of time and improves the customer experience.

Enhanced Mobility

Many workers now work remotely, requiring communication solutions that can travel with them. VoIP empowers users with enhanced mobility, allowing them to make and receive calls using their business phone number from various devices, including smartphones, laptops, and tablets. This flexibility is especially valuable for remote workers, traveling professionals, and businesses with geographically dispersed teams.

VoIP's mobility features improve accessibility and responsiveness, ensuring that important calls are never missed, irrespective of the user's physical location. This adaptability aligns perfectly with the evolving nature of work and helps businesses maintain a competitive edge.

If you would like to learn more about VoIP's benefits and why it is the future of communications, call our consultants today at Coleman Technologies.

The landscape of telephony for small businesses has changed dramatically. It’s likely that you don’t rely on your phone nearly as much as you rely on other technologies, like your Internet, communications solutions, and email. Still, an antiquated phone system can hold you back, so let’s explore the other viable option for your business: Voice over IP.

Let’s break down why your traditional telephone is no longer viable for your business first.

Adding New Users is a Pain

When you first started your business, you were meticulous about finding the right space for the moment, just to get things off the ground. You may have had to run wires across your office for a specific number of employees, workstations, and handsets. When your business started to grow, suddenly you found yourself limited by the infrastructure you had spent so much time cultivating. Adding new users to your infrastructure becomes costly and time-consuming, which is something that only a traditional telephone business makes you suffer through.

Organizational Communication is Already Challenging Enough

When you use your office landline, you are, for all intents and purposes, stuck behind your desk if you want to use your phone. This is the opposite of what you want to happen; you want your employees to have the freedom to do what they need to do without being tethered to a physical location, and a solution which allows for this means that your company will have more flexibility for remote work and operations.

Your Telephone System Adds Hidden Costs and Services

More likely than not, you’re paying more for your landline telephone than necessary, and it’s all because of bundled services that you have no need for. You might be paying for cable television in addition to your phone service, for example. A service that allows you to customize your services according to what you need is ideal for businesses, particularly small businesses that cannot afford to waste their valuable budget on unneeded services.

There’s No Reason to Suffer with Old Technology

Using your landline is just like using any other old frustrating technology; it’s completely unnecessary. If you rely on outdated technology for too long, you’ll fall behind your competitors, which is something that no business can afford. You can get ahead of the game with a VoIP solution that uses your current IT infrastructure and Internet connection, effectively replacing your company’s landline by turning all of your desktops, laptops, and smartphones into your telephone system.

VoIP Can Be the Solution to Your Communication Troubles

If you are ready to get started with VoIP, then Coleman Technologies can help you make the transition. All you have to do is pick up that old dusty handset and use it one last time to call us at (604) 513-9428.

Selecting the Right Type of Phone
It might be tempting to discredit the importance of telephony for your organization, but you should resist this notion. Businesses still rely on the phone to communicate both internally and externally, and eliminating it can create a situation where your clients have one less way of getting in contact with you. Therefore, the importance of the telephone in the office cannot be understated, as your reputation with your patrons hangs in the balance. As you can imagine, there are several different kinds of phones out there, each with their own pros and cons. It’s up to your organization to determine which solution best suits your needs.

Landline
For a long time, the landline was the only kind of telephone solution for businesses. This utilizes the connections provided by a telephone company which consisted of private branch exchange (PBX) hardware in the office. This would give businesses the option to create extensions for employee and office, as well as opportunities for other services like call transferring and directories. Even though these are so familiar, many organizations are ditching landlines in favor of other solutions that are more flexible and efficient. It just so happens that the Internet and all its developments are much better at accommodating the needs of businesses, including new telephone solutions.

Virtual Phones
A virtual phone system can be considered a middle ground between the traditional form of telephony and a Voice over IP system. Incoming calls can be processed through a traditional telephony method, and they are then forwarded to the right employee through a VoIP system. This gives a business with both in-house employees and remote workers the opportunity to unify their communications. Additional features can also be added in for a more dynamic solution.

Voice over Internet Protocol
Voice over IP is a system that aims to cut out the need for traditional telephone solutions entirely. VoIP fully utilizes the Internet connection of your organization’s office to fulfill all of its telephony needs. The right solution can give your business all it needs to be functional on any device from a desktop to a mobile device. There are some different ways to use VoIP, so you’ll want to make sure you select the right method out of the gate to get the best return on your investment.

• An in-house VoIP system will be an expensive up-front cost, as the equipment needed to host the system can be quite taxing on any normal budget. There will also be a monthly fee for the components needed to make calls, and any maintenance the solution requires must be administered by your in-house staff. The benefit to all of this is that you’ll have complete and total control over your business’ telephone system--something that no other solution can offer.
• A cloud-hosted VoIP system means that everything is taken care of so your organization can instead focus on remaining productive with your time. This means that there is no need to buy hardware or maintain it on your end. In the event your phone system goes down, the provider is the one responsible--not you--meaning that you’ll be somewhat reliant on others, but the productivity spike can mean all the difference. In the event your Internet goes down, you’ll also be left without service, but again, this isn’t something that’s directly yours to influence.

It’s easy to see why VoIP is such a great solution, but is it right for you? Find out by giving us a call at (604) 513-9428.