Can Business VoIP handle the demands of Corporate Communications?

A corporate phone system has many more moving parts than a home phone system. Firms demand multiple extensions, dial-by-name directories, the ability to transfer calls to members within the network and lots of other features not needed at home. Up until now, companies were forced to to purchase their own pricy PBX unit from a communications hardware vendor and contract with expensive phone system specialists to deploy it and keep it running. Can providers handle the complexity of all of these extra features?

Hosted VoIP service providers have refined their products to operate just as well if not better than the PBXes offered by telco giants. These VoIP providers offer multiple extensions, voicemail features and call transfer, among other features businesses might need. They even support advanced features such as an auto-attendant to answer incoming calls, ACD queues to manage many calls simultaneously and conference bridges that allow several people to talk with each other on the same call. Most business VoIP providers even have or are developing E911 abilities.

Moreover, companies that get a hosted PBX system for their corporate phone system enjoy the added advantage of not having to take care of bulky, complicated phone equipment! The business VoIP provider manages that- and great providers have dedicated and knowledgeable people to look after the equipment on a daily basis. By not having a PBX in your office, you can avoid all of the hassle of making sure the system is running, and all of the stress when something goes wrong.

Your company can save lots of money by not having to purchase a PBX, which can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. By subscribing to a hosted business VoIP provider, you will only have to pay a small monthly charge (per user or per features enabled, depending on the VoIP provider) to use the service. And there are also savings to be had from the low price per minute for phone calls, averaging 2 to 3 cents per minute. VoIP is much cheaper than traditional telephone calls, essentially due to the fact that VoIP calls use your company's Internet connection.

VoIP providers are certainly ready to handle communications in a corporate environment. From the many features offered, to the savings incurred, a hosted PBX solution is very appealing for any small to medium-sized company. You trust your high-speed data connection to handle your Internet needs, why not trust it to handle your voice communications as well? The only thing you have to lose is the extra telephone equipment!