August 5, 2019

IS VOIP ALWAYS BETTER THAN A LANDLINE SYSTEM?

When it is time to upgrade your office phone system, there is a lot to consider. The biggest decision is whether you want to stick with a landline or evolve to a VoIP solution. There are pros and cons to both, so let’s take a look.

THE PRIMARY DIFFERENCES

Landline telephones rely on a network of wires, switches, and exchanges to get the job done. They require millions of miles of physical pathways to connect and route calls, which can be expensive and unwieldy.

Voice over Internet Protocol — known as VoIP — does essentially the same job, but over an expansive, virtual network. To simplify it, think of the difference as essentially a cloud-based system versus a physical system.

FUNCTIONALITY AND FEATURES

Many businesses make the mistake of using price as the biggest determining factor when upgrading any system or tool. And, certainly, price is an important concern, but it is not the most critical. The features, functionality, and scalability of a VoIP system should be the main factor in your decision-making.

VoIP phone systems have the edge over landlines when it comes to features and scalability. Since this system is cloud-based, there’s no hardware to install or upgrades. Adding or removing numbers or making any systematic changes are easy on this virtual network.

With behind-the-scenes engineers and hosted software, all of your VoIP features and upgrades are in the palm of your hand. Changes like this on a landline would require an on-site technician to make these updates.

To be fair, landlines can still accomplish many of the modern-day elements required by today’s businesses, but they also have limitations. However, based on the needs of your specific organization — such as a medical office or law firm — you must prioritize necessity over price or technology.

CALCULATING COSTS

At first glance, VoIP wins when it comes to cost. And if you keep digging, you will find that when it comes to pricing, landlines cannot compete with VoIP in this area. Since there is no hardware to buy or install the up-front costs of VoIP are low. Moreover, off-site engineers can handle all VoIP maintenance and software, making things even more accessible.

Depending on the scope of the system, building a landline phone system can also be cost-effective. It is a good option for a simple system; however, once you start adding bells and whistles, the costs quickly go up. Why? Because any functions require a systems engineer installing and updating expensive hardware and equipment on-site. Plus, all changes, even as simple as adding or removing an employee, require a service call. On the flip side, these types of changes on VoIP are much simpler and happen much faster.