The year 2020 has presented business owners with various reasons to choose Voice over Internet Protocol for their office communications. The coronavirus pandemic left many companies with no other alternative but to adjust to the new reality of working from home as much as possible, and this is when the importance of a solid VoIP system comes into play.
When the pandemic started, quite a few businesses rushed to providing staff with commercial VoIP solutions with limited functionality and dubious security. A few others realized that their office networks were not quite ready to support VoIP. Companies that already had the convenience of hosted VoIP systems capable of delivering unified communications had the upper hand because they were able to seamlessly transition into telecommuting.
Unified Communications Gives Businesses An Advantage
With unified communications (UC), a company in the High Desert can easily configure the VoIP portal for remote work, and this will include more than just voice calls. Email, messaging, faxes, voice mail, and office documents are all centralized on UC platforms, and they can be accessed from various internet-connected devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The goal is to provide access to crucial office systems from anywhere staff members have to work from.
Not all office networks will be ready to support VoIP systems or UC platforms; this is the first aspect to consider when formulating an office communications strategy, and it requires an evaluation of routers, firewalls, ports, and switches. The second aspect is to evaluate whether the broadband connection has enough bandwidth to provide what is known as Quality of Service, but this can be solved with the right service provider and an adequate plan.
The reality for many business owners wishing to host their own VoIP and UC systems is that upgrading their networks could be a costly endeavor. In addition to obtaining the right hardware and configuration, there may be other expenses related to network monitoring, security, and device management; these are all reasons why hosted VoIP solutions are often the preferred strategy.
Migrating to UC platforms is another concern that should be included in the VoIP strategy, but it is generally the easiest aspect to manage. For the most part, employees who are familiar with office networks and mobile device configuration will get the hang of UC systems after a couple of training sessions. Finally, scaling VoIP systems is something that can be more effectively accomplished with hosted solutions, which is another reason why it makes more sense to choose hosting.