December 14, 2005
VoIP for SMBs
The acceptance and growth of VoIP within organizations occurs at three levels; the first level is of cutting costs by deploying VoIP and moving away from POTS, the second level involves improving operational efficiencies by deploying a converged network that enables smooth and centralized management of voice and data spread over multiple locations; the third level covers the convergence of applications that help in improving productivity and customer experience.
VoIP is now being leveraged by smaller companies to improve the functioning of their CRM applications. The acquisition of Skype by eBay points to the fact that soon VoIP will cease to exist as an independent offering but will be available embedded in a wide range of IP applications. The ubiquity of VoIP underlines its importance as a tool for enhancing communications and the business experience. For SMBs, the initial pull of VoIP is its low cost of ownership, VoIP services also provide features such as voicemail and conferencing and in terms of voice quality are on par with traditional telephony.
The increased number of service providers offering VoIP services has opened up the options for SMBs who can now choose the one with quality and service bundle of their liking. Looking beyond the obvious benefits of VoIP, SMBs are now discovering that it can also generate revenue by enhancing productivity, enabling user-level customizations that make work easier for employees. Automatic routing and prescreening of calls are just some of the features that a company can use to its advantage by deploying VoIP.
SMBs that invest in solutions aim to meet their crucial objectives that are usually on the lines of increasing sales and reducing expenses. This has led to VoIP solution providers and channel partners joining hands so that the most effective converged solution can be made available to the business. The 2005 SMB Communications, Broadband, VoIP Survey by the Yankee Group has found that saving money on inter-office calling and long-distance calls was the prime reason for VoIP adoption by 37% of the SMBs questioned. Employee productivity and mobility were rated as reasons for VoIP adoption by 32% and 31% of the respondents, respectively.
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