VoIP Communications: The Way of the Future for Business Communications

VoIP Communications: The Way of the Future for Business Communications

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Many small and medium sized businesses are making the switch to VoIP communications.

VoIP, which stands for voice over internet protocol, is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms commonly associated with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service.

The reason many businesses are making the switch is that VoIP services can cut costs while also increasing productivity.

Operating costs for VoIP service providers are significantly lower than that of traditional phone companies. This is because traditional phone companies must contend with the existing, expensive-to-maintain phone infrastructure and costly industry regulations. With lower expenses, VoIP providers can charge much less than their competitors.

VoIP systems allow you to do things that are simply not possible with traditional phone technology. For example, you can:

Take your phone system with you. As long as you have access to a broadband connection, you can use your VoIP system anywhere, such as in a hotel room or at a friend’s home. Customers and employees can stay in touch just by calling your regular business phone number—they don’t need to call your cell phone, which means you can save precious cell phone minutes;

Talk on your laptop. Many VoIP systems include telephony software that enables you to send and receive calls using a headphone/microphone unit connected to your computer. Now you won’t miss an urgent call from a client, even when you’re hanging out with your laptop at an internet café; get voice mail and faxes with your e-mail. Many VoIP services allow you to have voice mail and faxes automatically forwarded to your regular e-mail inbox. You get all your messages in one place, and your voice mail and faxes can be easily archived or forwarded to others.

Choose any available area code, not just the one assigned to your region. For example, a business based in California could have a phone number with a Florida area code—particularly advantageous if your business has (or wants) customers in Florida;

Increase productivity. Many VoIP phone numbers can be configured to simultaneously ring on multiple devices—such as your cell and landline phones—before going to voice mail, thus eliminating time-consuming “phone tag.”

Nextiva, which is a VoIP business focusing on cloud based communication, has unveiled a new platform entitled: NextOS 3.0.

This new top-to-bottom platform is intended to bring unified communication to the next generation with personalized plans for business VoIP, call centers, SIP trunking, and E-faxing. With a focus on small to medium sized businesses.

NextOS features a host of new features that are exclusive to Nextiva customers. One great feature is “Call Me Now,” which is a widget that goes on your company’s web site. The customer or prospective customer presses a hyperlink and enters his/her phone number. This initiates a call to both the employee’s phone and the customer’s phone, so employees can immediately connect with their customers – similar to having a “live chat” window, only more personalized (as opposed to speaking over a keyboard you can talk directly to a person).

Another great feature is the Nextiva Connect virtual phone system. A variation on the Find Me/Follow Me, – which is a Nextiva function that works to intelligently route incoming callers through a series of telephone numbers or extensions, in a predetermined order, until the call is answered. For example, calls to an employee’s office phone may be instantly routed to the employee’s mobile VoIP phone if the call is left unanswered. Should both phones go unanswered, then the caller will be routed to voicemail if no other phone number exists. With Nextiva Connect incoming calls are automatically routed to you, wherever you are. All the features of NextOS are controlled by an online portal.

The new NextOS platform also allows users to set a host of rules for incoming calls based on the incoming number and time of day. Depending on those rules, an incoming caller may hear a “pre-call alert,” a message before the phone call commences; or the user’s phone can have a specific ring; these features can be used for both personal and professional purposes, and never intersect. Another great benefit is the conference call feature; the NextOS platform allows for up to 15-way calling under SIP without a conference line, or a premium conference call bridge that supports up 294 audio participants.

If you’re a small/medium business owner looking to cut communication costs and increase productivity, it might be time to look into installing a VoIP communications system – and join the rest of the business world in the future.

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I cover technology, utilities and biotechnology for Markets Morning, and I help out occasionally with other industry sectors. I've written about investment and personal finance topics for more than 20 years from a lowly copywriter to editor-in-chief, so I've done a little bit of everything. For what it's worth, I have a BA from Duke University and an MBA from Rollins College. I'm married with one daughter, and that's worth more than everything else put together.

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