Top 4 Advantages And Disadvantages Of VoIP

Were you aware that a business has an average of 30-50% savings by using VoIP?

Over the years, voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology has become a powerful method of communication. In fact, their popularity has only grown with the popularization of remote working culture. 

A good fit for various trends, VoIP offers a cost effective solution for effectively communicating. 

In this article, we will take a closer look at VoIP and the advantages of VoIP for businesses alongside its disadvantages.

What is VoIP?

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is a type of communication technology. It works by allowing you to place calls using the internet instead of an everyday phone line. 

With VoIP, you can make calls to people anywhere around the world as long as you have an internet connection. Moreover, alongside audio calling, VoIP can also be used for services like instant messaging, video calls and file sharing. 

4 Advantages of VoIP for Businesses You Should Know

More and more small and medium-sized businesses are adopting VoIP technology into their business every day. 

Here are some of the main advantages of VoIP:

1) Portability 

Portability is considered a key advantage of VoIP for many businesses. The portability of VoIP systems is especially useful for remote or mobile teams. 

As VoIP operates online, your users can access their phone systems across time zones as well as locations. This is all possible as long as a working internet connection is present. Thus, allowing for 24/7 instant access to user files and contacts.

2) Reduced costs

VoIP provides a low cost alternative form of communication when compared to traditional telephone systems.  As VoIP uses the internet to make and receive calls, this can significantly reduce running costs. 

In fact, any business switching to VoIP is estimated to save 49-69% on their monthly communication costs. This is because the addition of VoIP has eliminated the need for individual telephone lines.

3) VoIP software supports multiple communication channels

In modern times, voice-based communication is still popular. However, many other methods such as email, text messaging, live chat, etc. are being chosen by customers to connect with businesses. 

With VoIP technology, your users can engage with customers across multiple channels. Not only this, but they’re also able to switch channels midway and access customer information and interaction history whenever needed. In this way, VoIP is able to greatly speed up resolution rates.

4) VoIP is easily scalable

With traditional PBX phone systems, they’re often difficult and expensive to scale and involve a lot of additional hardware purchases. However, a major advantage of VoIP is its easy scalability. 

Adding new users on VoIP phone systems is much easier. As VoIP only uses the internet to make and receive calls, no new lines need to be provided. In this way, VoIP is able to swiftly scale to meet your business’ current as well as future needs. 

In fact, this level of scalability is very helpful for teams or businesses who require a highly customized business phone system.

4 Disadvantages of VoIP You Should Remember

Alongside its benefits, using VoIP also comes with a few drawbacks. Some on the main disadvantages of VoIP are:

1) VoIP service needs stable internet connection 

One of the biggest disadvantages of virtual telephony is that your VoIP service needs a reliable internet connection. If your network bandwidth is low, then your service is going to be affected and you’ll experience quality issues. 

Moreover, the bandwidth your business needs will depend on how many concurrent calls you want to make. To discover this, you  should run a bandwidth test on your present network. 

2) Issues with latency and jitter 

VoIP functions by sending packets of data across the internet from one IP address and then reassembling the packets at the destination IP address. When these packets do not reach their destination, this results in dropped calls. 

Latency refers to a lag in time or delay in transmission experienced on internet-based calls. It occurs between when one person speaks and the other person on the same line hears what you have to say. 

Jitter is when your packets arrive at their destination, but in the wrong order. This results in unintelligible calls. 

3) VoIP requires a continuous power supply

As VoIP operates using the internet, you will always need a continuous and uninterrupted power supply. 

In comparison, landline phones function with the use of copper wires. As a result, they will continue to be stable even in cases of an emergency or power outages. This is not the case with VoIP phones.

With VoIP services, users will have their services completely disrupted until power is restored. Or they would have to invest in a bulky and expensive backup power supply.

4) Security concerns

As with most internet-based technology, security is a cause for concern with VoIP services. By implementing VoIP, your business faces an added risk of security breaches. 

For example, phishing, virus and malware attacks, call tampering, identity and service theft, DOS attacks,  etc. All of these are very real threats that your business may encounter due to internet-based technology.

Conclusion

Overall, VoIP is an effective and cost-effective means of communicating with your customers. But, in a similar way to any technology, VoIP too has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The major advantage of VoIP lies with its portability and scalability. However, it is also majorly dependent on a stable internet connection that can cause your calls to suffer network-based issues. 

If you’re looking to invest in VoIP services, then it’s worth considering all the various ways VoIP can impact your business. Keeping all the above information in mind, you’re sure to make the best choice for your business!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)