Cost breakdown of VoIP: How small businesses can save money?

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Communication is integral for the operations of a business, regardless of whether it is big or small. Landlines helped companies communicate, but now are being quickly replaced. With digitization and rapid growth of the internet, companies can now communicate without spending a large sum.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has been around for a while now. But due to limitations in technology, it wasn’t as widespread as it is today. However, in recent years, VoIP has become the foremost choice for businesses.

With a stable internet connection, you can practically make calls from anywhere you want. Another reason why businesses prefer VoIP is because you can manage remote employees with ease. Not only is VoIP cheaper, but it also offers a variety of features.

These features include call forwarding, auto-attendant, three-way calling (for conference calls), music-on-hold, and countless others. It makes it easier for businesses to manage incoming calls and direct them to the relevant department.

Most small businesses cannot afford to spend their money needlessly. Moreover, they have a limited budget. In this case, installing a VoIP system, for small businesses is a smart choice, because you end up saving money.

Cost breakdown of VoIP

The cost of a VoIP phone system can be broken down into the following categories:

Hardware cost

Small businesses can avail VoIP services using hardware or software. If you prefer desk phones, the cost of installing VoIP will be slightly higher. Since VoIP requires an internet connection, you need to connect the router to a regular phone. If you intend to use a regular desk phone, you need an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) only. The desk phone connects to the adapter, and the adapter connects to the router. Most VoIP services provide an ATA device to their users. Hence, you don’t need to buy an ATA. Instead of using a regular desk phone, you can use a VoIP phone, which does not need an ATA device. VoIP phones have more features than regular phones, albeit they are a little expensive. Here is a listing of VoIP phones, ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars.

So the only cost you have to bear is that of a phone.

However, if you choose to use a softphone app, you don’t have to buy a desk phone. A softphone app downloads on a smartphone, so you can receive calls on-the-go. Moreover, you save a lot of money this way.

Subscription Plans

Most VoIP service providers offer multiple subscription plans to their users. Usually, users have the option to subscribe to either a fixed or flexible plan.

In the fixed subscription plans, users have a set number of calling minutes available. On the contrary, flexible plans do not have an upper limit on the calling minutes; users are charged on a per-minute basis. Hence, in a flexible plan, you can make as many or as few calls as you want; you only pay for the minutes you were on the call.

So the cost of subscription plans varies. Most VoIP services offer subscription plans at a monthly rate of $25. The more features a VoIP service offers, the more the cost of the service will be.

If you want an international calling plan, VoIP service providers also offer this. These range from $15/month to $30/month. The number of calling destinations may vary in the various subscription plans offered for international calling.

Maintenance

Apart from a VoIP phone, adapter, and router, there is no hardware involved. Hence, the maintenance cost of VoIP is negligible. In contrast, a landline has a high maintenance cost because of an on-premises PBX. The cloud hosts the VoIP for small business, so your hardware requirement is less.

VoIP is easily scalable at no additional cost; just the added plans that may be required to work with the new VOIP phone line.

Why your small business should invest in VoIP?

VoIP is indeed cheaper than a landline. However, this shouldn’t be the only reason for you to switch over to VoIP.

Here are a few reasons why VoIP is an excellent choice for your business:

Easy to scale

The only hardware requirements for installing a VoIP phone system is a desk phone, only if you choose to use it. So if you want to scale the communication system in your office, you only need to purchase more desk phones.

Manage remote employees

With internet connectivity, VoIP allows you to place calls outside the office. Moreover, most VoIP service providers let you make free calls within the same network. So you can manage remote employees without it adding to the calling bill of the company.

Make calls on the go

VoIP lets you place calls on the go, as long as you have a stable internet connection. So you don’t have to restrict yourself to the office. Hence, you may not even need an office space.

VoIP service providers

Users have a lot of choices when it comes to choosing a VoIP phone service for their small business and home offices. AxVoice is one such VoIP service provider that offers services specifically for small businesses. The plans it offers are affordable and catered to the requirements of a small business. You don’t have to be physically restricted to the office to make calls. AxVoice offers a third-party softphone app as well that you can use to receive and make calls. Hence, it is convenient for users.

If you are a small business planning to switch over to VoIP phone, now is a good time. The cost of a VoIP is less, and it saves you money in the long run. But that’s not the only reason to invest in VoIP. VoIP is easy to use and avoids the hassle of wires and other hardware requirements.

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