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What is the difference between VoIP and a traditional phone system? How would you know which one suits your business?
We have so many questions because we want to make sure that we have the most cost-effective means of communication for business. We've got Renier Schrenk from VoIPstudio here to go over how a cloud-based VoIP phone system works and answer all of our questions about VoIP phone system for today's small business.
What is the difference between VoIP and a traditional phone system?
You might be wondering who Alexander Graham Bell is. He invented the telephone many years ago, and that device has changed the way that we communicate around the world. Today, we're going to talk about how to ensure that you are cost-effective with how you communicate, and more importantly, what is VoIP? What is the difference between VoIP and a traditional phone system?
Renier: The main difference between the two is that traditional phone systems are traditional analog, and VoIP is digital. Analog is not as versatile as digital is nowadays. And with that comes a lot of benefits.
I would say from personal experience is that VoIP is very convenient. The first analog recordings from recorded tape players were no longer valued as they went over further distances. You'd get weird noises and interruptions.
But with VoIP, it's like jumping onto Spotify with just one click instead of having to go through your CD collection to find a song. That's one of the benefits of a cloud-based VoIP phone system.
Why should a business jump into a cloud-based phone system?
There are different flavours of VoIP and the way it can work, but why should a business jump into a cloud-based VoIP phone system?
Renier: Yes. Traditional phones have less versatility. For example, when you are on a call using a traditional wired phone, you can't move from one point to somewhere else.
The advantage of switching to VoIP is you can easily have your laptop with you anywhere you go by connecting it to Wi-Fi without moving your desk.
You've got a lot of versatility. With traditional phones, you have to have a traditional phone line coming into your property. You then have to have it wired to different rooms, and then you end up having to call an electrician if you want to move the point somewhere else where a huge, big advantage to VoIP would be that you can easily have that on your laptop that can be going over Wi-Fi, you can move your desk, and it's not going to cost you any money.
So there's a lot of these other just infrastructure costs that aren't necessarily always taken into account that you can have that flexibility with VoIP.
Renier: I've known a lot of people who work from different locations. When they move from the UK over to the US every few months or every few weeks, they'd pack their laptop up and plug in their VoIP phone and use it over the Internet.
Do you think your business would be better with VoIP but already have a traditional phone system in place? Click Next to learn more about merging the two to grow your small business.