VoIP Phone Systems

VOIP COST ANALYSIS

Voice Over IP technology, commonly referred to as VoIP, is becoming increasingly popular for companies in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin as they discover the many applications and benefits of these systems.

The VoIP phone system has evolved over the years from a device that allows you to answer calls and take messages to a production server that integrates calls, desktop collaboration, project management, e-mails, chat, presence, and mobility into a single application. The new age of VoIP phone systems allows employees to work from anywhere, at any time, and to stay in constant communications with internal and external customers. Whether you are interested in purchasing the software for your office, hosting a solution in your data center, or utilizing ICS’s Hosted/Cloud VoIP, ICS can provide a seamless set of tools to increase productivity and drive higher levels of customer service to your clients.

What is VoIP Technology?

VoIP works by converting traditional voice technologies into standard IP packets. Once converted, voice traffic can travel across any or all VoIP enabled networks. One of the benefits of VoIP technology that businesses in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio appreciate is how traditional voice/data networks can be combined on a single network, significantly decreasing monthly spending with a local dial tone carrier.

Here are a few of the cost-saving benefits of VoIP phone systems:

• Dial Tone Services – Save substantially on your dial tone services including long-distance, internet, fax, and interoffice communications, as well as other monthly fees associated with local carriers.
• Increased Mobility – VoIP technology can be used to integrate mobile phone use in your business’s system. For example, users could be enabled to check their voice mails from a mobile phone, or a call could be transferred to an offside line. As more and more individuals work remotely, this technology can provide a huge benefit for keeping all of your employees accessible and connected.
• Application Integration – Integrate many of your computer applications such as email, fax, video/audio, or web conferencing with your VoIP phone system.

Mobility with Voice over IP

Mobility for any business has become more crucial than ever while allowing employees to stay connected to each other and to clients. Today’s solutions allow the smartphone to simply be an extension of the VoIP phone system and offer an unmatched range of mobility. For those ready to make the change, a desktop phone is not even required. You can receive phone calls to the office or via your direct number and have the calls ring out to your smartphone while passing the original caller’s Caller ID. From there, you can answer the call, transfer it to someone in the office, or send the caller to voicemail. The smartphone application allows you to see who is on the phone in the office, chat with them, view desktop collaboration, and to manage your status. Office personnel will even be able to see when someone is on their smartphone to more efficiently handle new calls. With easy integration with Outlook, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS, others can easily see if someone is out of the office, in a meeting or driving.

ICS will work closely with your management team to determine who needs a desktop phone and who can use the MiCollab software on their smartphone or computer to help control the cost of your new solution.

In addition, teleworking continues to grow across many industries. This allows employees the ability to work from home, reduce the real estate costs for businesses and improve the talent pool for recruiting. Your business can join in on this beneficial trend through the many applications of VoIP technology. Plus, ICS provides Teleworker tools that allow you to measure and manage your remote workers. From call statistics, call recording and login/log out features, managers can monitor their team members even though they are at home. When you combine this with the Collaboration tools for video and desktop sharing, people can work from home and be just as integrated as if they are in the office. Since calls can be encrypted, Teleworker can even work for PCI, HIPPA and other regulated industries. Contact us to learn more about our Teleworker solutions.

Is VoIP Right for Your Business?

While VoIP technology offers a range of opportunities for growth, full implementation may not be right for every business. At ICS, we want to build a relationship of trust with our clients, and that’s why we offer complete and comprehensive reviews of every client’s needs and capabilities before entering into any agreements. We want to find a solution for your business that fits your unique needs and potential, and we want to work closely with you to achieve this goal.

The Technologies of VoIP

There are essentially four options for VoIP services, which can be combined or customized to meet the needs of your business:

• VoIP Handsets: An IP telephone set that resides on your desk.
• VoIP Site To Site Trunking: The connectivity highway between a company’s multiple sites. VoIP trunking allows voice traffic to travel on the existing data IP backbone between sites.
• SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) Connectivity: Allows multiple products from multiple manufactures to connect with each other using the SIP language.

Hosted VoIP Guarantee

If, for any reason, you are not fully satisfied with ICS’s hosted solution a customer may elect to move their hosted solution to an on-site solution through ICS at the same monthly rate. The customer would be responsible for the delivery dial tone to make inbound/outbound calls. All other hardware, software and installation will be provided for the on-site solution by ICS. The customer must agree to renew the contract for the same or greater term of the original contract.

The possibilities of VoIP can open new doors for your business to grow and improve. We want to explore the exact ways in which VoIP can benefits your business and employees. Contact ICS today to speak to one of our professional team members.