Telephone systems are a must in business organizations, be it a big business or a small one. Business telephone systems have evolved a lot since decades from single line to multi line phone systems, from public switched telephone networks (PSTN) to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phones. In this article we shall discuss the features and advantages of using VoIP phone systems in small offices. Read on to know more.

What are VoIP Phone Systems?

VoIP phone systems are those that use the internet to make phone calls unlike the traditional public switched telephone network. These phone systems are much like the regular small business phone system comprising of a speaker phone, microphone, display for called-id, power source etc. The only thing that’s additional in these phones is that they have an Ethernet or wireless network hardware to send and receive messages on data network. Since these phone systems use an internet protocol, they come with a load of features that are not found in regular business phone systems. These features are particularly advantageous in a small organization. A few of those advantages are discussed below.

Advantages of Using VoIP Phone Systems

1. Call Features

A range of call features including call hold, call forward, call hunt, conference calling, auto-attendant etc. can be found in business VoIP phone service. These call features don’t need any manual monitoring and will be managed by the phone system itself. If you are looking for a receptionist who can attend and transfer calls, you might as well buy a VoIP phone system.

2. Easy to Install

VoIP phones are maintained using a convenient web portal and it is very easy to add and remove numbers using these portals. There is no additional hardware or software required and all one needs is IP phones which are connected to each other using an internet protocol.

3. Saves Money

It is not just the installation and configuration of VoIP phone systems are easy, these processes are also inexpensive. In addition to this, since the phones are operated using an internet protocol like internet, the phone calls are considerably cheaper when compared to PSTN phone systems. If your company requires a lot of international phone calls to be made, a VoIP phone is what your company needs.

4. Integrate Fax

Fax is sometimes required to transmit important documents within a short period of time. VoIP phone systems are equipped with a feature known as the virtual faxing which enables users to send and receive faxes whenever needed without the need of papers or printers. Only the assigned email accounts to each IP phone are sufficient to send and receive fax over VoIP phone systems.

5. Flexibility

If you are not sure of the number of phone lines you would need and there is an uncertainty in the number of employees in your organization, you would have problems if you were using a PSTN system. However, this problem won’t exist with VoIP phones as it is very convenient to scale up and scale down the number of phone connections using the web portal that comes along with the phone system.