6 advantages of hosted VoIP and why you should upgrade

In the business world, finances are crucial, and wasting money is not a wise choice. Yet, if you're still relying on an outdated phone system, you may not be optimising your time, calls, or finances.

Most legacy phone systems charge for each minute spent on the phone, and for international rates, those charges can easily double. It means, as a business, you’ll be unable to know exactly what you’re going to be billed at the end of every month. However, hosted voice can avoid those charges as hosted voice systems come with fixed minutes and a user plan. Put simply, this puts an end to cost concerns, meaning every month you’re billed exactly what you’re expecting, every time.

With an analogue phone system, your costs often include charges for extras that may not actually benefit your business. However, a hosted VoIP system allows you to buy what you want, whenever you need to use it, putting an end to overspending.

The scalability of the system means that whenever your business wants to grow, you can add capability to the system when you need it. And should you need to scale it back down if you’ve overestimated, the flexibility allows for that too.

Traditionally, phone systems presumed each employee had the same requirements and needs but the flexibility of a hosted voice system means customisation is easy and effective. Choose the license types that suit your team structure, ensuring each employee only has features they need depending on their job role within the business.

Consistency is integral to scalability. As your business expands, incorporating additional office locations may result in the integration of diverse phone systems that operate differently. This can lead to confusion among staff who may need to adapt to a new phone system when travelling to other offices before commencing their work — downtime you can’t afford. Moreover, having different legacy phone systems can also make it difficult to transfer customer calls between sites, meaning customers are left waiting.

With the hosted voice system, every phone works in the same way, in every location. Whether staff are on the road, working at home or in an office, they will all have access to the same powerful range of features, including room-based collaboration, conference calling and instant messaging, which can dramatically improve the productivity of your business.

Furthermore, the incorporation of hosted voice into your IT system highlights its efficiency. Its seamless integration with prominent cloud-based CRM programs and customer support applications not only enhances the workflow for your staff but also improves the overall experience for your customers.

Whether you are managing multiple sites or mobile staff, you can collate all costs onto one bill and control features at a user, site or account level.

As workforces have becomes more mobile and remote, challenges may arise with some feeling detached from the office and facing technology limitations compared to in-office work.

But with hosted VoIP, those problems translate as solutions, and being mobile doesn’t need to mean disconnection from the office. Cloud-based phone systems can include a softphone app that can be used on a desktop, laptop or mobile device interchangeably. Your workforce can connect to the core network of the business and use the technology just as they would if they were sat in the office. After all, being mobile doesn’t have to mean they’re cut-off.

If your phone system goes down, does your business shut down? If you’ve got a legacy phone system, the likelihood is that, when things go wrong, you’ll call the engineer who might arrive in a few hours to get you back online. But time is money.

With hosted voice, you’ll probably never have to ring the engineers again. Managing and maintaining your cloud-based solution is all done via the internet. Handy how-to guides are available showing you exactly how to solve almost any problem. It’s designed to keep you running 24/7 so you can make and receive calls no matter what happens.

Next year, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) will be switched off meaning all legacy telephony services that use the copper network will be withdrawn and out of service.

After 2025, voice services will rely on hosted or hybrid telephony, necessitating a dependable business broadband connection for smooth functionality. If you’re utilising an analogue solution, consider transitioning to digital. Upgrading is essential before December 2025 to maintain the capability of making and receiving calls. Explore further details about the 2025 Switch Off using the link below.