A huge leap forward in technology, which many of us now take for granted in our personal lives, was the introduction of VoIP technology. VoIP allows for both voice and video to be transferred over the internet and has given us access to: video calls; video conferencing; online chat; instant messaging; and screen share capability. If you haven’t as yet taken advantage of these within your business, now is the perfect time to do so, as costs are low and the technology mainstream.

Let’s look at some of the benefits VoIP technology can bring to your business.

Reduced Costs

While there are initial set-up costs, once you install VoIP it means you no longer need to have a separate voice network within your business and nor do you need to pay for the infrastructure to support it. This means your IT team can focus its expertise and energies on one network. VoIP is a technology which allows for a much greater level of access for the individual user, so the IT team’s intervention is also less often called for.

VoIP providers can also provide long distance and international calls at a greatly reduced rate, when compared to traditional landlines, so this adds to your long term cost savings.

Higher Levels Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is raised when individuals understand the role they play within the larger environment of the company. When a business has poor levels of communication, employee engagement can dramatically fall and this can be often be seen in large global businesses which have high numbers of remote workers.

VoIP can help to bridge this communication gap through a variety of means. Senior managers can hold worldwide staff meetings and training sessions via video conferencing and questions can be answered in real time during these sessions through the use of online chat. In a similar way line managers can hold face to face meetings and appraisals with staff even if they work remotely. Screen share, instant messaging and online chat also leads to colleagues being able to keep in closer contact and fosters stronger team bonds. High levels of employee engagement lead to increased productivity therefore this is an important benefit to bring to your business.

Increased Customer Satisfaction

One of the biggest issues customers often have with companies is when they aren’t able to contact your sales or support teams with ease. VoIP has lowered many of the barriers to instant communication and in the process increased customer satisfaction.

Click To Call Buttons: These can be added to online adverts, your website and even embedded in your newsletter. If customers then have pre-sales questions they can get them answered almost immediately.

Virtual Shop Assistants: On many websites now a chat box pops up to allow you to speak directly to the sales team if you need questions answered.  This can help to lower the barrier to a sale as people will often click away from a site if they can’t find the information they need quickly.

Screen share: Particularly in the technical support arena the ability to screen share has been a huge leap forward. Rather than having to spend a great deal of time on the phone, screen share allows a fix to be found and implemented much more quickly.

With so many benefits offered by VoIP it is unsurprising to find that estimates expect the technology to be worth more than $88 billion by 2018. If you want to improve your business communication it is one technology which it is worth exploring, especially with the increased cost savings which accompany it.