79% of American Businesses Use VoIP Phones at One Location

This statistic comes from California-based market research firm In-Stat, and it highlights the growth of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. To give you an idea of how far VoIP has come in recent years, this figure was at 42% just five years ago. Is your business taking advantage of the VoIP revolution?

For those of you that haven't yet heard how VoIP can benefit your business, let us introduce you to this wonderful communication solution. VoIP technology makes use of a company's Internet connection for a variety of communication needs like phone, instant messaging, fax service, video and teleconferencing, and more. VoIP works by sending a person's voice over the network via data packets. These data packets allow for communication to take place at a quality that's comparable to traditional phone service. Additionally, VoIP allows companies to have more communication features for less money, making VoIP a superior service over landline phone.

One of the ways that VoIP is able to save organizations money is by removing long distance charges from a business' communication bill. SInce VoIP uses the Internet, you're not charged extra money for long distance, just like your ISP doesn't charge you extra for visiting different websites from around the world. By taking long distance out of the billing equation, some businesses have experienced VoIP savings of up to 80% on their communication costs!

VoIP is also easy to set up. Your business likely already has the hardware in place like routers and Ethernet cables to run VoIP. The only new hardware you will likely need is an IP-enabled phone, and many VoIP providers will give you these phones at a discounted price upon signing up for VoIP service. With VoIP piggybacking off of your existing IT infrastructure, you can save on installation fees that typically accompany the setup of traditional phone lines. In fact, you can even use VoIP with your company's wireless network and avoid having to install new wires altogether!

With new companies signing up for VoIP service all the time, traditional phone service is taking a hit. Moreover, due to the cost of maintaining traditional phone lines with telephone poles and copper wires, many telecommunication companies are intentionally phasing out their traditional phone service. This is one reason why you're not seeing a decrease in prices for traditional phone service (despite increased competition). Plainly put, many phone companies are simply not interested in competing with VoIP.

In fact, some governments are actually considering legislation that would replace traditional phone lines altogether. In Michigan, the state legislature is currently considering a bill that would have phone companies phase out traditional landline phone services by 2017 and replace them with VoIP and other communication alternatives. The way things are going, traditional telephone service is slowly going the way of the telegraph and may even be decommissioned in the near future (just like India finally pulled the plug on their 163-year-old telegraph service last January).

To have your business take advantage of the VoIP revolution that's changing telecommunications for the better, give Macro Systems a call at 703-359-9211.