Businesses spend a lot of money on somewhat pointless supplies every day, but many still don’t have VoIP gateways or other helpful tools in place that have the potential to save them time, money and resources. Contributor Rachel Greenberg wrote on Business 2 Community that VoIP can allow people to make calls over the internet in a much more cost effective fashion than via phone lines - with most being run through a SIP PBX system, which can either be hosted or analog. No matter which system is chosen, the average price of VoIP per month is likely less than many small, perhaps needless, supplies around the office, such as post-it notes.
“Everyone loves post-it notes a little too much, and they quickly disappear from any office supply closet,” she said. “An office package of these sticky little things averages $21 a pack. That’s $21 for a quick and disposable form of communication. For less than $20/month per user, companies can utilize VoIP technology for all of their communication needs all month, from unlimited national calls, to IP video conferences, to IP faxes, to SMS text messages, and voicemail-to-emails. VoIP might not be as colorful as a post-it note, but it is cheaper and more permanent.”
Items more expensive than VoIP
While not every VoIP system will cost the $20 per month that Greenberg listed, the point about IP telephony calling being cheaper and more flexible is certainly true. She lists some other items commonly found around the office that are often pricier than VoIP includes:
• A pack of retractable highlighters
• International stamps
• Bubble wrap
• Staplers
All of these may have their own benefits, but VoIP can be one of the more inexpensive and useful things found in and used by a business, according to Greenberg.
“There are a lot of expensive things in an office, but phone service doesn’t have to be one them,” Greenberg said on Business 2 Community. “No matter who wins the battle over the last Sharpie pen, businesses are able to relax knowing that their VoIP phone service will always be reliable, international, unlimited, and cheaper than their stapler.”
A white paper by Nemertes Research said each company looking into the cost of a VoIP system should be doing its own cost-benefit analysis to make sure that implementation can be done well, cost effective switches and devices can be purchased, VoIP gateways can be used securely and broadband and LAN upgrades can be made without too much trouble. In most cases, companies will likely see that VoIP benefits to them, but it takes leg work to fully implement.