Nobody calls a business hoping to talk to voicemail. However, with landline solutions, calls roll to voicemail all too often. Similarly, landline issues like inaccurate IVR menus, scratchy audio and extremely high charges plagued businesses until VoIP solutions took over as the number one phone solution. Read on to discover exactly which issues met their fate in the wake of the VoIP revolution.
- In-House PBX Maintenance and Manual Troubleshooting, Manual Faxing
SIP VoIP technology brought phone systems into the digital age by routing phone calls through a VoIP PBX rather than a traditional analog one. This eliminated one of the most frustrating elements of landline solutions: troubleshooting and fixing technical difficulties.
With landlines, problems are frequent and take days (if not weeks) to fix. By contrast, VoIP’s simplified infrastructure eases the troubleshooting and repair process. Since providers host VoIP equipment, most other problems fall under their jurisdiction, and their extensive infrastructure complete with backups makes for quick (and free) fixes. Often, VoIP suppliers can fix problems by changing quality of service or bandwidth settings remotely.
Aside from zapping these migraine-inducing issues to dust, VoIP also made analog faxing a thing of the past. With electronic faxing, employees can send and receive faxes over email while preserving the security of traditional faxing. No more blurry documents, busy signals and sending sensitive information to the wrong place!
- Absurd Landline Systems and Settings
With landline systems, changing anything from an outgoing message to IVR settings was an ordeal; many employees had to call their provider and wait for them to make any desired changes. The slow process often drove employees to give up on changing outdated settings. Inaccurate IVR menus, outdated directories, old outgoing voicemails and calls that forward to the wrong place are signs of a business trapped in landline service purgatory.
VoIP’s internet-based infrastructure gives employees the ability to tweak and adjust the system with ease. They can forward calls to their cell while traveling, change their introduction and IVR menu as the business grows and move desks simply by grabbing their phone and plugging it in at their new favorite spot.
- Poor Voice Quality
People used to swear by landlines for their quality. However, manufacturers and providers have largely abandoned landline development in favor of VoIP’s internet-based infrastructure. Consequently, landline calls are increasingly scratchy, echoey and unreliable.
On top of delivering call clarity over the best-maintained communications infrastructure on Earth, most VoIP providers offer backup solutions in case of an emergency or outage. Businesses can route calls to an alternate office, send incoming calls to cell phones and invest in an internet fail-over solution to avoid productivity losses during an unplanned connectivity issue. By contrast, landline-powered businesses don’t have many solutions available to them if a phone line were to malfunction.
- Difficulty Reaching People
80 percent of customers who reach a company’s voicemail don’t leave a message because they don’t believe anyone will listen to it. VoIP solutions encourage follow-up by sending message notifications and voicemail transcriptions to their email. Can’t interrupt a meeting to plug in your headphones and listen to a message? Scan the transcript instead!
In addition, VoIP’s inherent mobility makes agents more available and callers less likely to reach a voicemail altogether. Employees can program calls to forward to their cell phone when working from home or if a designee is unable to answer. Incoming calls can also follow customizable call group patterns to optimize agent availability – a reason many call centers choose VoIP.
- Frustrating Billing Practices and High Costs
Landlines are expensive to install and upkeep – an issue not lost on clients, come billing time. VoIP solutions, on the other hand, function on existing internet connections, allowing providers to deliver advanced capabilities at significantly cheaper prices. Many landline companies are still playing with deceptive billing practices like unclear reports, one-off mystery charges and hurdles to plan decreases or cancellation. Some even participate in phone bill cramming – illegally sneaking fake charges onto bills for profit.
Since VoIP services are easy to deliver and monitor, shady billing practices are less likely. However, businesses looking for a VoIP solution should still read company policies and customer reviews to ensure quality, customer-first service.
Streamline Calls with a Business VoIP Solution
Fewer daily annoyances aren’t the only reason to scrap the old telephone game. Upgrading to a VoIP system saves on costs and positions businesses as modern and competitive in their industry. Check out our whitepaper to find out how switching to 4Voice’s VoIP solution could streamline your business.
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