VoIP Advantages and Disadvantages

These days, most people are switching to VoIP solutions for their residential and business communication needs. If you’re planning on joining that club, you ought to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using VoIP before making the switch from traditional phone lines.

Top 5 Business VoIP has compiled the main advantages and disadvantages of using VoIP as an alternate phone network for you to find out if VoIP is the best fit for you.

VoIP Advantages

There are several advantages of using VoIP services for business communications. They are affordable, flexible and provide a reliable communication network. The cloud-based system of VoIP ensures fast and convenient methods of reaching out to your customers and employees, no matter where they are located in the world.

VoIP services come packed with innovative features that improve the productivity levels of your business. No wonder more and more businesses are switching to VoIP.

However, all things said and done, VoIP isn’t the best fit for everyone. For many businesses, landlines work just fine and cater to all their needs. Therefore, it is important to do a side-by-side analysis of the two services to determine which works better for your business.Let’s compare the two:

VoIP Vs Landlines – Comparison

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) uses your internet connection to send your calls to the receiving end. This is done via SIP Trunks that break your voice signals into tiny data packets to be transmitted over the world web.

On the other hand, a regular landline transmits your calls through thick, underground copper wires that are plugged into your telephone sets.

Compare VoIP Costs to Landline Pricing

When it comes to the pricing of the two services, they cost just about the same, depending on your usage. Maintaining a standard landline network can cost you around $15 to $30 a month. However, prices tend to spike when making long-distance calls. Moreover, landline connections for business have higher monthly costs, ranging from $25 to $60 per month.

In comparison, VoIP services often start at around a monthly $19 per user. However, VoIP services have little to no installation costs. They can integrate with your current phone systems and can also be accessed through more than one platform.With reduced setup and maintenance costs, VoIP becomes the cheaper option of the two. In addition, transitioning from a landline is also very simple, so businesses find no trouble making the switch.

Despite similar pricing, VoIP trumps landline when it comes to the service provided. VoIP solutions offer a wide range of options that allow businesses to expand their horizons without worrying about their budget.

For example, some VoIP providers, such as Vonage, offer budget-friendly plans for small businesses.For bigger organizations, the best VoIP providers offer plans that can accommodate several extensions with monthly payments per extension. This helps organizations manage their usage and pay only for what they need.In addition to this, most VoIP service providers don’t require you to sign any long-term, legally binding contracts, so you can enjoy easy month-by-month payment plans.

VoIP solutions are also great for making international calls. If your business operates globally, with clients and employees spread across the globe, communication can be very costly via regular landlines. Thankfully, with VoIP, you can enjoy calls to countries of your choice at local rates. As VoIP uses the internet to transfer all your calls, international calls are not much different from local ones. Most VoIP providers offer international calls at reduced rates on their base-fare, monthly plans, so you can connect overseas without worrying about additional charges.

Compare VoIP Features to Landline Features

There’s no arguing that the wide array of state-of-the-art features offered by most VoIP services is the prime reason why most people choose to switch from their traditional landline network to VoIP.

VoIP is an inexpensive solution for businesses that hope to improve their productivity and efficiency. There are plenty of features available, consider the needs of your business to determine which features will work best for you. Then choose a plan that includes all those features. Some of the features offered are:

Scalability:All the top Business VoIP solutions are well-equipped to deal with any kind of scaling that takes place in your company, unlike landline connections, which might require you to purchase additional equipment for your growing business.

Diverse multimedia:Where landline can only transmit voice calls, VoIP has a much diverse multimedia range, including voice, video and even email.

Collaboration:While it is possible to host collaborative conference calls through landlines, VoIP allows the options for video conferencing, screen sharing, etc. This helps businesses host board meetings with employees and even clients, virtually.

Easy setup:Even though both landline and VoIP systems are simple to set up and run, VoIP systems seamlessly integrate with existing phone systems and other communication platforms. Moreover, some business VoIPs are also compatible with CRM platforms like, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, etc.

Plenty of add-on features:Unique features like, auto-attendants, online faxing and voicemail transcriptions are offered by many VoIP providers to improve your business’s communications. Although landline does have its fair share of features, they come with hefty additional costs and are certainly not as innovative.

VoIP Disadvantages

Even though on the outlook, VoIP seems to be the better option for your business, there might be a few drawbacks of using VoIP.

VoIP relies on internet and power: As mentioned earlier, VoIP solutions run on the internet. This means that in order to maintain problem-free communication, you require a high speed internet connection. Moreover, if there’s a power breakdown of any kind, you might end up losing all connections.

This is not the case with landlines. As they are not connected to your power supply, your communication is not interrupted in the event of a connection failure.

VoIP users may have difficulty learning to use the system:Although VoIP services have a user-friendly interface, some people still might be overwhelmed by the new technology. People who are not well-versed in the language of the internet, or businesses that don’t have a tech-savvy IT personnel, might find it difficult to make the transition from their traditional ways to VoIP.

Bottom Line: VoIP Advantages Outweigh the Cons

All things considered, VoIP solutions have the edge over traditional telephones when it comes to broadening your horizons. From their affordable plans to innumerable features, VoIP solutions can help your business grow and flourish.

VoIP solutions are accommodating of all your business needs without breaking your budget. Let us help you find the best VoIP servicefor your business, with our comprehensive reviews.

If you’re facing problems getting used to the new technology or need help setting up, visit our Guides Archive and find solutions to all your VoIP related queries!