Do you live in a rural area where superfast cabled broadband connections are unavailable? A fixed wireless connection could offer your business superfast speeds without the need for any cables. It might sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. Here’s how it all works.

How does fixed wireless internet work? Fixed wireless uses radio signals to establish a connection. Fixed wireless uses transmission masts housing radios that send signals to a receiver fitted to the customer’s building.

Answering how fixed wireless internet works in one sentence is a challenge, so I’m going to explain how everything works in more detail. Read on for my guide on how fixed wireless internet works, as well as some explanations on its reliability and the speeds you could enjoy.

How Does Fixed Wireless Work?

So we know that a fixed wireless connection is created using radio signals rather than cables. But how does all this work?

As you can see from the image above, data first travels through the provider’s hard-wired fibre network to a local transmission tower. This local transmission tower contains advanced radio technology that will be used to create a point-to-point connection with your property.

At the transmission tower, data is converted into radio signals. The radio technology housed in the transmission tower then transmits these radio signals to the receiver fitted onto your property. This establishes a point-to-point connection between your receiver and the transmission tower. Once the link is created, a superfast broadband service can be set up for your property.

To provide your property with a broadband service, a cable will carry the radio signals from the receiver to the router in your property. At this point, the connection is fully established and you will have internet access in your property.

Is Fixed Wireless Internet Reliable?

Does it all sound too good to be true, that you could have superfast speeds for your property without the expense and hassle of installing a physical connection? Many have concerns about the reliability of a fixed wireless connection because there’s no physical connection. Thankfully, these concerns are unfounded as fixed wireless internet is reliable. You really do get the speeds you’re paying for too!

Is Fixed Wireless More Reliable Than Satellite Internet Or Cellular?

Those unaware of the intricacies of fixed wireless often think it’s just as unreliable as satellite internet or cellular. While it’s true that satellite internet and cellular can be unreliable, the same cannot be said for fixed wireless broadband.

With satellite internet, you’re at the mercy on the weather. A storm miles away from your location can cause interference and cause your internet to drop. Mobile broadband is completely wireless and speeds differ greatly depending on your location and the infrastructure surrounding you. These are problems you don’t have to worry about with fixed wireless.

Weather can have an impact on a fixed wireless connection. Conditions such as strong winds or thick fog can impact the reliability of your connection. However, your connection is relatively free from interference for the most part, particularly when compared with mobile broadband and satellite internet. Your connection will remain reliable even when the weather’s poor. This is because fixed wireless towers are land-based, so clouds and rain are unlikely to cause interference. The radio signals only travel a short distance compared to satellite internet, so weather conditions miles away won’t have any impact on your connection.

How Does Fixed Wireless Broadband Reliability Compare With Physical Connections?

It’s hard to compare the reliability of fixed wireless connections and physical connections, primarily because both are pretty reliable.

Physical connections are extremely reliable for the most part. For example, you aren’t going to experience outages due to factors like bad weather. However, all it takes is a construction worker to accidentally dig through a cable and your connection could be down for hours, if not days. That’s obviously not a problem you’ll have with fixed wireless internet, as there are no cables to cut through. On the other hand, severe weather conditions can impact the reliability of the connection.

When comparing the reliability of fixed wireless and physical connections, we have to consider how natural and human-made obstructions can impact the reliability of wireless internet. For the most part, wireless technology has evolved to the point where a connection can still be established even if something such as a tree interrupts the point-to-point connection. However, if there’s a hill or a large building between the transmission mast and your location, it will be challenging to establish a reliable, superfast connection.

There’s no winner when comparing the reliability of fixed wireless broadband and physical connections. Both are reliable, but both are also at the mercy of different factors that can impact reliability. If you’re in a rural location, you don’t really have a choice between fixed wireless and a physical connection anyway.

Is Fixed Wireless Internet Secure?

When discussing how fixed wireless internet works, many wonder whether the technology used and the nature of a wireless connection allows for robust security. Can the signals be intercepted? Can the technology be impacted by hackers?

Is fixed wireless internet secure? Yes, fixed wireless internet is just as secure as the other types of internet service available, such as fibre, DSL and satellite. In fact, some experts suggest that fixed wireless internet may be more secure than the other types of internet service available.

It’s important to note that while fixed wireless internet is secure, it isn’t completely secure. The security isn’t perfect. In fact, there’s no perfect security when it comes to internet connections. However, providers have invested heavily in making sure their fixed wireless offerings are secure.

How Is Fixed Wireless Internet Secured?

Providers are serious about ensuring the security of their fixed wireless internet connections. As with other types of internet available, here are some of the layers of protection in place on a fixed wireless connection:

• Encryption
• Authentication
• Access Control

ISPs have several security strategies in action that ensure the connection from the transmission tower to your property remains secure. Data can be encrypted before being sent, meaning in the unlikely occasion that data is intercepted, it’s worthless to the interceptor. In addition to encryption, ISPs work tirelessly to ensure the security of their primary network with security solutions such as authentication and access control.

When establishing your fixed wireless connection, reliable providers will use wireless components that are not designed for open access. By using components designed to be secure, data transmissions take place without the chance of interception by anyone between the two endpoints exchanging data.

Of course, the security precautions taken by your provider are useless if you don’t secure your own network. You need to take the necessary precautions locally to ensure that your network is secure. For example, ensure only authorised personnel have access to your network infrastructure. Additionally, make sure you use antivirus on all your devices accessing the network and create a robust plan for keeping your passwords and login details safe.

While moving over to a VoIP telephone system is often seen as an inexpensive endeavour, many have concerns about the costs of buying ‘special’ VoIP phones. This raises the question does VoIP require a special phone?

Does VoIP require a special phone? No, VoIP doesn’t require a special phone. There are numerous ways to utilise the capabilities of a VoIP telephone system without investing in new handsets.

Thanks to the flexibility of VoIP, you don’t need new handsets to make use of your VoIP telephone system. In fact, you probably have multiple devices around you now that you can make and receive VoIP calls on. I’m going to explain how you can use your existing devices for VoIP instead of purchasing dedicated handsets. First and foremost, however, it’s important to cover a bit of background on what VoIP is and why it’s so flexible.

Why And How Is VoIP So Flexible?

The question of why VoIP is so flexible is easy to answer: a VoIP telephone system is hosted in the cloud.

With a traditional telephone system, you are physically connected to a telephone line. If you aren’t connected to that line, you can’t make and receive calls. This necessitates the needs for handsets and an on-site telephone system, which is expensive and rigid. Where VoIP adapts to your requirements, a traditional telephone system is exactly the opposite.

As a VoIP telephone system is held in the cloud, you can make use of it no matter where you are on a variety of devices. You no longer rely on a physical connection to make full use of your business telephone system. VoIP utilises the power of the internet to give you unparalleled flexibility with your telephone system. No matter your location, you can use a VoIP telephone system as long as you have an internet connection.

Because of the incredible flexibility of VoIP, there’s no need to buy dedicated handsets to use your VoIP system. You can use the devices that you already own. Next I’m going to talk through some of the devices that you can use to make and receive calls through a cloud-hosted VoIP system.

What Phones Can Be Used For VoIP?

As I’ve mentioned above, you don’t need to buy special phones if you are moving over to a VoIP system. But what devices can you actually use? There are probably multiple devices around you right now that you can use as a phone when it comes to VoIP.

The nature of VoIP means you’ve got plenty of options when it comes to phones that can be used for VoIP. Here are several phones that you can use with VoIP.

Normal Landline Phone

Most businesses already have plenty of normal landline phones in their office. Have you already invested in normal landline phones that you use with your current telephone system? Is this wasted investment in phones putting you off moving over to VoIP? You can use normal landline phones with VoIP, so you can still use all the phones you already own.

A lot of business owners think the phones they already own will go unused if they move over to VoIP. However, there are ways that you can adapt a normal landline phone to make them work with your VoIP telephone system. If you own analogue phones, you can use them with VoIP with an ATA (analogue telephone adapter).

An analogue telephone adapter will connect to your analogue phones and transform them into flexible devices that can make and receive VoIP calls. An ATA will change the analogue voice data into digital data packets to help your analogue phones work with VoIP technology.

If you decide to use an ATA, it will plug into a wireless router or cable modem using an ethernet cable. You will then connect your analogue phones to the ATA. Although analogue telephone adapters usually come with setup instructions, here’s how you’ll typically set up your ATA: on your computer/internet-connected device, type in the IP address of the adapter. Follow the step-by-step instructions included with the adapter. Once you have followed these instructions and plugged everything into the now-configured adapter, you’ll be able to use your VoIP service.

An analogue telephone adapter is ideal if you want to use your existing phones with your VoIP telephone system. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways of moving over to VoIP, because you don’t have to invest in any new technology other than the ATA. However, if you’re using analogue phones with VoIP, you do miss out on some useful VoIP features solely because analogue phones weren’t designed with VoIP in mind. There are some better phone options that allow you to access the greater functionality included with a VoIP system.

IP Phones

Another type of phone that can be used with VoIP is an IP phone. In my opinion, an IP phone is the very best type of phone that you can use with VoIP. The vast majority of IP phones are designed with Voice over IP in mind, so they offer the very best experience and allow you to really make the most of your VoIP telephone system.

An IP phone uses Voice over IP technologies for making calls over an IP network. IP phones are designed for VoIP specifically and contain all the technology that you need to use them with a cloud-based telephone system. This means there’s no need for a phone adapter like you’d need with analogue phones. IP phones are already made up of all the components that you need.

Why choose IP phones if you have plenty of analogue phones sat around that you could just use with an ATA? IP phones often have many features that an analogue phone doesn’t. For example, IP phones will often have auto attendant and unified messaging functionality which you won’t get with an analogue phone. In addition, IP phones can receive software updates and improve over time. As analogue phones age, they cannot be upgraded and improve; you simply have to replace them.

If the cost is all that’s putting you off moving over to IP phones, there are several affordable ways that you can begin using IP phones without massive upfront costs. For example, a lot of VoIP providers will bundle in IP phones with your monthly licences. While this means you’ll pay more monthly for licences, you also get high-end IP phones without any upfront investment.

Again, I really believe that IP phones designed with VoIP in mind are the way to go if effective and reliable communication is essential to your business. While using an adapter for your existing phones might be cheaper, you get assured quality when using IP phones. You’ll also have access to several features that you can’t use with analogue phones.

Softphones

Another type of phone that you can use with a VoIP telephone system is a softphone. However, a softphone doesn’t technically fall under the definition of a typical phone because it’s a piece of software. A softphone is a piece of software that you install on an internet-enabled device, such as a laptop, that allows you to make and receive calls using your VoIP system.

If you want to start using a VoIP telephone system as cost-effectively as possible, using softphones is perfect. If your staff have internet-enabled devices, you can install softphones on these devices so that they can make and receive calls. There’s no need to purchase any extra hardware, such as an ATA or IP phones.

A big advantage of softphones is the unparalleled flexibility that they offer. As a softphone can be installed and used on devices such as laptops and mobiles, users will have the full functionality of a VoIP telephone system available to them no matter where they are. So if you have team members that work remotely, they can use your telephone system even when they’re not in the office. This flexibility is ideal for forward-thinking businesses that want to adapt to a younger workforce made up of more people than ever wanting to work remotely.

The downside to a softphone is it is reliant on the hardware that it is installed on. An IP phone is a device solely dedicated to offering high-quality communication. If you install a softphone installed on your laptop, you’re probably using your laptop for other tasks at the same time. These other tasks can impact the performance of the softphone if you’re trying to do too much at once. If you want reliability, you really should invest in some real VoIP technology instead.

A reliable business telephone system is a crucial business asset. That’s why some business owners are wary of moving over to a VoIP system when rumour persists that VoIP calls regularly drop. While it’s true that VoIP calls do sometimes drop, you can mitigate the risk of calls dropping in numerous ways.

Why does VoIP drop calls? VoIP calls drop for numerous reasons, from insufficient bandwidth to faulty hardware. In most cases, you can troubleshoot these issues to reduce the chances of calls dropping in the future.

So while VoIP calls can drop, you can troubleshoot these issues to avoid long-term recurring problems. I’m going to explain why VoIP calls drop, as well as detail some tips for creating a robust environment for your VoIP system.

Why Do VoIP Calls Drop?

As I said above, there can be numerous issues that cause VoIP calls to drop. Sometimes the issue can be something unrelated to the call or the VoIP telephone system, such as insufficient bandwidth. Here are some common reasons for VoIP calls dropping.

Insufficient Bandwidth

Insufficient bandwidth is likely one of the biggest causes of VoIP calls dropping. For a high-quality VoIP call, you need approximately 3Mbps up and down available. While the minimum bandwidth required is much lower (around 100Kbps up and down), if your internet connection falters, the call could drop.

Concurrent Calls	Minimum Bandwidth	Recommended Bandwidth
1	100Kbps Up and Down	3Mbps Up and Down
5	500Kbps Up and Down	10Mbps Up and Down
10	1Mbps Up and Down	15Mbps Up and Down

If you look at the above estimations, you might imagine that any internet connection would provide a stable VoIP call. However, there are lots of applications and devices contending for bandwidth in the average commercial premises. From web browsing and file uploading to point-of-sale systems, there’s plenty of competition for bandwidth. If you have a poor internet connection or little bandwidth available, it’s easy to see how VoIP calls can be impacted.

Overcoming Bandwidth Limitations To Ensure High-Quality Calls

So, how do we overcome the problem of limited bandwidth? This is handled in numerous ways, depending on your budget and the number of users on your telephone system.

One way you can ensure dedicated bandwidth for your VoIP telephone system is by installing a dedicated line. If you use this line solely for VoIP, the other processes and devices taking up bandwidth in your office will not impact the quality of your calls. Depending on your budget and how many calls you make and receive, this could be expensive and/or unnecessary. However, it is one way to ensure consistently high call quality.

Some VoIP providers will configure your network to prioritise voice traffic over any other type of traffic. Many routers come with Quality of Service (QoS) settings that you can configure to prioritise voice traffic. Unfortunately, these settings won’t make much of a difference if your internet service provider doesn’t have their network configured in such a way that prioritises voice traffic.

If it’s an option, choosing a business that can provide both your internet and VoIP telephone system is a good idea. A business specialising in both will be able to effectively configure your network to ensure VoIP call quality. If you have separate providers, you may find that they don’t work together effectively to get your VoIP telephone system working as it should if you encounter any problems with calls dropping.

Malfunctioning SIP Session Timers

Keep-alive messages are frequently exchanged between endpoints. This is to prevent ‘orphan calls’, where the call fails but the end session signal isn’t sent. If the keep-alive message isn’t received, the server could incorrectly assume that the call has dropped and thus end the call.

Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for SIP session timers to go wrong, resulting in the call being dropped. This is a malfunction that I see a lot, albeit less over the last few years, and is a very likely issue if you experience calls dropping regularly.

Diagnosing a problem with the SIP session timers can be fairly easy. If you notice any or multiple of the following, it would point towards an issue with the SST mechanism:

• Calls drop at the same point every time. For example, 5, 10, or 15 minutes into the call.
• Calls only drop on a certain model or make of handset and don’t at all on others.
• It happens regardless of who is talking or whether there is any audio at all.

If the SIP session timers are faulty, you will likely notice a pattern. While the intervals between keep-alive messages differ from system to system, you may notice that the call ends at roughly the same duration every time. If you notice this pattern but only on certain handsets, it would suggest incompatible implementation of the keep-alive mechanism in the end-point device.

Failed Connection Acknowledgement Signal

When the person you call answers the phone, a connection message is sent from their telephone system to yours. When your system receives this acknowledgement, your IP PBX/VoIP gateway confirms the connection via a connection acknowledgement.

If it takes longer than a certain period of time for the connection acknowledgement message to be received by the recipient system, the call could get timed out and drop. If you have noticed that calls are consistently failing only a short period of time after it was answered, this would suggest a SIP ACK issue.

If your call dropping issue is because of a SIP ACK fault, you will observe that the call will fail at exactly the same number of seconds after it was answered every time. Usually, this will be 10 to 20 seconds into the call. You will only have to test this a few times to quickly find out whether the issue is a SIP ACK issue or not.

SIP ACK issues may only occur when certain destinations are called or when certain call routes are selected. If you notice you’re only encountering issues when phoning a particular person or selecting certain call routes, it would immediately highlight some form of incompatibility.

The Key To Identifying Why VoIP Calls Are Dropping

Identifying why VoIP calls are dropping doesn’t require fancy technology or years of experience. The key to identifying why VoIP calls are dropping is speaking to users that are encountering issues.

Far too often users are ignored by the technicians trying to ascertain why VoIP calls are dropping. This simply makes the technician’s job much harder and results in a issues taking much longer to correct than they should.

By asking users encountering issues a few simple questions, you can quickly find out what’s causing calls to drop. Here are some examples of questions that you can ask users, which should help you to get to the bottom of why calls keep dropping.

• Do calls drop after a certain period of time?
• If calls drop after a certain period of time, how long into the call does it happen?
• Do calls drop at exactly the same call duration every time?
• Do calls only drop when calling a certain person?
• Is anyone else encountering the issues that you are?
• Is anyone on the call talking when the call ends?

If you look at the examples of why VoIP calls drop that I’ve detailed above, you will see how easily you can ascertain what’s causing the issue by getting the answers to these questions.

If you need any other advice, please let me know in the comments below. I’m happy to advise you and help you figure out why your VoIP calls are dropping.

Voice over IP telephony is increasingly popular with businesses for a variety of reasons, from lower costs to greater scalability. However, there’s an unavoidable elephant in the room with VoIP: it relies on the internet, or so you might think. Businesses are understandably concerned about whether the VoIP phones in their office will work without the internet.

So, do VoIP phones work without the internet? No, VoIP phones will not work without the internet. This is NOT cause for concern, because virtually every VoIP telephone system has several call continuity features built-in.

So, the internet drops in your office and now your IP phones using your VoIP system are no longer able to make or receive calls. Fortunately, this won’t cause problems for your business due to built-in call continuity features that all VoIP providers have built in to their systems.

I’m going to talk about how you can continue to use your VoIP telephone system, even if your office internet connection drops out. You’ll never miss an important call again thanks to the features available to you.

Call Continuity: The Features That Protect You From Ever Missing A VoIP Call

As I said, one of the biggest worries with VoIP is missing important calls. If you have unreliable internet, you may be concerned about how much you’ll be able to rely on VoIP. With these call continuity features, which are available with most providers, you’ll still be able to take calls no matter the status of your internet.

Automatic Call Rerouting

If the internet suddenly drops in your office, you don’t want to be messing around in a panic trying to divert your calls to mobiles and other locations. You can avoid all this panic by choosing a VoIP telephone system that has automatic call rerouting built in.

As the title of this feature suggests, it automatically reroutes calls to another number if the calls cannot connect with your office telephone system. If your VoIP telephone system cannot connect to your office telephone network within a predetermined period of time, the automatic rerouting will take place.

Automatic call rerouting can be set up by you or your provider at any time. You can choose one or several phone numbers or phone systems to route your calls to if your office becomes unreachable. For example, if your business has multiple branches, you can reroute all calls to another branch for their employees to answer them.

For smaller businesses without other branches, automatic call rerouting still protects your business. You can choose to divert all calls to the mobile numbers of you, your employees, or even your home landline.

Your automatic call rerouting settings can be modified at any time. They can be changed in the middle of a crisis, if necessary. For example, if calls are rerouting to a number that’s also currently unavailable, you can change when calls reroute immediately to ensure you don’t miss any.

One other consideration is how many destinations you can reroute to and how many calls can be diverted. No service is infallible and traditional copper services like analogue or ISDN are as prone to failure as a copper internet service. The big difference is that on a digital or analogue service you have limited options in terms of disaster recovery. The likelihood is you could only forward to one destination and this forwarding would require a call to your service provider.

The majority of IP and VOIP services can re-route automatically and to multiple destinations whilst also keeping your features such as personalised messaging, auto attendants, call recording and voicemails. So for all intents and purposes, people calling you could notice no difference. While understandably an obvious concern when looking to adopt IP telephony, whether an IP phone works while the internet is off, actually could be one of the big advantages of this type of technology when compared to digital or analogue.

Have Softphones Set Up On Your Employees’ Devices

Automatic call rerouting is good, but you can only reroute calls to a small selection of numbers. Some VoIP providers only allow for routing to one number, which can be problematic if you receive many calls. After all, one person won’t be able to answer them all. This is where softphones can protect you and ensure you can still use your telephone system.

A softphone is a piece of software that can be installed on internet-enabled devices, such as desktop PCs, laptops, and mobile phones. I previously wrote a post about softphones that you can read here. The majority of VoIP providers offer a softphone, which allows you to use all the features of your VoIP telephone system on all of your internet-enabled devices.

Softphone benefits include easy remote working and enhanced collaboration between teams. However, this software can also protect you in a crisis. How? If you have softphones installed on your employees’ mobile devices, they’ll be able to make and receive calls using your cloud-based telephone system using 3G, 4G, and 5G connectivity. Providing your employees have 3G-,4G-, or 5G-capable devices and enough data, the full functionality of your VoIP system will be available on their mobile phones.

Even if your main office internet connection drops, your employees can still work in the office and you won’t miss any calls. If you don’t want your employees to use their own data, you could invest in a backup 4G router. In the case of your physical internet connection dropping, your team can connect to the 4G router and still make and receive calls via the softphone software.

Last Resort: Voicemail

If you haven’t set up call rerouting and you have no way of doing so and you don’t have softphones set up, it isn’t the end of the world. While you won’t be able to answer calls without call rerouting or softphones, voicemail is still in place to protect you.

The last thing you want is customers ringing you and not even having a voicemail in place if your system is unavailable. With VoIP, you can create your own voicemail and add it to your telephone system. On occasions where calls cannot be connected to your phone system, calls will go straight to voicemail instead. At this point, customers can leave you a voicemail which you can then listen to later when your internet returns.

Some VoIP providers offer a free feature, often known as voicemail to email. With this feature, the audio of every voicemail left will be emailed to you. If you still have access to your emails despite your office internet connection failing, you’ll be able to listen to any voicemails immediately. If customers or people phoning leave contact information, you can then immediately ring them back on your mobile, for example.

Calls going to voicemail when your office internet connection drops really is a last resort. With automated call rerouting and softphones set up, there really is no way you’ll miss a call in an emergency. However, if rerouting and softphones cannot be set up for whatever reason, voicemail will still protect you from missing customers contacting you altogether.

Remember: Not All VoIP Providers Are Made Equal

Before choosing a VoIP provider, you must ensure these features are available to you and easy to set up. Unfortunately, there are some poor providers out there that might not have call continuity features available. The last thing you want is to find out these features are unavailable if your internet drops.

Before signing up with a VoIP provider, ask these questions:

• “Are call continuity features available to me?”
• “What call continuity features are available?”
• “Do you set up these features for me?”
• “Will it cost anything extra to use these features?”

These 4 questions will help you to determine whether or not you could still use your VoIP telephone system if your office internet dropped. Don’t get caught out by not checking before you sign up!

More businesses than ever are using VoIP now, with many businesses using IP handsets. However, IP handsets can be expensive depending on how you acquire them, and they’re not ideal for workforces that move around a lot. That’s where softphones come in.

A softphone is a piece of software you can install on an internet-enabled device, such as a laptop, PC, tablet, or mobile phone. This software has full IP hosted service functionality without the need for any extra hardware.

Despite the unique benefits of desktop softphones, I’ve noticed they are underutilised by businesses. This could be due to lack of awareness or concerns about reliability. Whatever the reason, I’m going to explain 5 big benefits of using softphones that may highlight why your business should be using them.

The 5 big benefits of softphones are:

• Unparalleled Flexibility
• Extremely Cost-Effective
• Enhanced Collaboration
• No Additional Hardware Needed
• Easily Scalable

I’m going to explain all the above benefits in greater detail below, with some great examples of why these benefits are so awesome. Keep reading to discover the ins and outs of these softphone benefits.

Unparalleled Flexibility of Softphones

A softphone can be used anywhere, on any internet-enabled device with a microphone and a speaker. This offers unparalleled flexibility and means that you can work no matter where you are, while still handling calls professionally and effectively.

Data and research shows that more people are working remotely than ever before. More workplaces are offering remote working, resulting in a greater demand for flexible solutions that boost productivity when working away from the office.

The flexibility of a softphone isn’t only a benefit to individuals that work remotely. If you’re up and around the office and want to ensure you don’t miss a call, having a softphone on your mobile phone means you never will. Similarly, if you’re leaving the office to go for a bite to eat, you can still remain in contact with colleagues and customers easily.

A telephone system is a major business asset, no matter where your team are working. When you have people working outside of the office, it’s important they have the functionality of the telephone system available to them. With a softphone, you and your team will have unparalleled flexibility to work wherever you want to.

Softphones are Extremely Cost-Effective

A VoIP telephone system is cheaper than a traditional telephone system. However, purchasing handsets and setting them up can be costly, depending on how many you need. Softphones are extremely cost-effective and provide a way to move over to a VoIP telephone system without having to spend a lot.

Owning and using software such as a softphone is cheaper than owning and using hardware. Not only is hardware costly, but it can become damaged. What happens when it becomes damaged? You end up having to purchase more. With software, you never have to worry about damage and replacements. If you encounter any issues, you simply reinstall the software and the problem is gone 99% of the time.

When you purchase handsets, you may need a technician to install and configure them for you. This likely requires an onsite visit, which is just another expense that can be avoided. While softphones also require configuration, your provider can configure your softphone remotely. Depending on the softphone that you use, you might even be able to do it yourself! This is just another example of how softphones are a cost-effective option.

Enhanced Collaboration of Softphones

Softphones can boost the way that your team communicates and collaborates. Desktop softphones typically have messaging and video functionality. This allows your team to easily work together, even when they aren’t in the same office. Most desk phones don’t have messaging or video features, which can hamper collaboration.

Think about your own experiences and how much easier it is to work on a project when you can see a colleague and actually work face to face with them. You don’t get that option with standard desk phones, which can lead to worse results. With video functionality, your team can see each other and see what each other are seeing, enhancing communication and the ability to work together.

Softphones bring a lot of collaboration-boosting features together under one roof. A softphone usually has text, voice, and video functionality in addition to all the functionality available with a VoIP telephone system. This means your team doesn’t have to use a host of applications to work together effectively. They just need the one softphone application, which contains everything that they need to work together well.

No Additional Hardware Required with Softphones

As I took the opportunity to briefly mention before, you don’t need any additional hardware to begin using softphones. All you need in terms of hardware is internet-enabled devices. Presumably, you already own the internet-enabled devices that you need. That means you have all the hardware that you need to begin using a softphone.

Hardware can be costly and requires setting up, which isn’t needed with a softphone. You simply have to download an application onto your device, install it, and sign in with your login details. All the configuration is handled by your telephone system provider, so you can start using the softphone immediately after downloading and installing. There’s no waiting around for an engineer to install costly hardware for you. You’re up and running quickly.

Depending on the number of users your telephone system has, acquiring and installing hardware can be very costly and take a very long time. With softphones, you use your existing infrastructure without having to add anything physical to it. You will have the full functionality of a telephone system using only a piece of software, and none of the troubles associated with installing a new telephone system.

Softphones are Easily Scalable

A growing business needs solutions that will grow alongside it; solutions that won’t need replacing a few months or years down the line. That’s what you get when using a VoIP telephone system combined with softphones; solutions that will grow with your business and easily scale as your requirements grow.

Adding a new user to a VoIP telephone system is something that can be done in a matter of hours. Adding new lines is a simple as logging into your system and making a few easy adjustments. There’s no need for any additional hardware or installation to set up a new user.

If you are using softphones, setting a user up on the telephone system is as simple as setting up a user via your system and installing the necessary software on their devices. The configuration is usually very easy and can be completed by your provider if you’re unable to do it yourself.

As your business grows, you might want to move to a new office. In previous times, this would have meant massive expense. You would have needed to bring all your telephone system hardware with you and have it reinstalled at your new premises. When you’re using softphones, there are none of these troubles. You move your internet-enabled devices with you, and when they’re plugged in at the new office, your telephone system functions exactly as it did before. It’s a hassle-free process. That’s how you know you have a telephone system truly designed to scale with you.