Is VoIP Better Than Traditional PSTN?

As businesses gradually embrace more cloud-based solutions and move over to digital services, many businesses owners are asking if VoIP is better than traditional PSTN. This is a very valid question, as a reliable telephone system really is a business essential.

Is VoIP better than traditional PSTN? Yes, VoIP is better than traditional PSTN in numerous ways. VoIP is cheaper, more secure and has been proven time and time again to enhance productivity.

So now we’ve answered that burning question, I’m going to fully explain why VoIP is better than traditional PSTN. This will give you a full overview of how VoIP is better and how it will enhance your business’s communication.

How Is VoIP Better Than PSTN?

As I briefly mentioned above, VoIP is better than PSTN in numerous ways. VoIP is more cost-effective, doesn’t require any onsite maintenance, and it’s improved security is the cherry on top.

Here’s why VoIP is better than PSTN in more detail.

VoIP Doesn’t Require Its Own Infrastructure

VoIP is a digital service, which is advantageous in many ways as you likely already know. Because VoIP is a digital service, it doesn’t require it’s own infrastructure in the same way that PSTN would. VoIP actually shares the same network as all over internet services.

As VoIP uses your existing data infrastructure, this can mean lower installation costs and full integration with your business systems. More businesses are seeing the importance of unified communications, and VoIP plays a big part in establishing unified communications for your business.

PSTN does not integrate with your existing infrastructure. Instead, it uses its own dedicated voice network. Ultimately, this means greater costs for your business and arguably a worse communication setup.

Because PSTN uses its own infrastructure, you require specialist technicians whenever you need any technical support. Since VoIP uses your existing infrastructure, you only need one technician to manage your data network. This removes the need for separate technicians, with one dedicated to your data network and the other dedicated to maintaining your voice network.

VoIP is more efficient and integrates more suitably into your business’s systems. While this might not seem important, a business essential such as a telephone system must integrate as smoothly as possible with your wider business network.

VoIP has Greater Scalability and Cost-Effective Upgrades

If your business is always evolving, you need a telephone system that will change with your business. You need a telephone system that you can rely upon forever, rather than an unreliable system that you won’t be able to rely on for more than a couple of years.

VoIP telephone systems are extremely flexible and designed with scalability in mind. As your business grows and changes, your VoIP system will evolve easily and smoothly to meet demand. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the simplicity of adding a new user to your system. Adding a new user is as simple as adding a new licence and configuring it – it can be done in hours. When you have a PSTN system, adding a new user typically involves purchasing another line and more hardware. This is complex, costly, and can take a long time.

The same can be said again of VoIP when it comes to upgrades in general. Providers upgrade and maintain VoIP in the cloud. So as your VoIP system evolves, you don’t need to purchase and install extra equipment onsite. There’s no extra cost for you, even though you have an ever-improving telephone system.

With PSTN, upgrades typically involves, again, purchasing new hardware and onsite work. Once again, this is very costly and complex. PSTN is antiquated technology and isn’t designed with easy scalability and upgrades in mind.

VoIP has Greater Call Management Capabilities

It’s important that you can easily manage calls from customers and colleagues to ensure productivity and customer satisfaction. While VoIP has several value-add services available free of charge that enhance call management, PSTN providers charge for these features – if they’re available at all on the older technology.

VoIP telephone systems have a host of call management facilities that enhance the way that your business communicates internally and with customers. For example, call waiting, forwarding and call transferring come as standard with virtually any VoIP telephone system. These facilities don’t incur any extra cost and don’t scratch the surface of all the value-add services available to VoIP users.

With PSTN, call management features such as call waiting and call transferring are available. Unfortunately, providers usually charge for these features with PSTN and depending on the provider, they may take longer to set up. However, there are many call management facilities available on VoIP telephone systems that aren’t available at all with PSTN systems. For example:

  • Auto-Attendant
  • Call Forwarding
  • Voicemail to Email
  • Soft Phones

This is just a small selection of the services available with VoIP that aren’t available with a traditional PSTN system. These features can be revolutionary for communication, so you need a telephone system that offers them.

VoIP has Lower Costs Upfront and Long-Term

Businesses can save a lot of money by moving over to a hosted VoIP telephone system. IP telephony is typically much cheaper than traditional telephony for numerous reasons. VoIP is primarily cheaper because it uses the internet to make calls, so calls are typically not charged according to the length of call or distance.

Setting up a VoIP telephone system is usually much cheaper than setting up a traditional telephone system. VoIP is typically plug and play, as your provider will configure your system remotely. Depending on the complexity of your setup, you may not even need an engineer onsite to set up your system for you. Compare this with a PSTN telephone system, where an engineer will have to come to your building, install hardware, and configure your entire system. This could take days, depending on how many users you have and other factors. The expense involved is very significant.

After the initial setup, VoIP is still cheaper! A VoIP licence, handset, support and maintenance is usually a few pounds per month. With a traditional system, a line alone can cost around £100 per month. That’s not considering the handsets you need, or any added call management features.

Data suggests that productivity is enhanced when using a VoIP telephone system, rather than a traditional PSTN system. How much money are you saving because your staff are more productive? Depending on the number of staff you have and how much they’re getting paid, the increased productivity of your team could save you hundreds or thousands of pounds alone.

VoIP has Greater Call Quality

When businesses first began using VoIP, a lot of users noted issues and it was generally believed that VoIP call quality was lower than traditional landline call quality. Evidently, this was a massive concern for a lot of businesses considering switching over to IP telephony. Now, VoIP call quality is just as good as, if not better than, PSTN.

VoIP jitter and dropped packets can lead to poor VoIP calls, but VoIP call quality is high even on 3G and 4G connections now. VoIP call quality has never been better and it’ll only get better as the technology continues to develop.

The PSTN infrastructure is old, with providers moving away from it. While the call quality on a traditional phone line is a good quality for the most part, it is never going to improve to the standard of VoIP now that IP telephony call quality is so much better.

Jack Mitchell

Jack Mitchell has been the Operations manager at telecoms and MSP Optionbox for more than 4 years. He has played a crucial role in the company, from marketing to helpdesk, and ensures that the IT requirements of over 300 clients are continuously met. With his innate passion for technology and troubleshooting and a particular interest in Apple products, Jack now delivers the most comprehensive tech guides to make your life easier. You can connect with Jack on LinkedIn.

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