Take a look at your desk. Do you see that desk phone? That’s a 150-year old technology that’s going to be obsolete because of advancements brought about by VoIP through virtual phone number providers like Freeje.
You probably are still using traditional phones for a lot of your communication functions. And quite frankly, their place in the modern world is growing smaller and smaller every day.
Although desk phones have served their purpose (and still do, to some extent), they haven’t evolved much since they were invented. Therefore, it has since been left by the growing and evolving world around it.
That’s why forward-thinking entrepreneurs and business owners have since left desk phones for softphones, a much-evolved counterpart technology.
Are you curious about how it could improve your business operations? Learn more about softphones and why you should start using them as soon as possible. We’ll cover everything you need to make an informed decision about the switch.
Softphones 101: What are they?
Businesses such as yours rely on landlines to perform a lot of communication functions within and outside the organization, including customer support and meetings. But if you’re looking for long-term communication viability, doing it this way isn’t the best route. Here’s where softphones come in.
Softphones are essentially software that does everything a landline could and so much more. Powered by VoIP, it allows you to make calls over the internet using devices you already own.
For your desktop or laptop, it could be as simple as logging into a website. While for mobile devices, it usually means installing a mobile app that allows you to get within the VoIP system.
So they’re like landlines but better. They don’t even need a phone line to work! All you’d need is to be assigned a virtual number.
Why switching to softphones should be your next big move
As part of what allows VoIP to be experienced by many people, making the switch to softphones from desk phones affords your the following benefits:
1. It’s much cheaper
Granted, this won’t be the case for every business in the world. Multinational corporations worth millions or billions of dollars would probably still be better off with landlines.
But for small businesses and startups? Sticking to landlines wouldn’t be the best option. The reason the largest companies in the world are fit consumers of traditional phone services is the economic concept of marginal cost.
As the number of users for the product increases, the cost per user decreases. So if you only have 10 people, for example, you can’t bring the cost down by much.
By using softphones, you’ll have more control over how much you’d pay. You’re charged per user instead of for the entire system.
2. It makes scaling easier.
Remember how we talked about being charged per user? That means you don’t have to pay for anything more than what you’re actually using.
Let’s say that you’re expecting a lot of business coming in the next few months. So to accommodate the workload that comes with it, you hire a few contract-based employees.
With landlines, this may mean locking yourself in a contract that expands your current phone system. But what are you to do with the extra lines once the demand for your services goes back to normal?
You don’t have to think about that at all with softphones. You can simply add a few more lines for a few months and terminate those as soon as they’re not needed anymore.
There’s no contract involved so you can adjust your VoIP system based on your needs.
3. It lets you transition to remote work
Because of the pandemic, a lot of the businesses that used to happen on-site switched to remote work. Some of them even switched permanently!
Having seen how much cheaper it would be not having to pay for office rental and utilities, business owners saw just how valuable remote working can be. The employees feel the same way. Even after the pandemic, they prefer not to work on-site anymore.
If your business model allows you to make this transition, we say go for it!
But you’ll definitely need softphones to make the transition as smooth as possible. The reach of landlines is extremely limited. Therefore, the only alternative would be replacing a system that can exist in many places at once.
The great thing about softphones is that they’re very easy to set up. All they’ll need to do is download an app or software. Then, they’re good to go.
This means you can have everything set up over the weekend and be up and running by Monday.
Softphones are indeed a great addition to an efficient organization. So our advice? Make the switch right now.
