VoIP has without a doubt been the single greatest disruptor in the telecommunications industry for a few reasons:
- VoIP has reduced monthly expense for businesses.
- Communications infrastructure is much more efficient for businesses and service providers alike.
- VoIP has opened the door for incredible product innovation.
VoIP Integration with mobility related apps (cell phones, touch pads) touches all of the above. The underlying reason for this is that VoIP relies only on internet connectivity to be fully enabled. This means wherever you are and on whatever device you’re logged into, if you have internet connectivity, you’ve got a fully integrated VoIP service.
Before Mobility Integrated with VoIP
Fewer than 10 years ago a cell phone had two services: cell phone minutes; and a data package.
- The first plan gave the user a set amount of minutes per month for voice calls (this still holds true for most international calling plans). If the number of minutes were spent before the end of the month, a per minute cost would be billed for the minutes used over the package limit. Expense became variable and of course, more expensive.
- The second plan was, and still is, simple to the first in that a set amount of bandwidth or data transfer determined the monthly plan the user would pay for. If the amount of data transfer was exceeded, additional expenses were incurred.
It’s important to understand that voice calls could only be made use the ‘minutes’ package. VoIP had not yet been deployed using internet.
VoIP Integrates!
Once VoIP matured as a technology and hosted providers developed mobile apps, the smart became a VoIP phone just like the desk VoIP phones in an office.
- With a mobile VoIP app an employee was no longer tethered to an office desk to make and receive phone calls.
- Users could now separate work related calls from personal calls preserving their privacy.
- Worker efficiency is improved as employees are able to work from virtually anywhere (flexible work hours, unnecessary drives to the office eliminated, etc.).
Another innovation accompanying the mobility integration was the ability for smart phones to access Wi-Fi networks. This meant that neither the smart phone voice or data package had to be used when making VoIP calls.
VoIP mobility is actually a sub-set of a much broader software innovation called Unified Communications, or UCaaS. UCaaS is an umbrella of services that provide communications services in all areas of business communications:
- Voice calling (mobile and desktop apps)
- Voice Mail
- Video (Conference, screen sharing, huddles, collaboration, etc.)
- Chat (internal communications)
- SMS/MMS (using a business phone number instead of a personal cell number)
Mobile Integration and COVID-19
It’s how a full VoIP/mobility integration has helped businesses manage corporate communication during COVID-19. Employees are able to communicate as well from home as they can from their office. It’s not clear what lasting impact COVID-19 will have on how businesses communicate after COVID-19 is eradicated. What is clear is that the success of VoIP/Mobility integration will have an impact on the way businesses choose to communicate.
Is your business interested in leveraging VoIP? Let us help!
