Long gone are the days of Mad Men or even The Office. The modern office does not often contain workers using telephones with cords for most of their communications. Instead, with the growth of remote work, it might consist of an employee's kitchen or favorite café.
Technology drives modern business, and businesses that keep pace with technological change realize the full benefits, advantages, and profits of using modern technology. This includes VoIP and mobile services, especially given how common work-from-home has become in the contemporary environment. To become more competitive and attract and maintain talent, more and more organizations are shifting away from rented office space and mandatory attendance to purely virtual workplaces.
Whether your business is just beginning to take advantage of modern technology or operate entirely virtually, within the cloud, VoIP and mobile services can improve the efficiency and profitability of your business. In this article, we’ll explore what VoIP is and how mobile services can help your business, alongside how the professionals at Nicolet Tech can implement the best possible solutions for your business, so you can focus on what you do best.
What Is VoIP?
VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol technology. In the modern environment, VoIP is an increasingly common business tool. VoIP is a phone system that delivers calls through the IP data network. You need an internet connection to access VoIP, and you can work from home or anywhere outside the office when needed.
When you place a call over VoIP using your cellphone, your voice converts into digital signals. Then, through VoIP, the signals go to the receiver through your cell phone’s internet connection or data plan using 4G, LTE, and now 5G. The connection you use will determine its security and stability, so considering the time sensitivity of your business's work should influence the choice.
VoIP Setup and Maintenance Consume Time and Effort
While choosing the right VoIP provider for your business might seem daunting, we help to take the difficulty out of the experience so you can focus on your business while we focus on helping you make the best choice in support of it. Whether choosing which software to download to integrate into your business’s VoIP network or whether your current hardware and systems can support it, we can inform you and help you purchase the right product and service.
Making sure you are meeting the needs of your business can require communicating with your telecommunications provider to ensure that they have the capacity and capability. You might not know what words to use and what questions to ask to ensure this, and purchasing without knowing for sure can waste time and resources.
Nicolet Tech offers assistance in setting up and maintaining your company’s VoIP Services through your Telecom Service Provider. You don’t have to invest the time to figure out what terminology to use, then have to wait through the call to set it all up.
WiFi Hotspots Guard Against Internet Outages
Mobile phone providers commonly tout the “WiFi Hotspot” option and related data service. A WiFi hotspot means turning your phone into a WiFi router and transmitter in one. This means that you can create a wireless network out of your phone, and through that wireless network, use your VoIP for calling.
A WiFi hotspot helps insulate you from potential issues if the internet goes down. For example, if your mobile employee is working on a critical deadline at a coffee shop, and the internet goes out, you might not hit a deadline. With the option of a WiFi hotspot, your employee can turn their phone into a wireless network so that calls and work will go uninterrupted if the physical location they are working out of has problems with its WiFi.
What Are Mobile Services?
To take advantage of VoIP and WiFi hotspots, they need to work within your business mobile services suite. The number of options on the market can baffle people. You'll have 4G, 5G, or LTE for speed options and the choice of Apple products or one of the other options with Android software like Samsung or Sony products.
Deciding which hardware solutions, which mobile phone brands, and which service options to choose can seem like a daunting task. Calling your cell phone provider and asking questions will most likely lead to them trying to upsell you on features you don’t need.
Going to Best Buy to pick up a deal on sale might seem like a great idea, but you need to ensure that what you are investing in will be beneficial to your business in the long term, and isn’t just a quick buy that won’t have lasting benefits.
The IT professionals at Nicolet Tech are happy to help you put together a complete system for your business, which includes providing you guidance on which features you need and which aren't totally necessary. Our guidance begins with identifying the unique needs of your business, then providing you with the information you need to make the best choice for your business.
How to Access Mobile VoIP Providers?
Gaining access to the benefits of VoIP requires you to select a VoIP provider, of which there are quite a few on the market to choose from. Some VoIP services are built right into your smartphone, like FaceTime or iPhone users. For Android users, this can include Google Duo or WhatsApp. Another popular VoIP app that many people are familiar with is Skype, a service that has been somewhat taken over lately by Microsoft Teams.
While you might have free VoIP options built right into your smartphone, they don't always work for your business. The VoIP platforms in your smartphone lack the features, functionality, and flexibility your business phone system will require.
For VoIP to work on your cell phone, you’ll need:
- A smartphone with the capability to download applications
- A reliable connection to the internet or a reliable WiFi hotspot through your smartphone
- An up-to-date operating system on your mobile device
- A provider that allows you to default to data use if your WiFi connection is lost
When your WiFi connection can default to data, this helps protect you from losing data in an internet outage.
Businesses Require More Advanced VoIP Features and Functionality
To ensure you provide for the needs of your business, you will likely need more than a basic VoIP provider like FaceTime for your business. To begin taking advantage of a more sophisticated VoIP solution, you can start by downloading the application onto your smartphone. The suite of solutions and options available will differ depending on the software solution you choose and the particular features you select when deciding on your subscription plan or purchase option.
Nicolet Tech is familiar with the options on the market, such as OpenPhone or Google Voice. Our professionals can help you choose which solution best provides for the unique needs of your business.
Turn Your Personal Smartphone Into a Business Softphone Through VoIP
One of the main benefits of using VoIP for your business, whether for your personal use or your employees, is that you don’t need to purchase a new phone. VoIP solutions are generally rooted in applications you can download onto your smartphone for business purposes.
When you provide your employees with a specific VoIP solution, their personal phones become softphones, and your business does not have to buy them separate phones for business. VoIP allows you to use two numbers on one phone, one for your personal use and another for business.
The key benefits of VoIP are:
- You and your employees don’t have to carry two phones - Rather than having to carry about a pair of phones, one for work and one for personal use, as was common in the past, the use of VoIP applications enables you to segregate your work and personal calls on the same phone, saving you space the logistics of keeping two phones accessible and charged when you need them.
- Maintain the privacy of your personal number - Given the close connection between people's personal and professional lives in the modern world, many business owners use their numbers to conduct business, which can blur the lines between personal time and work and make it seem like you never have a moment off. By keeping your personal number private, you can turn off work when you want so that you can live your own life when you aren't on the clock.
- Collaboration and virtual communication - Choosing a VoIP system that matches the needs of your business can support collaboration between team members and better organize group meetings and collaborative work.
- Adding/removing access is easy - As your team grows or contracts, adding or removing new accounts to your business VoIP is as easy as clicking a button on your smartphone or computer, which makes managing your team and achieving your business objectives more streamlined and efficient.
VoIP Solutions Are Cost-Effective and Efficient
VoIP solutions help make your business more efficient and cost-effective while helping to support a remote work environment for you and your employees. For example, in the past, you might rent a physical office space with telephones attached to landlines that had subscription fees. If the landlines go down, your business cannot field calls, possibly impacting your bottom line.
The modern workplace might be ten different employees working from ten different locations. If you need to give them the same access to voice technology to enable you and your team to communicate effectively and uniformly, you can purchase ten separate cell phones with ten separate plans. You might get a discount on purchasing ten phones and signing up for ten plans, allowing each employee to work from wherever they like through mobile technology.
In our example, while purchasing ten separate phones costs less than paying rent on an office large enough for ten people while providing them with ten landlines, this is still a less-than-effective solution. With VoIP, you can simply pay for a single subscription to the best and most appropriate VoIP application for your business. Your employees can download the application onto their smartphones and use it when working.
We Provide Services for All Your Mobile Device Needs
As mobile phones and smartphones become increasingly more intertwined in business operations, the need to transfer data from smartphones into your business systems will arise. When it comes time to integrate data into a single place, or if an employee needs help uploading their data into your intranet, we are here to help. We will also help manage your company's mobile device security, migrations, and data transfers.
Nicolet Tech Provides Customized Solutions That Fit Your Business
With endless options in the market, researching to find the right fit for your company can be a strenuous process. Figuring out VoIP systems can present challenges, but it may improve a business’s communications. So, our team will analyze your business’s operations and recommend the best VoIP system for you.
Connect with Nicolet Tech for Your VoIP and Mobile Services Needs Today
The IT specialists at Nicolet Tech have decades of combined experience providing solutions to businesses like yours, whether VoIP, Mobile Services, or whatever IT needs your business might have.
Contact us now to discuss your business needs and explore options that will suit your specific requirements. These include hardware, software, communications options, cybersecurity, and more. Learn more about available tech improvements today.
With endless options in the market, researching to find the right fit for your company can be a strenuous process. Figuring out VoIP systems can be a pain, but they are still essential to a business’ communication. So, our team will analyze your business’ operations and recommend the VoIP system for you.