THE IT GUIDE

Picking a Phone Solutions + VOIP

Evaluate how you work with your team and choose the options that best meet those needs.

“You used to call me on my cell phone...”

In a world of 24/7 chatbots and “send us an email/DM,” the concept of providing a phone number for direct customer support seems last century, but there are legitimate reasons why a business might want to have a phone number. 

A phone number can create a more professional appearance, lends to improving accessibility by providing another channel of communication, and, simply — real time conversation might best support the type of product or service a business offers. 

Landlines, cell phones, and VoIP are the big three telecomm solutions — each with their own pros and cons. Cost might dictate choice, but the differences between these services matter beyond budgets.

  • Landlines

    Landlines are integral to infrastructure because of their reliability in an emergency, including blackouts, and in areas with poor internet and/or cellular reception.

  • Cell Phones

    Use of cell phones are a popular alternative due to the mobility and functionality it offers, but the quality of mobile service can be less than reliable in areas that have poor connection.

  • VoIP

    Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol allows a caller to make calls wireless from a computer OR mobile device over the internet, but is largely dependent on a stable internet connection.

— Voice Over Internet Protocol

VoIP has become the popular choice for SMBs due to its affordability and because all major productivity suites offer it as an add-on to their packages — Voice for Microsoft Teams and Google Voice for the Google Workspace ecosystem. 

Both options include baseline services, like call-forwarding or automated phone menus, but additional features are what determine the winning caller. If your team is used to working with the Microsoft ecosystem and not juggling too many calls, the VoIP service bundled with Teams might do the trick. As the business grows, a desire for voicemail transcriptions, call screening, and spam protections might make switching to Google Voice more attractive. Larger medium-sized businesses might even lean towards providers like Mitel which offer a more traditional office phone solution that works with their VoIP service.

Fortunately, the VoIP experience is provider-agnostic, and using a service that is different from your preferred office suite won’t cause any epic conflicts. In fact, some of our clients combine the two by using Team’s video conferencing for internal comms and using a VoIP to make external calls. At the end of the day, telecommunications are not a one-for-all family plan; we work with clients who utilize a mix of landlines, cellular service, and VoIP and we’ve found businesses will opt for multiple solutions as the business scales up in size or location.