Being a business owner means looking for every advantage when it comes to your upkeep costs. When you can save on operating expenses on a monthly basis, those saving add up over time and can be used for other areas within your business. If you think you’re paying too much for your business phone services, you probably are! Phone lines for businesses and organizations in Westchester New York don’t have to be too costly or complicated either. Let’s see why SIP phones are better for businesses of all sizes.

What Exactly are SIP Phones?

SIP phones are phones which use the Open Standard “SIP” system to receive, send, and manage telephone calls. It uses internet protocol (IP-based) to carry the actual voice as well as a second Open Standard “RTP”. These are commonly known as VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP Clients or VoIP Phones). They provide a number of advantages to businesses and organizations of all sizes and are categorized in two main classifications:

• Software SIP Phones or SoftPhones
• Deskphones, Hardware SIP Phones, or Hardphones

What are SoftPhones?

“SoftPhone” means software program which functions as a telephone. It is basically something you install on an internet or carrier data connected device to make calls. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a phone either. SoftPhones can come in a range of varieties, including:

• Android or iOS Smartphones
• Desktop and laptop computers of all varieties
• Android or iOS Tablets like iPads, even iPods

This means that anyone who has a smartphone or computer can simply install the designated software and turn their phon or computer into a “SoftPhone”. This is great for businesses especially right now where much work is being done from home due to the pandemic. When your employees can simply install a piece of software on their smart phone and home computer to conduct business calls, the advantages or plentiful.

What are HardPhones?

These phone systems look like traditional hard wired phone systems of the past. The main difference is that there is actually a small computer system and hardware components built into them so they can connect calls using an IP-Network (internet protocol network). This is done through standard Wifi or ethernet cables and is different from traditional phone lines in this sense as well. They don’t have to be hard wired either as cordless hard phones are also available. These are very common in office settings but are not typically set up when employees work from home.

Why Should we Use a “SoftPhone”?

The fact that SoftPhones are software based is one of the biggest advantages to using them for business. Because you can simply install a proprietary VoIP system onto any smartphone or computer to make it a fully functioning business tool, you are only limited by the software itself. Modern “SoftPhones” used for business have a huge array of features, such as:

• Conference Calling
• Video Calling + Conferences
• Test & SMS Messaging
• Voice-mail
• Auto-Attendant
• Call Recording
• Computer Screen Sharing
• Remote Accessibility
• Add Users/Lines As You Need
• Scalability (adding users not physical lines)
• Call forwarding
• Local, national and international calling
• Cost effective rates (far cheaper than traditional phones)
• and more
• See some more benefits of business VOIP here

In this time period where many companies are struggling and many employees are working from home, being able to use current internet connections through a simple software to conduct business is a huge cost saver.

How Discounted are SIP Phone Systems?

The cost of a SIP trunk varies based on your needs as a business. There are essentially four different factors which go into the costs:

• Monthly subscription costs – typically per channel of service
• Call rates (outbound) – metered plans per minute
• Setup costs – one time setup fees or activation of your SIP trunk service
• Add-ons – features you can add like call recording, call forwarding, etc.

The best SIP trunking providers in Westchester NY will offer low cost, simple installation on existing devices while updating all of your business communications to the cloud. But the real specifics as to why SIP trunking is so much more affordable than traditional phone systems are as follows:

1. No need for expensive Plain Old Telephone Service Lines or POTS
2. Reduced per-minute calling with SIP phones, even when using a metered plan per minute
3. Uses existing internet connection to complete calls through VoIP
4. Maximizes current phone systems through cloud connected PBX

Outdated legacy (older) phone trunks are rather costly. When it dramatically increases your cost to add lines or conduct outgoing business calls, it’s not hard to see why modern businesses are taking advantage of SIP trunking. Not only is there increased costs because of the technical installation and maintenance with older phone systems, but also the upkeep and monthly costs are more expensive as well.

Verdict: Upgrade your Business to a SIP Phone Service and see the benefits

There are more to the nuts and bolts of why SIP is far more cost effective than outdated legacy business phones than we’ve covered here. The functionality is improved, the costs are reduced, and SIP services can even be run from home with little effort. Because there is never a bad time to look to cut business costs, because many employees are working from home, and because SIP phone services cost far less than traditional telecommunications; now is a great time to make the upgrade.

You will reduce your costs while adding a multitude of useful business features. These can work at the office or at home for you and your employees. You will save on monthly phone costs and also on per minute phone costs. Adding new lines or users has little or no cost. You’ll be able to conference and screen share which increases productivity. When you look at it there are way more reasons to change to a SIP phone service than to not to. Your business will benefit and your costs will reduce, it’s that simple.

For the Best SIP Phones Westchester County NY, look no further than 30 years of local telecommunication expertise, right here at Top Line Communications. We proudly operate where we live right here in Westchester. Call today for a consultation and see how we can reduce your costs, get you set up from home, and bring your businesses phone systems into the 21st century. Stay safe from the entire team and we can get through this if we work together! 1-888-426-8647