Yes, the technology is fairly new, but it costs providers far less in terms of maintenance and infrastructure to bring the service to the world. Because the cost of delivering the service is at least half that of traditional analog phone service, the ISPs, many of which are also traditional phone companies, are more than happy to pass those savings along to the consumer. Part of the problem for some business owners is the very fact that VoIP and other digital phone services cost less than their traditional counterparts do.
Service providers are unfortunately very well known for pricing less than stellar services cheaply while simultaneously trying to get you to sign up with a hard-to-get-out-of contract. Consumers, including businesses, are leery of services that phone providers start touting at the prices as low as they advertise digital phone services. With tactics like that, who can blame a business for being cautious? However, to effectively move forward into the future, it is imperative that businesses understand that these digital services are actually superior in most ways to analog lines.
Many of the services that cost extra with an analog phone line, including voice mail, call display, call waiting and so on, are included services with a digital phone line. It is also possible for a business to maintain multiple local phone numbers for various service areas without having to pay for multiple expensive lines. There are usually surcharges associated with each additional number with a digital service, but several numbers on a digital line often cost the same as a single additional phone number on an analog line.
As your business grows, a digital system is almost infinitely expandable to meet your needs without requiring huge equipment overhauls. You may want to upgrade phones, in-office switchboards and so on, but it isn’t absolutely necessary to do so with most digital systems. You also don’t necessarily need any special equipment outside the modem needed for call data. Even when you want an advanced phone system that can handle multiple lines, the expense for equipment is often less because less expensive equipment is used for switchboard purposes.
If you need to expand your business’ telephony capabilities, consider going digital. It’s reliable, costs less and has far greater potential for future expansion without huge costs to do so. Finally, the call quality issues that digital lines had years ago when they first started becoming popular didn’t take long to solve. That quality is poor is largely a myth with today’s systems. Digital lines are the efficient way to go for telecommunications in the modern age of business.