The telecommunications industry has taken a 180 within the past couple of decades. An industry once dominated by landlines has seen a massive transition to VoIP for personal and business use.
Landline use in businesses has been steadily decreasing since 2004 for a list of reasons, but mainly due to costs and the lack of important modern features such as video conferencing, text messaging and team chat.
Here’s 10 statistics showing why small businesses are making the switch to cloud-based communications.
10 VoIP Stats for Small Businesses
Save Money
Small businesses can benefit in a number of ways when switching to the cloud. A few of these benefits include a reduction in maintenance costs, operating costs, improved collaboration and an increase in workforce mobility. Because of the savings potential, 82% of businesses saved money when they switched to the cloud. This is why cloud communications use has only been increasing and transforming into the new norm.
Save Call Minutes
Businesses who switch from a landline save roughly 32 call minutes each day. VoIP helps ensure businesses get into contact with their desired party on the first try, easier than landlines. Though this may not seem significant, over time the minutes add up and can cost your business unnecessary time and expenses.
Increase Mobility
A T-Mobile report from 2019 shows that 7 of 10 companies cite mobility as a top priority and 63% of global enterprises regard mobility as the most significant factor contributing to competitive advantage. This is most likely due to the advantage of flexibility with the ability to answer phone calls and conduct business almost anywhere. It also shows that, on a global scale, costs for mobile solutions will reach $1.8 trillion in 2022. This means the number of VoIP users will only increase.
VoIP is Getting Cheaper
VoIP is already an excellent value, and the value to price ratio will continue to increase as new technological reinforcements are released. Prices for cloud telephony services are expected to decline between 3-5% annually. In 2017 and 2018 Gartner also found that VoIP prices declined by as much as 3%. This is great news for anyone that has been wanting to try cloud-based communications.
Improved Productivity
Being as productive as possible is extremely important, especially to small and medium sized businesses. VoIP gives access to features that landlines don’t have the ability to use. Features such as Find me/Follow me and the lack of interruptions/disturbances between calls has resulted in productivity increases as high as 77% . Every company can benefit from increased productivity.
VoIP is Growing
Based on a study by Global Market Insights, the VoIP industry is expected to experience a 15% compound annual growth rate in the next six years after being valued at over $30 billion. As VoIP technology continues to gain popularity, it’s going to be difficult to avoid going forward. It’s no surprise VoIP continues to grow as VoIP host’s like CallHarbor provide powerful business communication solutions.
Employees Prefer VoIP
As if saving money wasn’t a good enough of a reason to adopt VoIP, employees have also shown favoritism towards utilizing VoIP. Using VoIP can save individuals time and effort as a VoIP system can automatically complete operational tasks for them. Employees are bound to notice improvements while using a VoIP system.
Improved Security
A cloud host’s full-time job is to carefully monitor security, therefore making a cloud communication solution more practical than a traditional in-house system. The cloud uses encryption to ensure all data transmitted over networks and stored in databases are encrypted. By using encryption, information is less accessible by hackers or anyone not authorized to view your data.
Customer Service
Adopting a VoIP service will allow you to have an opportunity to improve your customer service. This is because VoIP can remove barriers so there is always room for open communication with customers. VoIP enables service teams to take calls remotely based on customer availability without setting up call forwarding. Agents can help customers from their desk, at home, or even while traveling to offsite meetings.
Since Microsoft found that 61% of customers stop conducting business with brands that provide poor customer service, a reliable phone system is crucial.
Power of Analytics
Speaking of customer service, the average handle time can play a big role. Average handle time (AHT) is the average time it takes for reps to resolve customer service inquiries. High average handle time usually equates to poor customer service which results in losing customers.
Contact center analytics have helped businesses reduce their AHT by 40% due to analyzing call logs. Managers can apply analytics by reworking customer service scripts and identifying common customer complaints.
Upgrading to VoIP
These stats speak for themselves – it’s time to modernize your business and cut the landline.
It’s not only about not feeling excluded from the globalization that is happening around us, but there are plenty of measurable benefits from installing and utilizing a VoIP system.
Aside from being an excellent communication tool, VoIP services can increase the employee’s productivity, enhance the entire customer experience, and increase the overall company’s revenue!
Visit CallHarbor.com today and schedule your free demo to see a lot of the great features mentioned in action!