Five Reasons Why Your SIP Phone Perception is Skewed

While the benefits surrounding the use of SIP phones have clearly been defined, not all companies have willingly adopted this technology in the office. It’s easy to hold fast to the traditional network and assume the technologies involved provide the best protection against poor service, but are these assumptions correct?

A recent Resource Nation blog examined the five common reasons businesses typically put off making the switch to VoIP. The first reason given – phone service is protected even if electricity goes out. While this may have been true with the traditional landline model, the fiber optic systems in place today still rely on power, and, needless to say, an outage can render the connection dead.

Today’s SIP phones, however, generally provide eight hours of standby time with battery backup. Plus, the phones operate virtually maintenance free, allowing the IT department to focus on more pressing issues.

The second objection to the use of SIP phones tends to be focused on quality – too many companies believe that VoIP quality cannot match that of the traditional phone line. The quality of the call is completely dependent upon the reliability of the Internet connection. For a number of organizations, however, the needed bandwidth is readily available. Additionally, if the VoIP provider offers a free trial, the company can even test the validity of the quality claims.

When implementing SIP phones, such as those from Panasonic, quality is the priority, which is only further enhanced with the flexibility offered in this technology, allowing users to do so much more with their phones while also enjoying seamless upgrades.

A third objection that tends to pop up in the SIP phones discussion is the element of cost. Too many companies have already invested in their current phone system, and so they don’t want to make a change. And, while old copper wire deployments were built to stand the test of time, fewer technicians are being trained to maintain these systems, as customers are increasingly moving to VoIP.

The cost benefits over time also cannot be ignored. Panasonic (News - Alert) SIP phones allow for reduced call costs, allowing businesses to save an average of 40 percent on nationwide calls and up to 90 percent on international calls. For the organization that targets customers and partners throughout the world, the cost benefits simply cannot be disputed.

Assumed problems with 911 is another objection that tends to surface, but the problem here is a lack of knowledge. VoIP providers must enter customer information correctly to ensure verified information on street names and phones. The fact that a company uses a landline doesn’t guarantee immunity from 911 problems. Instead, the SIP phones available today integrate with E-9-1-1 technologies being put in place, extending greater 911 capabilities that copper wires cannot support.

Finally, some decision makers firmly believe that their legacy phones were made to withstand anything. In truth, he or she may be right. The rotary wall phone I used in our hallway growing up was not only a robust communication tool, but I could clock my older brother with it at any time to win a fight. With the communications demands companies have today, however, legacy systems cannot support the move to cloud technologies, data convergence and even unified communications (UC) – all things which we will undoubtedly be seeing as we welcome 2013 and many years to come.

SIP phones providers enable such migrations, optimizing the user experience and ensuring that communications are not only robust, but also meet the needs of the organization.

To learn more about Panasonic’s SIP phone offerings, click here.

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