Over the last few years, businesses have switched from traditional telephony to VoIP communication technologies.
With such high demands for VoIP systems, there was a growing need to increase their availability in the market to the point where businesses could rely entirely on them.
Business models are being modernized to maintain business continuity while shifting from conventional systems to the latest communication systems. Innovative technical implementations in call center business infrastructures are the need of the hour!
System crashes, data leaks, or budget shortfalls are common, and every business has faced some crisis in their lifetime. The challenge is to cope with the situation and emerge victoriously.
Call center departments are one of the most critical revenue generation sources, so they should not be taken for granted.
Every company should give all it can to improve the contact center infrastructures, not only for an enhanced communications system but also because its success directly impacts the business’s turnover.
Also Read: 10 Best VoIP Software for Small Businesses
Difference Between Traditional and VoIP Communications Technology
Even though the basic telephony setup remains the same, the difference between the two lies in the mode of transmission of voice data.
VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a telephony system that depends solely on Internet networks to make calls, whereas, on the other hand, the traditional analog wired telephone systems rely on circuits.
The data in VoIP is transmitted in digital form, either through wired or wireless phone networks.
VoIP replaced the conventional PSTN services, thus opening up space for VoIP telephony companies to improve their internet connectivity to make calls more durable and reliable.
VoIP phones not only offer a higher number of benefits than analog phones, but they are also more cost-effective as well.
With such promising beginnings since the 90s, VoIP systems have outsmarted traditional telephony modes.
Analysts have predicted a higher potential of mobile VoIP due to the digitalization of communication systems and the expansion of internet access, which has reached every corner of the world.
Also Read: Cut operational costs with a Hosted Phone System
The Future of VoIP Telephony Systems
If we look at the statistical data, we can find about a 1 billion rise in the number of new users of mobile VoIP systems in 2017.
However, this is expected to be around 3 billion by 2021.
While the global VoIP market share was around $77.4 billion in 2018, it is expected to touch $93.2 billion by 2024, with a revenue of $194.5 billion.
The global VoIP revenue was approximately $14 billion in the US in 2019. In short, the stats make it clear how promising the future of VoIP communication systems is.
Top Ways VoIP Can Ensure Business Continuity
Business continuity is sometimes known as disaster recovery, ensuring one’s business can evolve from a disaster and continue functioning.
In such a scenario, the most crucial thing a business needs to protect is its customers and the ability to communicate with them and other stakeholders, including employees, vendors or suppliers, manufacturers, and others.
In short, one needs to retrieve the VoIP telephony systems of one’s business to thrive and maintain its continuity.
A robust VoIP system offers good backup plans if your primary telephone network breaks down or faces an issue, such as a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack.
This ensures that no data and communication networks are lost due to a disaster, enabling you to continue your voice interactions seamlessly.
The following are the five key ways a VoIP setup ensures business continuity.
Also Read: Maximize Contact Center Efficiency Using Blended Call Centre Solutions
1. VoIP Monitoring Systems
When a disaster strikes, most companies won’t be entirely sure when is the ideal time to start implementing their disaster recovery plans.
Moreover, even a few minutes of VoIP can be costly if one relies on mobile devices to conduct business operations.
This is where efficient VoIP telephony software comes to your rescue, as it comes with monitoring systems, regardless of whether you use cloud-hosted solutions or SIP installations.
Applying these solutions would retrieve your voice communications in the least possible time.
2. Internet Connectivity Backup
VoIP phones strongly require an internet connection for their functioning. If, due to any reason, your primary line, you will need to opt for a secondary one.
Since most businesses maintain a separate VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) connectivity for only voice communications, it ensures a smooth transition from traditional phone systems to VoIP Telephony networks.
This would prevent the system from crashing due to high network congestion or traffic, which makes way for a degradation of the call quality.
In such cases, packets of voice data might not be transmitted well in a two-way voice call, eventually losing certain parts of the data.
This is the reason why we experience voice breaks or connectivity issues.
Moreover, voice communications are more vulnerable to bandwidth limitations, slow links, or clogged networks if the same VLAN is used for voice calls and other non-voice business operations requiring an internet connection.
You can also assign identifiable names to your VLAN networks to ease out calling processes. Also, keeping a separate ISP is wiser to help maintain your business continuity.
Also Read: How to Manage Unhappy Callers Without Upsetting Them Further
3. Maintain Voice Traffic Priority with QoS
Any good VoIP router or configured switch would include QoS settings, which helps to keep voice traffic on top of everything else across your network.
Setting QoS or Quality of Service rules lets you prioritize VoIP network traffic on all your internet devices.
An efficient VoIP system would sync with these rules seamlessly, thus allowing you to keep your voice communications strong at all times thus minimizing the chances of call drops.
4. SIP-based VoIP vs. Hosted VoIP
A vast majority of businesses these days have adopted the SIP Trunking systems. This innovative telephony setup saves time, money, and effort.
SIP Trunking or Session Initiation Protocol Trunking is a service that the communications provider offers, which helps to provide VoIP connectivity between the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and an on-premises phone system.
However, if you are using a SIP-based VoIP solution, that is, if your communication systems are hosted on a local server, also known as PBX or Private Branch Exchange, you will require a backup to support you when your servers break down.
You can use a cloud-based PBX system, a secondary on-site one, or any other backup solution that allows you to use your VoIP despite unforeseen emergencies.
A SIP system differs from VoIP as it transfers packets of multimedia data, including voice, video, text, etc.; the VoIP transmits only packets of voice data.
The communications industry is using SIP to establish better calls or other contact modes and to have complete control over them.
Moreover, the SIP solutions won’t limit a business to voice calls only and will provide support in multiple communication channels.
On the other hand, if you rely entirely on internet connections for your VoIP telephony system, you can rest assured that you will recover from a disaster more quickly than others.
The primary reason is that your customers and staff can uninterruptedly make sales and business-related calls anywhere with sufficient internet connection.
It is possible only because your phone system is significantly hosted on the cloud rather than your local servers.
Also Read: Toll-Free Service: The Gateway to Growing Customer Relationship
5. Automatic Failure Protection
Reliable VoIP providers have strict protocols wherein they implement automatic failure protection.
If your voice calls drop or fail to connect, the service provider’s VoIP will automatically equip the system with an alternative connection, thus ensuring seamless call connectivity.
However, you will have to use your backup plans if you don’t use hosted services.
But, if your contact center representatives are supportive and flexible to work in any adverse situation, you can automatically forward your calls on their devices. However, not every employee would agree to do that.
Moreover, hackers, intermediaries, and malicious viruses continually struggle to access or destroy your business data.
A single data loss or theft might put your entire business at stake! Therefore, to ensure your voice calls are safe and protected, a powerful VoIP system enables you to detect third-party intrusions.
Additionally, installing VoIP-compatible firewalls and robust VLANs (virtual LANs) ensures added safety.
To learn more about VoIP telephony security measures, read thoroughly through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publication, ‘Security Considerations for Voice Over IP Systems.’
Summary
Living in a fast-paced world, we cannot afford to be left behind. To beat the fierce competition, especially in the call center industry, one must incorporate the latest technologies for better productivity and business continuity.
