Businesses are always striving to increase their revenue, and one surefire way to accomplish this is by improving workplace productivity. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this, but one of the most often overlooked is utilizing voice over IP (VoIP) telephony services. While VoIP networks provide a host of other benefits as well, the increase in productivity is a huge selling point in the industry.
Worker Mobility Increases Productivity
Being stuck in an office all day is a production killer. In fact, simply working from home is enough to increase productivity. This was seen in one study that found telecommuters worked up to seven more hours than their in-office counterparts during any given week. Fortunately, workers can access their employer’s VoIP network from home to do this.
In addition to the increased productivity provided by VoIP telecommuting, the technology also allows employees to work while on the go. Whether their train is running late or an important client decided to call during lunch hour, workers can use their smartphones to remain on the network.
And since the number of mobile workers increased by 30 million between 2012 and 2015, the VoIP mobile trend is definitely catching on.
Reduces Time Wasted on Voicemail
When asked about the biggest killers of productivity in the workplace, a budding entrepreneur isn’t likely to say “voicemail.” As it turns out, however, voicemail can actually be a huge waste of time. In fact, taking a moment to switch gears and handle a menial task like checking voicemail during the day has been proven to cause a 40 percent reduction in productivity.
Luckily, VoIP can counteract this in a variety of ways. Employees who wear various “hats” at a company, for instance, often have multiple voicemail boxes. VoIP vendors can have all of these boxes condensed into one. Additionally, voicemail-to-email transcription can take every message, transcribe it and email it directly to its recipient, thus preventing the need to repeatedly check for new messages.
Reduced Costs Can Increase Productivity
One of the main benefits a company will see with VoIP services is reduced costs. Vendors will tout this as an advantage over legacy phone systems, but they sometimes forget to mention just how many ways internet telephony can save a company money:
- Reduction in initial infrastructure costs
- Elimination of expensive long-distance calling plans
- Ease of scalability without adding infrastructure
- Lowered costs relative to traditional legacy systems
These are only some of the cost-saving benefits, but saving this money can also help increase productivity. With the expenses spared in these areas, businesses can do things like invest in new software, hire additional workers and even increase employee pay.
All of these tactics can help increase productivity in the workplace. In fact, studies have shown that a company’s value per employee actually rises as their payroll increases. This link between wages and productivity should motivate every entrepreneur to save money where they can and pay their employees what they’re actually worth.
VoIP Improves Collaboration
While VoIP allows employees to chat with clients, it can also improve collaboration within the office. Instead of paying for collaboration services or requiring workers to use special multi-way dial-in bridges, VoIP allows individuals to connect right over the same network.
Some VoIP providers even provide video conferencing services and shared-screen collaboration. Since improved collaboration has been shown to increase productivity up to 30 percent in some situations, this is an undeniable benefit experienced by companies using IP-based telephony services.
VoIP might not seem like an essential investment for a company, but with more businesses flocking to the technology, anyone who doesn’t will be at a distinct disadvantage. Not only will they miss out on the benefits their competitors are receiving, but their productivity will undoubtedly be a fraction of its potential.
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