Do You Suffer From AVoIPance? How VoIP Evolved to Boost Your Business

We all know somebody who loves to be on the cutting edge of technology. They rave about their latest discovery, and how it is going to be a game changer. Then you try it out, and the verdict is a resounding meh. That was the early reaction to VoIP when it first started to make its way into the public eye.

Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP for short, just did not cut the mustard back then. Sometimes the person you were talking to sounded more like a swarm of bees than your customer. There were echoes, hiccups, dropouts, and plenty of abrupt disconnects. That was disappointing, because the idea behind VoIP makes it far less expensive than any other kind of phone system. Fast forward to today, and the picture looks completely different.

Why VoIP Doesn't Disappoint Anymore

This technology got off to a bad start through no fault of its own. The idea behind it was sound and highly promising. Take the sound of your voice, convert it to compressed digital signals that translate to Internet Protocol packets, and push them over the internet. Let us just say it was an idea ahead of its time, because a few pieces of the VoIP puzzle were still missing.

What happens if the person on the other end does not use VoIP technology? That was the biggest missing puzzle piece. There were plenty of others, all hiding in a box labeled "Under Construction." The internet infrastructure of that era simply could not support the robust digital pipeline needed for a real-time conversation.

Years of infrastructure upgrades have since pushed enormous improvement and capacity out to users. Today, all the things we hoped VoIP would do for us but could not are a reality. The problem is that some decision-makers are still hesitant to give it a second chance. VoIP failed the first-impression test, and a bad reputation is not an easy thing to repair. If you are weighing the move, our guide on the benefits of VoIP and why your company should make the switch walks through what changed.

Time To Take Another Look

The infrastructure to support VoIP is now firmly established, and the hurdles that once crippled this technology have been cleared. The main reason its adoption rate has not grown faster is that VoIP got off to a bad start, and there are still those suffering from "AVoIPance."

Here is why you should revisit the technology. Let us start with what it is called. "VoIP" does not exactly roll off the tongue. Some argue the adoption of this acronym might have been the biggest mistake of all.

You have to wonder if things might have been different had it instead been branded as something easier to get your head around, like "Digital Voice." Strip away all the technological trappings, and that is what it boils down to anyway.

Keeping this in mind, consider all the things in your world that run beautifully using digital technology. You do not even hesitate to pick up a mobile device to check your favorite social networks. Our world has been transformed by digital devices, but only because the necessary infrastructure is finally in place.

Knock, knock. It is VoIP at the door, asking for a second chance.

VoIP Makes Dollars and Sense

There are no longer any sacrifices involved when you switch to a modern cloud phone system. The benefits are hard to ignore:

• Cost savings. A switch to VoIP often costs around 30% less than traditional phone service. There is another benefit, too: the cost moves from your capital improvements spreadsheet over to operational expenditures. You can run the numbers on our pricing page to see how your own bill compares.

• Five nines of uptime. Today's cloud platforms are rock solid. CallSprout runs on a network engineered for 99.999% uptime, which you can read more about on our reliability page.

• Real integration. A good Digital Voice platform connects with the communication tools you already use. It extends the functionality and value of email, messaging, and conferencing across one system.

• Turbocharged productivity. Prepare to be impressed by the lift in productivity when your team can finally work from a single platform. Digital Voice lets you share a document while you are talking or video conferencing with someone.

• Satisfying simplicity. Remember the first time you tried to configure a router or cable modem? Let that scary moment go. A cloud-based business phone system involves little or no installation, and scaling up is a breeze.

• A smarter front door. Modern VoIP is not just clearer and cheaper. With CallSprout's AI Voice Agent, it can answer every call, transcribe the conversation, and route the caller based on your CRM, so nothing slips through the cracks.

You can still call it VoIP if you want, just do not scoff at it anymore. The distortion, lagging, drops, and general frustration of the early systems are gone. You may have overlooked this technology in the past, but Digital Voice is your future.

Ready to see the difference for yourself? Book a demo and find out exactly how much a modern cloud phone system can save your business.