The Real Costs of Telephony To Your Business

It’s surprising to know that the average business in the West Midlands, just like yours, spends an average of over £900 on calls through standard telephony per year. However, those that have switched to a VoIP service only spend an average of £280 on calls per year!

On a whole, the average SME business in the West Midlands spends 2 days and 2 hours on the phone per month. This makes it crucial that businesses have a phone system that they can rely on but also won’t break the bank.

VoIP is becoming an increasingly popular choice amongst businesses to cut costs both locally and internationally. When you can save almost 30% of your annual costs, why wouldn’t you switch to VoIP?

Minster understand that price isn’t the only benefit of switching to a phone service that runs over the internet; VoIP is also a remarkable mobile solution which gives your business the flexibility that it needs. Forward thinking companies understand the importance of staff morale so with a downloadable smartphone app your employees will have the opportunity to work remotely. Not only will this promote productivity but it will also save other costs such as mobile phones bills.

Our partner 3CX provides VoIP telephony software which can be used on desktop, standard PBX phones and also on mobile devices – you may have seen this featured in the last edition of the Business Direction Magazine.

If you’re a business that works 9-5, Monday to Friday, time is critical to get everything done within your working week so you won’t want to lose time setting up and introducing a brand new phone system. The beauty of 3CX VoIP telephony, as opposed to standard phone lines, is that it can be set up very easily and quickly without need for separate phone wiring. It can be easily installed and managed with a web-based configuration interface which also includes automatic updates at standard, should you choose it to.

3CX allows you to cut out normal phone lines that use a telecommunications provider such as BT and instead uses just one internet line. Backup lines can also be installed, should your internet go down, leaving you with peace of mind! We’ve asked Alex, Minster’s very own apprentice-turned-engineer to give a breakdown of how VoIP telephony works and how it can save you so much money.

“By now you’re probably wondering how the 3CX phone system works. Well, the 3CX phone system is used the same as any other phone system for the end user, however technically, it's entirely different.

The 3CX IT infrastructure uses a dedicated server for the 3CX system also known as a PBX (Private Branch Exchange). This is where the phone system is managed and configured. The 3CX system can be installed on a normal windows PC which can act as the PBX server minimising the cost of the infrastructure required. 3CX also requires you to have a VoIP provider, which will act as your phone line.

3CX works with VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) meaning any calls your users make won't be going over your normal phone line but will be going through the internet, in the same way that a Skype or FaceTime call works- just without the video. This is why calls using 3CX is cheaper than your normal phone calls.” - Alex, Telephony Expert.

If you’re looking to upgrade your telephony, give Minster a call on 01562 68211 or email sales@minstermicro.co.uk.