Residential and business phone services have diverged in the past decade as communications possibilities have opened up for commercial use. Residential phone service customers are likely to stay with traditional telephony service and use mobile phones for instant social networking. In rural areas particularly, standard telephone service may be all that is available.
For businesses, however, hosted VoIP services are more suitable from a cost and efficiency standpoint. Data of all types can be more quickly and securely sent over encrypted broadband space, and integration between phones, computers, and an ever-growing suite of advanced communications applications has led to the development of unified communication.
Residential phone customers are more likely to use their phones as a means to contact others and for others to contact them, or in emergencies when 9-1-1 must be called to report the need for fire, ambulance or police services. They are more likely to seek a low or medium level volume plan for local calling, and add long distance or international access as needed. Voicemail, caller ID and call waiting are the most commonly used special features.
Business phone customers have a larger subset of needs, starting with higher call volume, the need for multiple ‘lines’, the ability to hold or transfer calls, automated call handling, extension dialing, fax capabilities and conferencing. Traditional phone service can quickly become expensive with extra in-office work required every time a phone line is added or moved, and the equipment can be expensive.
With hosted VoIP business phone services, everything is made simpler. The need for extensive rewiring is eliminated, and bulky phone system equipment is replaced with handsets that can be installed virtually anywhere with portable numbers so changing offices is never an issue. With VoIP, an easily upgradeable and expandable system can be created almost for free and any additional servicing costs are held to a minimum.
Residential phone users often need only one or at the most two phone lines and/or numbers. Some of their needs can more efficiently be met with pocket size mobile phones. Businesses, however, depend on a network of phone lines to keep customers flowing smoothly through the system and allow employers and employees to communicate quickly and effectively with one another. Furthermore, all businesses whether big or small usually want to seen as a professional authority figure in their field. Hosted business VoIP features such as auto-attendants, automated messages, and extension dialing go a long way in helping to portray this professional image.
When VoIP is combined with desktop Internet access and other communications applications, the possibilities for streamlining data transfer and retrieval increase dramatically. New feature sets are unlocked that create new possibilities such as network presence and communication using multiple media formats. Unified communications allows telecommuting and the creation of virtual workplaces, using hosted VoIP as the conduit to increase productivity and lower overall costs
Andrew Wiggin enjoys writing on feature-rich hosted pbx, especially ones which support HD voice.
Tags: between, Business, Differences, Phone, Residential, Services