According to a report by the FCC published last year (which you can read by clicking here), VoIP adoption by consumers is on the rise at the tune of 47 percent of residential customers with a wireline voice service. It is also on the rise for commercial usage, but that number has only breached approximately 15 percent. So why the disparity? It's a strange thing when you consider the fact that businesses often pick up emerging technology just as quickly as consumers do.
The reluctance of switching to VoIP may be due to five myths that were real concerns in the early days of the technology. Perhaps we should take a look at these outdated myths and clear them up once and for all so that you can make the change with your hotel without any reluctance.
Myth #1: With Hosted PBX, You Must Relinquish All Control
We'll start with this misconception, because it's really only a partial myth and we want to be fair. Although you have the choice of maintaining VoIP in-house, the better option is to go with a hosted solution. With this, an outside provider like PhoneSuite will handle your VoIP solution from their own facilities. While this gives them control over your overall system, you are provided with control panels that give you plenty of functionality and make the system easier to use. This means that control is still in your hands.
Myth #2: Hosted PBX Will Cost More Than Your Current System
The cost savings of upgrading to VoIP will vary from company to company, but many businesses will find that they'll save a good amount of money in the long run by making the change. Conversely, a hotel will save money with a Hosted PBX solution thanks to a lower cost of expenditures such as servers, software, IT support, and maintenance.
Myth #3: Hosted PBX Will Take Too Much Time to Integrate
Since a hotel's phone system is often quite sizable, owners seem to be reluctant to make the switch to VoIP. Many assume that it will be a large undertaking that will cause nothing but headaches. However, the truth is that switching to VoIP has proven to be a very smooth transition. The growing pains normally associated with a big change do not exist, in large part due to reputable providers like PhoneSuite that make it easy.
Myth #4: Hosted PBX is Less Reliable Than Your Current System
This stems from the idea that an internet connection isn't always reliable. After all, we've all experienced downtime in our homes, or simply just quality issues when streaming videos, even when they're provided by reliable services like Netflix and Hulu. With a Hosted PBX, however, you won't have any of these problems. Providers use redundancy systems to ensure that downtime of your VoIP communications is almost nonexistent, so there's truly nothing to worry about.
Myth #5: VoIP Suffers from Significantly Lower Call Quality
This is a hold-over from the time when VoIP was in its infancy. When it was first introduced, VoIP wasn't perfect. Call quality was akin to comparing CDs with cassette tapes, and sometimes even worse. These days, VoIP's emerging technology has meant a vast improvement in call quality, to the point that it is basically indistinguishable from traditional phone systems. As long as your system has been configured correctly, which a provider of Hosted PBX can assist you with, you'll be more than happy with the results.
As you can see, the myths surrounding VoIP are now unfounded. This rising technology is a great way to improve your hotel's communications. If you'd like to learn more about how this technology can benefit your hotel, contact PhoneSuite and we'll explain everything in detail and help you bring your hotel's communications setup into the 21st century.
