1.) Massive cost savings – The systems are cheaper to maintain and your call costs will be much lower. In most cases your calls and lines will be bundled together so you just have one low cost monthly payment. Great for budgeting.

2.) Portability – you can connect multiple surgeries together or even add home workers for very little cost and at short notice.

3.) Disaster Recovery – There are multiple DR options available, including automatic fail-over, should anything go wrong.  Additionally, in the event of damage to your premises, getting you back up and running again is almost immediate.

4.) Flexibility – If you want more phone lines during particular busy periods, this is possible with SIP Trunks. If your provider offers it, SIP trunk numbers can be manipulated to suit your needs.

5.) Advanced Software – IP Systems give you access to amazing new software, advanced statistics and intelligent cloud queuing (this means that you could queue as many incoming calls as you require without committing to more phone lines to handle them).

VoIP Phone Systems – a VoIP phone system uses a special type of broadband line called a SIP Trunk to let you make and receive calls.  You still have hardware onsite, but you get the added flexibility of multiple disaster recovery solutions, low cost (or even free) calls and even cloud queuing. This is a perfect solution for any sized business and can handle multiple branches with ease.

Cloud Phone Systems – the cloud works in a similar way to a VoIP system, but all the hardware is housed offsite by a third party.  Simplified, all you need onsite is a voice quality broadband circuit and phones.  This is a great solution for a smaller businesses with less complex requirements, but cloud phone systems are often paid for on a ‘price per month, per handset’ basis, which often does not reduce your monthly costs.