VoIP is a technology that can be used to significantly reduce communications costs for a small business. This article will explore some of the ways that small businesses can save money by using VoIP phone service.

Most VoIP service providers offer some type of business plan. The primary advantage of these plans is increased features at a better overall rate. The largest area of savings for businesses will be much lower long distance costs. Most providers offer some type of unlimited business plan, which allows unlimited long distance calls to the US and Canada for a set monthly fee. These unlimited long distance plans are unmatched in pricing when compared to any other available type of telephone service. You can use the VoIP Comparison Chart to compare prices for some of the more popular business plans offered by providers.

Most small businesses use faxes in some manner, so VoIP providers have addressed this need by including a fax line with most business plans. You can use your existing fax machine over VoIP by simply plugging it into an ATA device that is connected to your high speed Internet connection. You can then send faxes in the same way that you would with a regular telephone line. Use the VoIP Comparison Chart to compare this feature among providers.

Another cost saving feature of VoIP is add a line capability. Additional phone numbers, which are equivalent to additional phone lines in the traditional telephone world, can be added for a very low cost. The price savings is possible because there is no additional wiring associated with an additional line. It is carried over the same high-speed Internet connection as your primary line. This provides a cost-effective method of providing multiple lines for your small business.

Virtual phone numbers provide another potential cost saving for VoIP business users. Most VoIP providers offer the ability to assign any available area code to a VoIP number, regardless of your physical location. This feature can be used to save long distance costs to a particular area where you do a significant amount of business. You can save money with a virtual phone number by choosing an area code in an area that is normally long distance for you. All calls to and from this area code will now be treated as local calls - there will be no long distance charges involved.

This is different from unlimited long distance because the area code will be local to that area as well. Your customers will be able place a local call when contacting you. In addition, they will be able to recognize the number as being a local call because of the area code. This essentially allows you to maintain a “presence” in another city without having a physical location in that city.

If your business has multiple locations, in the same city or in another, then VoIP can be used to connect the telephone systems at these locations to each other into one integrated system. Some VoIP providers offer a type of virtual PBX service which allows you to connect multiple locations over your existing data network or over the Internet. This means that all of your in-house communications between locations can be accomplished without long distance charges and without making use of a traditional telephone service provider. Employees at one location can dial another location as a simple extension number, without long distance charges. This allows unprecedented connectivity to small businesses at an affordable cost.

As you can see, VoIP offers many ways for small businesses to save money and increase service. VoIP can be used as an enhancement to your traditional phone service, and in some cases may be used to replace traditional business phone service altogether. You can use some of the other tools at this site, such as the VoIP Comparison Chart and the VoIP Tutorials to help you in choosing a provider.

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