HOW VOIP CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS BUDGET

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1 HOW VOIP CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS BUDGET 01 Brought to you by Momentum 2012 Momentum Telecom

2 SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK According to most economic forecasters, the United States economy is expected to grow between 2 and 2.3 percent in Though this is better than last year, it is still slower than typical recoveries. The uncertainty that remains among private sector investors makes it a struggle for entrepreneurs and executives to find external sources of capital. For small business owners and start-up businesses, this means credit will remain tight, even among those businesses that are more optimistic this year. As of late, most small business owners have an improved outlook in regards to overall revenue, customer retention, and job creation. However, slow growth with limited prospects for raising external capital can be daunting for small businesses, especially those operating on less than $5 million in revenue 1. HOW VOIP CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS BUDGET These current economic conditions mean small businesses are having to find new ways to free up existing capital in order to finance their own growth. At the same time, they must remain flexible enough to weather sporadic increases in demand, especially as the economy struggles with volatile fuel prices, inconsistent regulations, and other market fluctuations. Considering small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms and employ half of all private sector employees 2, it is extremely important to put small businesses on a stronger footing. Since telecommunications and related IT expenses constitute for as much as 28 percent of operating costs of a small business 3, many owners cut costs by auditing for circuit disconnects (circuits companies no longer use), long distance carrier charges, and billing errors. But those standard audit procedures only represent a fraction of what the average small business can save. A business that makes the move to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) reduces costs associated with traditional telephone services by 58 to 85 percent and can even eliminate the telecommunications operating line item by merging a company s IT and phone solution costs. 1 Pepperdine University, Private Capital Markets Project, 2012 Economic Forecast, Jan United States Small Business Administration, Elsevier, Information Economics Policy, Brought to you by Momentum 2012 Momentum Telecom

3 WHICH TYPE OF VOIP SOLUTION IS BEST FOR YOUR BUSINESS? VoIP is a business telecommunications solution that allows companies to make phone calls using an existing broadband Internet connection. There are two primary benefits. The company is able to use the same broadband connection to serve both its computing and telecommunications needs, which takes advantage of a more cost effective pricing model than the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). In addition, almost all VoIP service plans include bundled services designed to increase productivity, and many also include the integration of instant messaging, , fax, and video. The decision to move away from legacy phone systems such as traditional telephone, T1, and PRI services and toward VoIP has never been easier to make. But even companies that have already made the decision to take advantage of VoIP still need to determine which type of service to integrate: onpremise Private Branch Exchange (PBX), Cloud-based Hosted VoIP, or Cloud-only Virtual Services. ON-PREMISE Many enterprises (more than 500 employees) with dedicated IT departments install, maintain, and update VoIP systems. This includes all servers, cables, and routers. When VoIP was relatively new, onpremise PBX could sometimes reduce the cost of telecommunications. This isn t always the case today, even for large companies. HOSTED Hosted VoIP eliminates the need to invest in on-premise PBX equipment. The service provider is responsible for all remote servers, cables, software, and upgrades. There is never any reason to worry about scalability businesses can easily purchase additional phones and activate new lines and features as they grow. As time has proven Hosted VoIP a mainstay, and established this technology as the new standard in telecommunications, Hosted VoIP services are becoming more widely available and more affordable than ever. VIRTUAL Cloud-only services operate much like Hosted VoIP, except the businesses often opt to forgo traditional desktop phones. These fully virtual solutions only require the activation of smart numbers, which can be integrated with up to five different devices, all of them displaying the same outgoing number. To help visualize the the potential cost savings between these three service structures, Momentum created a hypothetical total cost pricing model based on standard services and then tracked the total projected costs over a four-year period. 03 Brought to you by Momentum 2012 Momentum Telecom

4 The most striking outcome in comparing total costs over a four-year period is the demonstration that even larger businesses, including those with 50 to 100 phone lines, experience considerable savings with a Hosted VoIP system. This is true even when excluding major software and hardware upgrades that are needed to support additional features and more lines. This is considerably different from telecommunications analysis three to five years ago when many reports suggested on-premise PBX systems could deliver cost savings to companies with 25 to 50 employees. But today, things have changed. It is now even more cost effective to switch to a hosted solution than to take on the costs of upgrades and maintenance associated with the on-premise solution. THE CAPITAL YOU NEED MAY ALREADY EXIST IN YOUR BUSINESS WHY SELECT MOMENTUM HOSTED VOIP AND VIRTUAL SERVICES Beyond lowering the total cost of ownership and maintenance, there are other benefits many businesses experience with an upgrade to VoIP and Virtual Services. According to a study conducted by Intel 4, small businesses frequently benefited from additional efficiencies, including: Measurable employee productivity improvements Reduced time and money for moves, adds and changes Simplified management of servers, systems and endpoints Greater flexibility of feature selections These are among the best reasons to move to VoIP and Cloud-based services along with continued access to the most advanced features in telecommunications today. Consider some of the possibilities made available with advancements in Cloud technology. Smart Numbers. Allows for a single number to be used to receive business calls anytime, anywhere from up to five different devices. Outbound calls will also keep your personal number private by displaying your business number instead. Voic To . An notification with an attached audio file of the voic message is sent straight to the user s Inbox and can be heard via computer, smartphone or any other enabled device. Electronic Fax. A fax line can be equipped with the ability to send/receive faxes by . Online Account Management. Web-based solution enables employees to add or remove business lines and adjust features settings at any time. While these services do not include the full scope of Momentum s feature-packed small businesses or enterprise bundles, it does provide a clear representation of how VoIP and Virtual Services are evolving at a faster pace than most on-premise PBX operators or other service providers in the industry. 4 Intel Technology Journal, Quality Campus VoIP Case Study 04 Brought to you by Momentum 2012 Momentum Telecom

5 When you consider that Momentum s Cloud-based solutions deliver competitive metered and unlimited rate options, and a comprehensive bundle of the features that improve productivity while lowering traditional telecommunications costs by 58 to 85 percent, the advantage is clear. Find out how Momentum can help you achieve your business goals. Please contact our sales department at or go to momentumtelecom.com for more details on our services and how we can build a solution that accommodates Your Business. Your Rules. 880 Montclair Rd, Suite 400 Birmingham, Alabama solutions@gomomentum.com 05 Brought to you by Momentum 2012 Momentum Telecom