Private Systems versus VoIP

A private telephone system approach can’t begin  to compare to a VoIP model in terms of savings. Your guide  should be “How much telephone calling  traf- fic, across all five regulated PSTN charging categories, do you or your  com- pany  have  each month?” If your  monthly call volume, which is charged by the  minute for each line across each charging category, is substantial, a private telephone system model reduces your  recurring charges because you use fewer lines.  However, VoIP can reduce your recurring charges even  further, as you’ll discover in the  next  chapter.


Following  is a list of cost benefits and  features that your  company can gain by converting to its own telephone system.

•   Greatly reduced number of access lines
•   Reduced recurring carrier charges
•   Reduced access line fees and  surcharges
•   Reduced access line taxes
•   Elimination of call feature charges
•   Greater managerial control of telephony systems and  services

There  is no doubt that moving to a private telephone system saves a com- pany  significant money when  compared to a POTS access-line model. But keep  in mind  that all of these cost benefits are based on reductions in the  number of lines  required or lower  costs for features priced on a per-line  basis. These benefits are also  realized with any VoIP model.

The conventional telephony models described in this  section, KTS and PBX, don’t  remove the  problems associated with telephone costs. They only mini- mize them by adjusting the  number of access lines  or calling features you need to pay for. A VoIP system, on the  other hand, represents a fundamental change in telephony, and  thereby offers huge  cost savings, feature enhance- ments, and  productivity improvements. VoIP eliminates the  need for most

access lines.  (A few POTS lines  are always required in any building.) VoIP eliminates also  the  noncarrier costs (that is, your  maintenance costs), line fees, and  government surcharges that come with those lines. And VoIP runs on the  computer network, which is usually already set  up.