With nervous supervisors putting the pinch on corporate spending, many companies have rediscovered VoIP services as a major opportunity to save money on telecommunications expenses. Company leaders who initially waited to adopt VoIP service are discovering the benefits of new calling technology. Business experts recommend three specific ways that company leaders can use internet phone service to save money:

Cut Call Center Costs with VoIP Services
In previous years, call center managers cited the opportunity costs of switching their operations as a major reason for delaying adoption of VoIP services. Today, providers in many major cities have started rolling out high-speed fiber optic cables that offer substantially more bandwidth for the same net installation cost.

With ultra-high-speed bandwidth in place, clients of some VoIP services can be serviced by a single vendor for both data and voice transmissions. Even when dealing with multiple vendors, the cost of maintaining hundreds of voice calls over VoIP has dropped significantly during the past three years. Shaving a penny or two per minute from the cost of customer service calls can make a big difference to a companys bottom line.

Switch Conference Calling to VoIP Service for Big Savings
Traveling sales professionals and executives feel the pressure of tightening budgets as well. Even though fuel prices appear to have leveled off, many companies have already cut back on their travel schedules. A new generation of telepresence and conference call tools, powered by VoIP services, can help many companies maintain close relationships with remote vendors, customers, and team members.

The latest telepresence services blend high quality video chat with inexpensive, large displays. In conference environments, the right setup can actually make participants feel as though they are in the room with each other. However, frugal companies are turning to more simple solutions, like web-enabled conference calling platforms that enable text chat and data transfer while logging entire calls for later playback.

Blend VoIP Service with Traditional Handsets to Cut Travel Costs
While some companies have replaced their rigorous travel schedules with teleconferencing tools, other teams still require face-to-face contact with customers and vendors. Using VoIP service on the road can help minimize the cost of business trips.

Travelers can use a few different techniques to save money with VoIP services. For long hotel stays, visitors can pack small phone routers that connect to in-room broadband ports. Since many hotels offer Internet access at flat, daily rates, routers can bypass expensive hotel phone services and still save money. Travelers heading for foreign countries can pick up an inexpensive prepaid cell phone and dial in to the local access numbers of international VoIP services. For typical business trips, this extra step can save two dollars per minute, if not more.

Saving Pennies with VoIP Services Can Reignite a Company
According to industry experts, many companies that switch to VoIP service save about two to four cents per minute. In small and medium businesses, this can often amount to 40 percent of an annual telecommunications budget. VoIP services enable higher call quality and new features that can invigorate sales staffs and increase revenues. Best of all, sharing news of a coming platform switch to save money instead of curtailing wages sends a strong message of commitment to teams.

Sources
IT Business Edge
ITM Knowledge Sharing Point
VoIP News
ZDNet Asia