Time to Ditch the Land Line?

Ask yourself this: Does it make sense today to pay for multiple versions of the same service? If your answer is “No,” then why is your business paying for multiple telephone lines for the same employees?

How many telephone lines does your business maintain? Typically, there’s a main number, a toll-free number, one or more fax numbers, direct numbers for each employee, and mobile numbers for many employees. And I’ll bet you don’t even know how many calls are actually made to each of those numbers?

You may think you need all those numbers, but I’m saying that you really don’t. And if you’re willing to to make the leap, you can save some serious cash every month.

If your business has already made transition from traditional telephony to VoIP, then you’re already saving money. But even for VoIP users, it would most often be vastly cheaper, easier and more productive to ditch all the individual land lines and go all mobile all the time. Obviously, the fewer the employees your business has, the easier the transition, but the concept increasingly makes sense for larger and larger operations.

Here are 8 reasons why:

1. More and more individuals are taking this fairly obvious step, and companies are beginning to follow suit.
2. Using one number all the time makes it easier, not harder, for customers to reach you and your team. (Think how much clearer your business cards will be!)
3. Contact numbers don’t change whether someone is working in the office or on the road – or just isn’t at their desk.
4. Your mobile phone is probably easier to use and far more powerful than your desktop phone.
5. Plus: You can get a brand new mobile phone every couple years. No more being stuck with a clunky, obsolescent desk phone.
6. No more paying for moves and changes every time someone switches cubicles.
7. Long distance is included!
8. So-called unified communications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_communications capabilities – mixing email, text, messaging, “presence” and click-to-call – is already built in to modern smartphones.

Sure, there also legitimate reasons for some businesses to keep their landlines – security and business continuity come to mind – but in most cases, I think the real impediments are inertia and resistance to a new way of doing things.

Here’s how it would work:

• Employees who travel a lot or who get a lot of calls get a company-paid phone and plan.
• Employees who don’t fit in that category get a company subsidy for their own cell phone.
• If email hasn’t eliminated your need for fax capability, replace fax machines electronic faxing – no more paying for a dedicated line that hardly ever gets used.
• The main company numbers go directly to a third party answering service.
• Even if you need a land line to get Internet service, that doesn’t mean you need a land line and desk phone for every employee.
• If you use a land line for credit card authorizations, Intuit, Square and others make solutions that let you use mobile phones for that purpose – which can make your business look technologically advanced.
• If you need better service in your company buildings, install a cell phone signal booster. They cost a couple hundred dollars, but that’s still a lot cheaper than a paying for landlines every month.

Live in an area with sketchy mobile service, or simply don’t have the guts to make such a big move?

At least consider ditching your toll-free 800 number. While there may some residual perception of trustworthiness in a toll-free number, the bottom line is that toll-free numbers are a fading anachronism. Nobody who can afford to buy anything from your company pays for long-distance anymore.

By: Fredric Paul