Have you ever stopped to look around you and realize just how quickly the pace of networking equipment technology is increasing around us?
This is an issue, called accelerating change, that a lot of modern thinkers have been thinking about for some time now. It certainly seems as though, as humanity develops new and ever more clever technologies, we just keep developing them faster.
We had writing for a few thousand years before anyone came up with the movable type printing press. Once we had the press, it only took a few hundred years for us to come up with electrically-driven communications, in the form of the telegraph. It was only a few decades from there to come up with phone systems.
The Progression of Small Business Phone Systems
Then, throughout the 20th century, it was just one revolution after another after the advent of telephones: radio, television, computer networks, cell phone systems, and now the Internet and everything that's come with it.
Today, we're having new innovations in communications and small business phone systems every few years, and each one seems to Change Everything. Ten years ago, Voice over IP (VoIP) phone systems were considered flaky, unreliable, and too difficult to use. Now, they're spreading rapidly and may overtake traditional copper-wire communications within another decade.
Unless, that is, some new technology I can't even imagine today gets there first.
What's the moral of this little history lesson? In the 21st Century - in the Internet Age - a business that wants to stay competitive must stay on top of innovations in communications. If you take your eye off the ball for even a few months, and certainly for a few years, you end up falling far behind.
What Modern Small Business Phone Systems Can Do For You Today
So, let's say you've been trying to keep up with technology but, of course, no business can afford to stay on the cutting-edge all the time. Especially now that the cutting edge seems to change every few months.
Why is now the right time to upgrade? Well, let's look at some of the benefits that a modern telecommunications system can bring that were considered science fiction just a decade or two ago:
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Crystal-clear digital voice quality that often exceeds that of traditional copper-wire service.
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True “videophone” connections that allow people to see each other as well as talk, with high frame rates and picture resolutions.
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Live teleconferencing between anyone anywhere in the world, with virtually no delays.
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Integrated communications platforms that allow voice, data, video, and text communications to be interchangeable.
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Complete archives of your communications, preventing missed messages.
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Data storage and backup integration, allowing your files to be accessed from anywhere in the world.
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Telecommuting solutions that allow people to work at home or on the road with
virtually the same efficiency as if they were at the office. -
True document collaboration, allowing people to work on the same project from multiple offices, in real-time.
In short, modern IP-based data and phone systems don't merely shrink the world. They practically eliminate “distance” as a factor that needs to be considered. Anything that can be turned into data is, in effect, available everywhere in the world simultaneously and instantly, or at least within a matter of seconds.
The impact this can have on businesses is something that's only now being explored, and every day, clever enterprises are finding new ways to leverage these revolutions in thought and communications. It's no wonder that so many businesses are choosing to move to VoIP solutions.
The benefits aren't just there now, they're also in the future as well. This technology will only become more robust as time goes on, and the longer you wait, the further behind you'll fall.
Contact us to find out more about how IP-based telephony systems can help your business get ready for the future.
After all, it's here already.
