VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers and systems are often targeted at businesses. Promising half the price and double the features, VoIP providers have a clear advantage over landlines. However, residential VoIP systems are also on the rise. Today, we look at all the reasons why people are leaving landline phones to switch to VoIP.

Lower Costs

One of the main reasons people switch to residential VoIP is to cut down on costs. VoIP can help you with that. Below, we're going to name some of the ways that VoIP cuts down on costs.

Lower Flat Rates.

Unlike telephone and broadband packages, most VoIP providers will offer you plans at a fixed rate with minimal yearly price increases. The monthly fees themselves are very low compared to landline packages, depending on where you look. For most providers, you can get a decent landline package under $20*.

Few Add-Ons.

As if the monthly costs weren't enough, landline plans often include many add-ons that you have to purchase for extra. Features like call waiting, three-way calling, and custom voicemail greetings are all examples. However, with VoIP, these 'add-on' features will generally be included with the basic plans, which means you don't need to pay extra for them.

International Calls for Less

One of VoIP's most significant advantages over landlines is that international packages are much more affordable. You don't need to pay hefty fees to call out-of-country with VoIP. Landline plans with worldwide calling can cost you anywhere between $5 and $35 (CAD) per month.

Since VoIP calls are made over the internet, you don't need to pay extra for international calls. You can avoid paying for add-ons that offer you international calls. In fact, many providers can help you customize packages with minutes to countries of your choice with minimal cost increases. For example, with eFone, you simply contact customer support, and we can help you to customize your plan to add international minutes.

Answer From Anywhere

With more and more competition in the market, some providers now offer their customers the option to answer incoming landline calls from their mobile phones using their app. As you can imagine, this is a convenient feature. You don't have to be home to answer your calls anymore, because you can set your phone to also ring when you get the call and answer it from there.

In addition to answering calls, you can also change and play around with your home phone settings from the app. With eFone, this includes changing call forwarding, voicemail, and call-waiting settings. 

It's Secure

Tradition phone lines work by converting your sound waves into electrical waves, which then travel over the telephone line to the other end. VoIP, on the other hand, works by sending voice packets over the internet. Both are generally just as secure as each other – neither is entirely secure, as both can, technically, be tapped. However, if you go with a provider that offers end-to-end encryption, you should be fine.

You Get More Features

While you won't find as many features as you would for business plans, like call queues and IVR, you can still find many extra features that regular landline packages don't offer. That's okay. For a home phone, you don't need these advanced features, and you'll do fine with the ones that are being offered to you.

What features are offered with residential VoIP plans?

• Accept incoming calls from the mobile app. Some providers have linked the residential system to their mobile app, which means you can view and receive incoming calls to your landline on the mobile app. This is quite convenient, as you can pick up calls when you're not even home or near the landline phone.
• Dynamic caller ID. With dynamic caller ID, you can play around with the settings to decide what you want to be displayed as the caller ID on incoming and outgoing calls. If you have two or three virtual numbers with your provider, you can set prefixes. For example, you can set different prefixes for the other numbers so that when you receive the call via the app, you'll know which number the caller has dialed.
• Smart call forwarding. You can forward calls to your landline to a different number or voicemail. For some providers, this can even be done through the mobile app, making it much easier than a landline already. eFone can even detect an offline device and will automatically forward your calls to voicemail.
• Voicemail features. You can forward calls to voicemail or send calls from blocked numbers to voicemail. Some providers, like eFone, also give you the option to send your voicemails via email if you want to save them for future reference.

It's Reliable

Before switching, many users want assurance that they are switching to a provider that can offer them reliable service. As the pattern goes, this is also a strength of VoIP. VoIP is viewed as more reliable than landlines. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you can make calls and enjoy 99.9% uptime (something that many providers advertise).

These calls are also generally very high-quality. You will most likely not experience static, and if you do, it can usually be fixed from home by trying out some quick fixes.

Do you need a strong internet connection?

If you’re reading the above and wondering what we mean by a ‘stable’ internet connection, we can answer that for you and tell you that VoIP calls require less than 1mbps to work. That's not much. If you have no problem streaming or using the internet on a daily basis, you should be okay.

If you have issues with your broadband, such as your connection cutting out or not working at different times of the day, you might want to get that looked at before making the switch. Otherwise, you're good to go. You can switch easily and start calling straight away!

*Canadian dollars

Contact us today if you're thinking of switching. Email us at help@efone.ca, and we'll help you get started with your switch.

Author

Sohah Ahmed

Marketing Manager