We used to say things like, “That’s just the cost of doing business”, referring to an unexpected expense on top of an already expensive endeavor. But a closer look at today’s reality shows that the cost of doing business has never been lower. We no longer have to accept the predators who inflate the prices of products and services for businesses, when those products and services are often of lower quality than their consumer counterparts.
A typical business PC does less work than a consumer PC surfing Facebook and playing Candy Crush. Most small businesses have no reason to pay $300 a month for a business-rated Internet connection. There are a dozen other examples of how technology has actually lowered the cost of doing business. Here are three:
SIP Trunking
You don’t have to know all there is to know about streaming media service based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). But if you want to learn more, the second paragraph of this article is a good place to start:
Towards the end of 2019, one-third of 300 enterprises surveyed by Webtorials had deployed SIP with an average cost saving of 33%. SIP trunks were also reported to reclaim 23% of the productivity lost with previous inefficient communications solutions.
The MegaPath SIP provider goes into a bit more detail about how the savings are accomplished:
MegaPath SIP Trunking enables your business to reduce costs and simplify IT management by combining voice and Internet access over a single Internet connection using your existing IP PBX system. With SIP service, you purchase only the trunks you need based on the maximum number of concurrent calls your business requires. SIP Trunks are significantly less expensive than analog lines, further helping businesses reduce costs.
There was a time when business phones ran about $200 per seat. Today, personal cellphones can be provisioned for business communications, as well as laptops and desktops. VoIP has changed the way businesses communicate. And it has saved them a lot of money in the process.
Online Meetings
What is a meeting if not a live exchange of information between two or more parties at a specific time for a specific purpose. Thanks to technology, this live encounter does not have to be in hand-shaking distance. It can be between any two parties located anywhere in the world.
Over the Internet, with the right software, a group of people can exchange more than ideas. Some services allow them to video conference in HD, send documents back and forth, even share and control screens remotely. The amount saved in travel makes a world of difference to small businesses that would, otherwise, never be able to compete. Online meetings have shrank the world to a more manageable size.
SEO
Search engine optimization is the holy grail of online marketing. If you can find a way to make your business turn up on the front page every time someone initiates a remotely relevant search, you win. That is the object of SEO. Unfortunately, other than paying Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo for placement, there is no way to guarantee this outcome.
There are, however, BEST practices for increasing your odds. Google’s Panda update has changed everything, again. But that is the nature of the beast. Still, if you can keep up with the latest trends, or hire someone to do it for you, your business can be easily discovered by the people who are looking for the services you provide without the confiscatory cost of traditional advertising.
This is not to say that you should not advertise. But traditional advertising is no longer the only way to get your message out to those who will be most receptive to it. Online meetings do not abrogate the need for face-to-face meetings. And SIP trunking does not make scrap of PBX systems. But all of these technologies are a step forward, allowing businesses to do a lot more for a lot less.
About the author: Hannah Butler works as a web developer and designer. Besides, she likes sharing her experience in the form of articles. In this case, she has her own section on essay writing service website. In the future she is going to start writing a blog in order to describe her working methods to others.
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