Online telephony is all the rage – and its popularity is only going to grow. Understanding what all the buzz is about and what it means is vital to making the right decisions about your company’s communications needs. So here are our top ten reasons why online telephony destroys the old telecom model:

1. Online telephony requires no on-site equipment. That means you don’t have a hunk of “iron” taking up any space in your facility, and you never need to have telecom employees crawling around your site. This is particularly salient if your office is just a spare bedroom in your home.

2. Because there’s no actual physical hardware on your site, you never need to worry about maintenance or upgrades. All upgrades, repairs and software installation is handled invisibly.

3. This also means you have the full functionality of your phone system wherever you can get online. Redirect your 800 numbers, change you message alerts and download call data from home, at a business convention or from the comfort of your favorite coffee shop just as easily as you can in the office. In fact you can also change settings and retrieve your voicemail with your phone by simply calling in to your own account.

4. No physical equipment also means it “installs” anywhere. Your system can go live simultaneously across the country. Whether your employees are located in a single building or everyone is in a different city, online telephony means you all share one communication system, making it easy to keep in touch and manage how customers interact with your key talent.

5. Online telephony is always up-to-date. As communications options increase, a virtual system can keep pace, adding services and features swiftly and easily.

6. You don’t need any additional employees to take full advantage of an online telephony system. Not only do you not need telecom specialists in your company, an online telephony system can eliminate the need for receptionists. Your online telephony system can greet callers and route customers and may be adjusted based on your needs.

7. An online telephony system is flexible. Not only can you set it up in minutes, you can also expand or prune it quickly and easily. You’re never stuck with features or hardware you no longer want (or want to pay for) and adding new offices (or allowing your employees to telecommute) is a snap. This allows you to be proactive when it comes to managing your resources, without being tied down to any particular location or equipment.

8. This flexibility allows you to keep your focus on the lifeblood of your business: your customers. Whether you need to open a new office on the other side of the country, adjust how leads interact with your organization or be available for your most important clients 24/7, online telephony makes it possible to adjust quickly and easily, without being tied down to outmoded systems or processes.

9. With a low-risk, pay-as-you-go model, online telephony also makes it easy to control your costs. Since you only pay for as much as you use, you can adjust your communications strategy to free up resources needed elsewhere.

10. Online telephony is far cheaper than traditional telecom business services. Because there’s no hardware to install or maintain, online systems don’t require service providers to maintain fleets of personnel. Online telephony carries low subscription costs, while offering even small businesses the sort of communications tools that were once only found in the largest companies.

Online telephony dominates traditional telecom because it gives you more for less. Greater flexibility, greater control and greater oversight, while at the same time reducing the amount of space, personnel and expense your company needs to devote to communications.