With the rapid pace that technology continues to advance, the widespread use of Wi-Fi and wireless technologies, the world’s proven ability to adapt to a remote workday during the pandemic, as well as our everyday dependency on the cloud, you may be wondering if a landline is still a worthwhile use of your company’s financial resources.

In this article, we’ll give you the information you need to make an informed decision about whether keeping your landline is a good investment for your business, or if there are other solutions that you could implement to get the phone service you need while benefiting your budget.

First, we’ll look at what landline is:

A telephone service that utilizes a physical, dedicated line or system of wires and cables connected directly to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), or a service that uses analog telephone line made up of a network of copper wires, commonly used in homes but also found in businesses, government buildings, hospitals, and schools.

The pros and cons of a landline for voice communication are highlighted below:

If your business is one that deals with any type of emergency, whether that’s local government, schools, emergency services, or medical, we recommend maintaining at least one dedicated landline as it is a reliable means of communication and acts as a redundancy in the event that other means of communication go down.

What are the alternatives to a landline?

The most common technology to compare to the landline is Voice over Internet Protocol, usually shortened to VoIP. VoIP uses the internet instead of the traditional PSTN and copper wiring to make calls. The great thing about VoIP is that you probably already have the infrastructure needed to utilize this solution.

For some businesses, VoIP may be able to replace a traditional landline, if the business isn’t one that needs to respond to emergencies. VoIP coupled with our Equipment as a Service, may be able to save your business money on phone costs while providing you with greater flexibility and functionality.

The pros and cons of VoIP are:

The short answer to “do I still need a landline for my business,” is that it depends on your industry. For a standard 8am-5pm business that isn’t dealing with emergencies, a landline isn’t strictly necessary, so you may be able to cut expenses by switching to a service like VoIP that’s bundled with your internet bill. However, for other industries like local government, schools, and medical practices, maintaining a landline may be worth it in the event of an emergency. To handle call volume, make international calls, and have access to a myriad of features that help your administration maintain professionality we still recommend VoIP, but if you can also afford to keep your landline and you prefer to have it as a redundancy, there’s no harm in that.

No matter your industry or your current setup, Travis Voice & Data has a team of experts that will work with you to customize a solution for your operation and your budget.