Much has been said about how switching from traditional telephone exchange systems to VoIP can save companies lots of money. True, business can save up on long distance charges and even mobile phone subscriptions. Businesses can also save up on setting up separate networks for telephony. The difference in infrastructure requirements of VoIP systems can make it easy for offices or staff to transfer–or even travel across the globe–without even having to change numbers.

However, there is no simple answer to whether switching to VoIP would entail cost savings. The answer is maybe.

For one, the size of a business would dictate how easy it is to determine whether VoIP would help the bottomline. Smaller companies would usually need more basic services, and the cost savings would be in terms of long distance calls. However, the cost advantages may not necessarily be great, since long distance costs these days are increasingly dwindling. Also, consider that purchasing your company’s own VoIP hardware would still entail a great upfront cost.

More complex and larger organizations, meanwhile, might be better able to harness the rich features that VoIP offers, and hence the cost savings are more identifiable. While upfront costs may be greater for bigger businesses, this would most likely be negligible in comparison to total costs to the company (and perhaps even telecommunication costs).

Bigger organizations might be able to save more on infrastructure, compared to maintaining a traditional telephone system. Since computers are already connected using an IP network, then installing VoIP equipment on workstations would require minimal added cost.

Bigger organizations may also be able to utilize other IP services as well, such as videoconferencing and presence management. Videoconferencing can help save on travel costs–executives and managers of companies with branches and offices in faraway states or countries can hold meetings via videoconferencing, instead of having to travel all the way across countries and continents. Presence management could help reduce staffing costs–for instance, instead of needing secretaries, then perhaps virtual assistants that some VoIP systems offer can be of help.

The greater cost savings would come in terms of the productivity boost that come with the rich IP-based applications that VoIP usually brings in. Compared to traditional telephony systems, VoIP can integrate data and voice applications, such as instant messaging and the aforementioned presence management. VoIP systems can also support sending of voicemail and faxes to the company’s email system, thus saving on equipment costs, and the time needed to route physical fax printouts.

However, having to train managers, personnel and IT staff on the maintenance and use of VoIP systems might also entail additional cost to a business. For a small company, this can be negligible, but for a larger organization, this can be considered a large scale–and hence more costly–activity. Businesses should weigh the cost of the lost productivity attributed to training each manager and staff, against the benefits of the users being able to adequately use the system. For one, added services might be overkill, as some companies don’t really need these (for instance, a small business with five employees who share one common office may not need presence indicators).

Again, there is no sure answer too whether a switch to VoIP can entail cost savings. Businesses should evaluate this adequately, taking into consideration not only the money aspects of it (buying equipment, setting up infrastructure), but also in terms of productivity and manpower.

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