The death of the desk phone
The days of an office lined with phones plugged into landlines seems to be fading away. Businesses are increasingly abandoning desk phones in favor of alternatives that allow them to save on costs, and lean into the workplace environment that their employees prefer.
So what are the reasons behind the death (or at least decline) of the desk phone?
Communication Diversification
There are lots of options for communicating in an office now. Email, messaging through services like Slack, video chat using services like Skype for Business, and, oh yeah, phone calls. That’s a lot of options for getting in touch with someone, and workers are increasingly choosing any option but the phone. In fact, millennials and younger workers prefer messaging channels like Slack or SMS over phone calls, leaving desk phones sitting there unused.
Mobile Workforce
It’s estimated that by 2020, 50% of the U.S. workforce will be mobile. While I’ll admit that I don’t know if I agree with that assessment, the reality is that businesses are increasingly using distributed workers. These workers often rely on messaging during the day to keep in touch, and if they do need to make a call, they use use their mobile phones or softphones to connect. Wait…softphones?
Softphones over SIP and VoIP
A lot of businesses are actively killing the use of desk phones at their offices. The reason? Because 75% of employees prefer not to use one, even though a majority of companies have still been providing them. Unused desk phones, according to IDG, cost enterprises an average of $8.1 million a year.
That’s not nothing. By moving to SIP voice services, business are able to allow their employees to use the devices and services they prefer, all while saving money on equipment that’s never going to be used anyways.
Divorce your defunct desk phones
Tired of spending money on desk phones that your employees don’t use? Need help migrating your office communications to the cloud? Contact our team of SIP experts to see how we can help. Want to learn more? Check out our SIP page to see how it can benefit your business.
