With the wrong phone system in place, calls can be missed and customers can be left unsatisfied. VoIP professional Rachel Greenberg wrote on Business 2 Community that having a good customer call center phone system in place helps to present the company as professional, which can ensure that the businesses is not losing customer to the competition. Since many potential customers still make calls to companies to ask questions, schedule appointments and make purchases, using unified communications and VoIP to improve a legacy system can be a great move that will set the business apart from others if done correctly.

Greenberg said companies should choose a system that will fit their business and help them save money. With some contact center technology providers, businesses have to account for extra costs per extensions, but others may provide metered extensions at less cost.

"Metered extensions usually cost less per month, but carry a per-minute fee, usually around a few cents," she said. "However, if you have any employees who only do a small amount of calling, or some extensions that will only be used on rare occasions, metered extensions are a great way to save money. Other providers may also offer virtual extensions, which are IP extensions for mobile phones. This means that an employee can be reached through the central PBX even when out of the office."

Improving a system with VoIP can also help organizations reach a wider national and international audience, as the technology provides unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada from many providers and much cheaper international calls than with legacy systems. This can help increase the company's reach and give wider access to a demographic that could not have previously been reached.

VoIP can bring more flexibility
Widespread used legacy phone lines are not only more expensive, but they also keep workers tied to their desks with few options for being able to spread out. PC World said VoIP providers can offer mobile apps that will allow phone calls to be forwarded to devices, no matter where an employee is located.

"Scalability is another boon," the website said. "Rather than having to invest in costly new hardware, adding new extensions to a VoIP network is typically as easy as connecting your SIP-enabled phone to the network and tinkering with some software settings – and if you use a phone that's certified for use with your provider or software, it could be as simple as plug and play."

Adopting new technology no longer just means buying large hardware and constantly making expensive updates to new software. With tools like VoIP and unified communications, companies can now stay up to date with ease. Some news stories in the past month have showed some of the options organizations can have to stay updated and reasons to do so.

Using VoIP with tablets
One of the biggest perks of VoIP is that numbers can be used on many unique devices. With the use of tablets in business exploding, these mobile gadgets can now easily be used to make phone calls from anywhere that has a Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G connection, according to PhonesReview. This gives companies more flexibility and features than ever. "In utilizing the service on an iPad, users have a way of reducing their monthly calling costs while also expanding their capability," the website said. "Fitting a tablet with a VoIP app enables users to utilize VoIP without having to switch their provider over."

Call quality better with VoIP
Although costs and efficiency may be two of the bigger reasons companies adopt VoIP, the quality of calls can be improved with this technology as well, VoIPReview said. Businesses and households can see some great benefits from VoIP, including less expensive calls and easier scaling of how many lines are needed. With a good internet connection in place, phone calls will be clearer than they were with legacy carrier systems. "Businesses that use old analog technology must add more circuits each time they need more room for calls. Analog technology users also need a technician to help them add, remove, or change extension lines whenever they need to make changes to the office's extensions."

Ensuring VoIP security can be easy
Security should always be a thought when dealing with technology that sends data between users, and  VoIP is no exception. However, most data may be much harder to secure than VoIP is. TechDay gave some tips for securing the technology, including applying a daily toll limit to the service so scammers aren't allowed to charge for overages, utilizing a transport security layer with the SIP trunking solution, use using outside security options to protect the surrounding network and always having the most secure data separated from this network in case of worse-case scenario situation with a data leak. "If a fraudster gains access to your PBX, they can initiate multiple calls to high-priced toll numbers of which they share the revenue," the news source said. "This is typically done at night with the calls being directed to numbers in island nations where the cost of telecommunications is high, meaning higher returns for fraudsters." While TechTarget said there is no perfect way to secure a VoIP program, each company must do diligence to be sure they are getting the most protection possible.

SIP trunking becoming popular option
SIP trunking has become a go-to technology for companies to connect IP PBX and unified communications, according to Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC and IMS at Infonetics Research. She said this is the fastest growing areas for companies turning to VoIP, as adoption has increased to 83 percent in 2012. There is still only a 15 percent penetration rate in North America, meaning there is a lot of room for growth in the future. "New geographic regions are opening up, and SIP trunking and hosted UC continue to heat things up, fueling growth," Myers said. Along with the growth of SIP trunking has come a unified communications service revenue growth of 17 percent and VoIP 9 percent in 2012.

If the entire company and all employees are held accountable for security, then all systems are more likely to remain secure. Telecommunications expert Jon Arnold wrote on VoIP-News that businesses must start thinking about securing VoIP as early as possible to make sure threats do not harm a business.

"Regardless of your IT resources or expertise, the key is to think holistically about how VoIP fits into your overall data network," he wrote. "Otherwise, the path of least resistance will lead to a patchwork approach where you keep adding application-specific security solutions. Over time this becomes expensive, cumbersome and not very effective. A better approach is to develop a comprehensive plan – with an architectural framework – that maps out where and how VoIP poses potential risks."

How to have the best VoIP security possible
Arnold said there are some key steps that businesses must take when it comes to security, with the first being to divvy out responsibility for who is securing the program. While the security plan needs to be centralized, workers should know what their role is for making sure the company's VoIP program is kept safe. Once this plan is in place, organizations need to constantly check their network-wide security, as the threat of malware and intruders trying to steal the data being used on the VoIP network is always present.

To have the best success in with any security problem, company decision makers should develop clearly written policies that the entire organization can understand. VoIP is likely a new technology to most within the business, so establishing what is expected from end users will be key to keeping everything in check. Solidifying this can be done by prioritizing education and training, Arnold wrote.

"Not only are all of these [VoIP] options fairly new, but they are driven by end users as they see fit," he said. "Many are outside the conventional scope of the LAN, making them highly vulnerable to security threats. For all these reasons, employees must be made aware of the potential risks, and more importantly, how they can take the right precautions. In short, they need to be considered part of the solution, otherwise they will end up being a big part of the problem."

Resource Nation said companies can make their VoIP calls over virtual private networks to get even better security if they would like to, otherwise there are third-party security apps that should be utilized, digital certificates that must be verified and authentication of the calls and data transfers is, as always, a must.