An Internet Protocol (IP)-based phone system is much more than a few new phones plugged into your network. It transforms your phone system into a next-generation communications hub, complete with cutting-edge technologies that let your organization deliver better customer service while cutting costs. An IP-based phone system piggybacks on your IP-network, connecting to the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) via your Internet connection. Use this checklist to sell management on a new IP-based phone system:

1. Reduce the cost of phone charges.
IP telephony can significantly reduce the cost of your long-distance charges. It also reduces the number of circuits to the PSTN you must pay for; for companies with several branch offices, this can be a significant savings.

2. Reduce the cost of network management.
Moving to an IP-based phone system lets you consolidate your data and voice networks onto one network, which translates to less money and time spent on network management.

3. Provide better customer service.
An IP-based phone system can be integrated with other business applications you use to provide customer service, particularly a customer relationship management (CRM) program.

4. Simplify phone system management.
An IP private branch exchange (PBX) has an easy-to-use, Web-based interface that can be used to make changes to any extension on the network. Your IT team can even move and add users remotely.

5. Gain enterprise-scale features.
IP-based phone systems include sophisticated features that are otherwise out of reach for all but the largest companies. You can add an auto-attendant, integrated conferencing, and even a call center to your phone system.

6. Leverage new technologies.
IP telephony enables more than VoIP (Voice over IP) phone calls. It also enables advanced communications applications like unified messaging, which integrates voicemail, e-mail, and texts, and Unified Communications (UC), which integrates real-time and non-real communication media with collaboration tools.

7. Create a more usable phone network.
Employees can quickly perform most phone functions through a user-friendly interface that’s as familiar as the desktop on their PCs, instead of fumbling with various key-based functions and  constantly referring to a manual.