What is the Difference Between Analog and Digital Phone Service?

Purchasing a new phone system is a big decision. After all, many businesses rely on their phone service to interact with customers and close deals every day –– not to mention the costs associated with purchasing and implementing a new system. Given that fact, it’s wise for business owners to question the difference between analog and digital phone service. But what exactly separates analog vs digital phone technology? In literal terms, analog systems translate information into electrical impulses, whereas digital systems convert the same information into binary form (zeros and ones). Obviously though, that doesn’t answer the question in a practical sense. Below we’ll explain in plain English the pros and cons associated with each option so you can make an informed purchase decision:

Ease of Use

Here’s a bit of good news: neither analog nor digital phone systems are difficult to use. Analog, or “plain old telephone systems,” have been used by businesses for decades. Unsurprisingly, they’re extremely simple by modern standards. Digital systems aren’t much more difficult to set up and operate, though. Setting up a hosted digital phone service requires minimal hardware. In essence, if you know how to turn on a WiFi router, you can install a digital phone system without much trouble.

Reliability

Digital phone systems require a significant amount of bandwidth to operate normally. For businesses that have their own network, this won’t present much of a problem. However, if you rely on public bandwidth, then you could experience problems with your digital phone audio. Because analog systems are much less sophisticated, they don’t need hardly any bandwidth to function. On the other hand though, digital phones will continue to operate during severe weather when analog systems are usually affected. Lastly, it’s worth noting here that digital phone technology enables remote employees to access information no matter where they’re located.

Features

Here’s where things get interesting. Pardon the repetition, but analog systems are basic. They’re old-school, and while they’re simple enough to set up and use, they don’t offer much in the way of advanced features. Conversely, digital phone systems are VoIP compatible –– meaning that they can access all sorts of useful features like voicemail-to-email security, CRM integration, and speech recognition technology.

Price

Contrary to popular belief, analog systems aren’t really a “bargain buy.” Though they can be cheap, they lack almost all the features a customer-centric, modern business needs to manage a high volume of phone calls. In reality, digital systems are much more cost-effective because they allow professionals to implement hunt groups, reduce waiting times, and access key customer data instantly.

The Bottom Line

In summation, if your only concern is to find the most elementary phone system on the market, then analog is the way to go. If however, you have remote employees, multiple branches that collaborate with each other, if you ask your sales team to make sales calls, and you ask your customer service staff to interact with consumers over the phone, if you value sound quality and remote connectivity, and you want a phone system that enables you to access vital business data at a moment’s notice –– then a Hosted VoIP digital system is the only solution. Contact the Votacall team for more information, or else check out our free eBook below. We love dispelling myths about VoIP technology and helping business owners improve the way their company operates!