Gone are the days where office personnel would always watch their minutes while on NDD calls to provincial branches. And gone are the days where offices needed very long cables for phones or intercoms.  The great thing about the internet, is it created a more efficient way of communication at a fraction of the cost. Enter Online Business Communications.

Online Business Communications

Most offices now have internet, be it slow or fast. Most mobile communication apps now only need around 128 KBPS for one to be able to converse with anyone locally or internationally.

Welcome to the age of Instant Messaging

It all started with Yahoo Messenger, most Filipinos at that time used this app for communicating with friends and loved ones here and abroad.  It caught so much so that one of the major telecommunications company tried blocking Yahoo Messenger from the internet. Unfortunately, following on this platform waned when they temporarily killed the messaging system.

When dealing with USA clients, we need to use AOL’s AOL Instant Messenger or AIM. This app was more or less there but without so much features in the beginning. It was more of an Instant Messaging program.

Then came Skype.  When we started using Skype, not even with a smartphone yet. We were thrilled with the idea of being anywhere within the office premises. WIFI was not yet widely offered in coffee shops, although we would still have access once we were in an area with shared internet or WIFI.  This was one of the first tools we used in our freelancing.  We could text foreign and local clients, they can call us, they would show us their computer screens on what and how they wanted a job done. Skype even has the feature where you can call international numbers, for a fee of course.

Facebook and other players.

Facebook is not one to be left behind when they introduced their very own Messenger. Just like Skype, the Messenger can send photos and videos. Can do video calling or voice calling aside from plain old text messaging.

Some recent players are Google Hangout which is integrated in your gmail account too, Viber and WeChat. So bottom line is which one is better? Well if you are just need an app that you will use for just texting or voice calling, all of them are well and capable. The quality of the call usually depends on the crappy internet we have in the Philippines.

For the newbie entrepreneurs, using a communications app such as those mentioned above, won’t set you back for more than what you are already paying for your internet. Just beware though that data-charges on your internet enabled phone might sky-rocket if you do not watch your minutes.