Everything you Wanted to Know about VoIP Telephony
What is VoIP?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol (AKA IP Telephony), and is a system for providing voice communication over the internet. This includes voice calls, video calls and multimedia/video sessions.
What are the Benefits of VoIP for my business?
As we all have traditional landlines or a mobile you may be wondering why you should consider changing to VoIP. The most obvious benefit is that using a business VoIP phone service can ultimately save your company money.
1) VoIP calls are free (to UK landlines and mobiles which are not premium rated) as you only need to pay for the internet connection which the majority of businesses have anyway. This is particularly beneficial should there be a high volume of out-going calls, especially with international calls which whilst they are not free are a fraction of the price of a standard BT line.
2) Call quality with a VoIP phone service for small businesses is often better than with a traditional phone line. Yep that's right, traditional systems were built a long time ago and haven't changed much. They use a 1k bandwidth signal at ~8k (the voice range) which is actually quite poor quality compared to a VoIP solution.
3) There are a number of additional services available with a business VoIP service such as call recording and automated assistance, which directs calls to an appropriate number or to your mobile phone.
4) A VoIP service can also provide you with non-location specific numbers. And should your office become inaccessible the number can easily be diverted.
5) A VoIP connection is much more secure than a traditional analogue system as it comes with encryption protocols as standard which is not possible with traditional phone lines.
6) There is also a hunt/call group capability which means calls are diverted to a list of specific extensions. If the first extension is busy, it will dial the next on the list and so on. Therefore, a customer will never be left listening to a ringing phone again.
7) You can use a VoIP app over the Wi-Fi on your mobile phone, empowering your mobile to work just like you are in the office with a desk phone.
8) VoIP phone systems also offer a multi-simultaneous calls service which allows the system to ring any number of extensions at the same time. or in other words you are not restricted by the number of landline you actually have.
I Only Use My Mobile – Can I Use It?
Whilst there are both cheap and expensive VoIP handsets depending on your needs, it is not always necessary to get specialist hardware as VoIP can be implemented on your smart phone.
All you need to use the VoIP connection will be an app downloaded to your phone and a high-speed internet connection. It’s Not All Good News There are of course some disadvantages to relying on a hosted VoIP system.
1) The biggest disadvantage is that you have to rely on having an internet connection. Without one, you can’t use the system. The flip side to this is that a) the system can be diverted to a mobile phone/landline number and b) without an internet connection there is very little you can do these days, anyway.
2) Should you need to make an emergency call there is no tracker to inform them of your location. But the Pros outweigh the Cons so, what are you waiting for?
Here at BongoIT we have a number of packages designed to suit you and your business, so if you are ready to move from analogue to VoIP or just want to discuss your options give one of our friendly team members a call.
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