If you’ve stumbled upon this article somehow, then i’m sure you’ve heard the buzzword “VOIP” from some dark corner of the Internet or office. Especially if you are working in a company that is heavily reliant on the telephone (research shows that Mortgage Brokers and Law Offices are, on average, the two highest users of the telephone out of all kinds of businesses), you may be curious as to what exactly Voice over IP is, and whether it can truly benefit your business. This article attempts to provide an unbiased view of the benefits and drawbacks of a VOIP system.
What is VOIP?
Put simply, Voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, is a relatively new technology that has recently been adopted by businesses worldwide. The VOIP system utilizes features of the Internet to both receive and forward your calls, without connecting to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network. The “switchboard network” of all the world’s land line telephones).
Why use VOIP?
There are several main benefits commonly listed by companies to using VOIP over traditional analogue phone lines, including:
*Cost Advantages
*Call Quality
*Reliability
*Mobility
*Functionality
1. Cost Advantages and Disadvantages
Pros: Many businesses see an immediate decrease in their phone bills by over 50% after making the move to VOIP. This is because VOIP providers don’t have to route their calls via big telecommunications companies and as such can pass those savings directly onto their customers. Line rental is one of the biggest offending causes of overpriced phone bills run by landline companies – the cost of renting the line itself often outweighs the actual combined call costs made on the line. Most VOIP line rental prices are lower across the board, and most company’s phone bills instantly reflect that after converting.
Cons: VOIP systems may require a large initial investment to set up for purchase of IP phones, each handset of which can cost a hefty sum more than that of standard analogue handsets. Even if a company wishes to keep its’ current handsets and migrate over to a VOIP system, hardware such as a VOIP Analogue Gateway in order to convert phone signals over to a digital format. Either way, a VOIP system usually requires a larger initial investment that pays for itself over time, depending on the degree of phone usage and call savings.
2. Call Quality
Pros: While in the past it was largely true that call quality could suffer when using VOIP, recent developments in QoS (Quality of Service) techniques integrated into routing hardware allow prioritization of voice traffic to reach the handset before the transfer of digital data. Also most experienced companies ensure in their setups that clients are provided with sufficient bandwidth to prevent any call degradation and often have dedicated Internet channels devoted strictly to voice communication separate from other data sources. This means that your Internet data traffic will not directly interfere with the transmission of your voice signals, allowing you to continue Internet usage with no degradation of call quality at all times.
Cons: If you are operating your VOIP system off a single connection that shares traffic with networking or Internet data and is not large enough to cope with the influx of information, your call quality will inevitably suffer. Likewise if you opt for cheaper hardware solutions that do not have advanced QoS features, prioritization of traffic over the one connection may be either difficult or impossible to implement. Also bare in mind that the number of simultaneous lines in use can further degrade performance depending on your VOIP set up.
3. Mobility
Pros: One core feature that VOIP holds over analogue lines is mobility. When a staff member moves their desk to a different location in the office, there is no need to have any phone lines re-patched to ensure continued use. They can simply plug their IP phone into a data point and their phone & extension number will continue to work as normal. Considering that most modern VOIP handsets also operate on PoE (Power over Ethernet – the phone is powered by the network cable alone rather than requiring an additional conventional power outlet). You are also able to take your VOIP adaptors anywhere and use your same number anywhere that there is an Internet connection – ideal for businesspeople who travel often, whether it be domestically or internationally – ensure you are never unable to receive that important phone call when it is most needed. Depending on your network setup, VOIP also allows greatly increased remote functionality, such as the ability for teleworkers to receive calls automatically redirected to their own extension line.
Cons: VOIP mobility is dependent on your office or small business distribution of ethernet cable. While ethernet cable is quite cheap, it can also look unsightly when strewn for long distances around the office. You also need to ensure that each hand set has access to an ethernet data point in order to have functionality; the use of hubs, splitters and other hardware solutions can help to alleviate this problem.
4. Functionality
Pros: VOIP solutions usually provide all the functionality of conventional systems plus a whole load of extras integrated. Standard functionality includes Voicemail Boxes, Full-Customizable Extensions, Detailed Call Reporting and other optional elements. Being digital, VOIP also offers seamless integration with your computer applications such as e-mail, fax, web conferencing and video phone all from a single workstation. In this way, VOIP can save you money and energy as it combines all of these services into a single base of operations. Telecommunications companies will often charge extra for these services.
Cons: In order to maximize the capabilities of VOIP systems, they can require quite a large detail of technical knowledge and time spent familiarizing yourself with individual functions. You must also beware that you end up being pitched a series of handsets on the basis of extra functionality that you may have absolutely no use for.
5. Reliability
Pros: Long thought to be the major drawback to VOIP systems, reliability can still be a concern for businesses. The level of reliability will depend on several factors, including the servers or client being run off. The Linux client is an industry standard for server operation, as it’s renowned for its’ stability. VOIP systems can be customized to automatically forward failed outbound calls via alternative routes. In the event of a VOIP provider going down or if your Internet connection goes offline, all calls can be routed via analogue lines.
Cons:Your VOIP system is almost entirely dependent on the quality and reliability of your Internet connection and provider. Failsafe options are often needed to be integrated into your systems so that, in the case of Internet outages, your lines of communication are always running efficiently. An excess of data being sent to your Internet connection can lead to drop outs and unless properly protected, can be subjected to attacks from spyware and viruses. It is therefore critical to ensure the server that is running your VOIP system is kept protected, both physically (cooling, dust, etc.) and virtually (software) in order to provide maximum efficiency.
The choice to migrate over to a VOIP system will depend on the company’s budgetary goals and current technological infrastructure. If your company is already equipped with a computer-friendly office environment, VOIP can offer a flexible and extremely cost-effective solution that will be relatively future-proof and last you a long time. If, however, your company does not have the money to make a relatively large initial investment, or your office is unable to access a strong and reliable Internet connection or lacks data points, the benefits may not be as immediate or obvious.
Author: Matt J Hobbs
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax
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