VoIP 101 - Lets keep it simple:
Making a decision to switch to VoIP or an IP telephony solution using VoIP can be frustrating, unless you know some basic facts. Is the time right to move to IP telephony? What will be the cost savings? What is the right system for your particular application? How much time will the implementation take? How much will it cost? What about security? What type of equipment will you need? The questions can seem endless.
VoIP and IP telephony are becoming increasingly popular with large corporations and small business consumers alike. Why? Simply, it saves money, time and combines different applications in one telephony solution. For many people, Internet Protocol (IP) is more than just a way to transport data, it's also a tool that simplifies and streamlines a wide range of business tools. The telephony industry is the most obvious example of this. VoIP—or voice over IP—is the foundation for more advanced unified communications applications—including Web and video conferencing—that can transform the way you do business.
Understand the difference between VoIP and IP (it is possible to use only VoiP, only IP, or both)
VoIP is one of the standards used to transmit voice calls over a converged voice and data network. Just as IP (Internet Protocol) has become the most commonly used standard for sending data over the internet, so VoIP is becoming more commonly used in a converged network for voice traffic. You DON’T need an IP phone system to use VoIP, but you do need a high speed internet broadband connection to use VoIP digital phone lines on your analog, digital or IP phone system. Lets keep this simple. Current broadband network capabilities (Cable and DSL) may be sufficient to use VOIP if enough bandwidth is available to carry the voice traffic along with the DATA traffic. When you switch from a traditional analog line to a digital VoIP line, that new digital line simply replaces your traditional copper fed telco line. In most cases, you can even keep the same phone number after the switch. The rule of thumb is, if you already own the phone number, you can probably take it with you to another provider. All that is required, in most cases, is a small adapter box that connects to your broadband router and converts your existing analog telephone number into a digital VoIP line. Once that number comes out of the adapter box it acts EXACTLY as your old analog line use to. This VoiP line can then be connected to your existing telephone, or analog, digital or IP telephone system. Your phones won’t know the difference, and you can make and receive calls exactly as you did before. How simple is this? If you switch your grandmother traditional analog copper wire fed phone line that she has had for the last 40 years with a broadband digital VoIP line and then connect it to that same telephone she has had in her kitchen for 40 years, she won’t notice the difference. Well, she might notice something - the service will probably be better, and the cost will be less.
IP, or Internet Protocol, is the most basic protocol used to communicate on the Internet. All computers and IP telephone on the internet use an IP number that is simply a numerical address consisting of four 3 digit numbers separated by periods. Each IP address (along with a MAC address) uniquely identifies a certain computer or telephone on the Internet. This IP address is sort of like a telephone number, and is unique to the instrument it is assigned to. An IP phone system uses this same technology. IP phones look just like normal phones with a handset, cradle and buttons. But instead of having the standard RJ-11 phone connectors, IP phones have an RJ-45 Ethernet connector. IP phones connect directly to your router or IP gateway and have all the hardware and software necessary right onboard to handle an IP call. An IP phone system has many advantages over a traditional phone system. The MAIN advantage of an IP Phone System is that it allows you to add extensions to the main phone system in other parts of town, another state, or another country for that matter. All that is required is a high speed broadband internet connection at both ends. An example of this scenario is a sales agent who telecommutes from home or a business that has multiple locations. In the simplest scenario, an employee can take his IP telephone from his own office and plug it into his internet router at home. Since this IP telephone has a unique IP address, it automatically searches the internet and connects back to the main system in your office. Once this connection is established via the dedicated IP address tot that telephone, that telephones acts exactly as another extension on the system. The employee can receive calls, make calls, transfer to and from his telephone, receive voicemails, and even hear a system wide “all page” announcement from the receptionist at the office over his telephone at home. The employee can also “see” line status of other users on the phone system and other users on the same phone system can also “see” line status of this employee as well. The use of this off site telephone is transparent to the users on the system, and even other employees on the system who intercom or transfer calls to and from this employee won’t know if this person is in office or not. Most IP phone systems can usually have many off site locations connected to the main system as well. This same employee, if he travels, can also connect his IP phone at a hotel with a broadband connection and receive the same functionality. This employee doesn't even need a physical telephone and can use a "Soft Phone", which is simply a picture of his IP telephone on any web enabled PC.
IP Phone Systems work especially well for businesses with multiple locations. The bottom line here is if you do not have multiple business locations or employees who will telecommute from home or are on the road, than a traditional analog or digital (non IP) phone system, which is usually less expensive, will probably meet your needs. Most IP phone systems can use traditional telephone lines, VoiP lines, SIP Trunking Lines, or a combination of both. Still, to take full advantage of all the IP functionality found in most IP Telephone Systems, using VoIP lines is highly recommended for your IP telephone system. For most IP Telephone Systems, Telephones.com recommends using commercial quality VoIP lines called SIP Trunking. SIP, which is Session Initial Protocol, is the IETF signaling standard for creating, modifying, and terminating real-time multimedia sessions with one or more participants using VoIP technology instead of traditional analog copper fed telco lines. Just like a computer, IP Phone Systems can be extremely secure when properly configured. Installing an IP Telephone System is no easier or harder than a conventional phone system, except you will require a little more knowledge of internet protocol when configuring two IP locations together. System manuals will explain this in detail, but our expert IT Technical Support can also be of assistance when needed.
IP Phone Systems Provide Great Savings
Savings for most enterprise networks come from consolidating the voice and data network together and using fewer circuits from the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In addition to circuit cost savings, an IP infrastructure requires less time for moves, adds and changes and often eliminates the need to hire an outside vendor or service provider to handle them. Moving an IP telephone station temporarily or permanently or adding a new user usually simply entails carrying out a quick and simple GUI-based command, and not any physical installation labor. With traditional PBX systems, moving an employee can cost hundreds of dollars in labor. In other words, with IP telephony, each user has their own IP phone profile and the network doesn’t care where anybody is located at any particular time, so moves are simply a matter of conducting a few commands and can often be easily handled by the user. With IP telephony, management savings are usually immediate since the information technology team can support the voice network as well as the data network because they’re now one in the same. There is no longer a need to have two teams of technical professionals to handle each entity, which adds up to tremendous savings. Further savings are seen right away when an enterprise needs to make a change, such as re-locating an office temporarily in the case of construction. The IT staff simply makes the changes from anywhere on the network (or remotely if need be) and a new temporary office is up and running without outside callers ever being the wiser. Finally, infrastructure tools like physical ports are no longer needed for IP telephony because physical circuit-switched ports aren’t necessary. An IP connected voice mail server is all that’s needed. All of these cost savings are tremendously appealing characteristics of IP telephony. When you add the IP features that are available for employees, call centers and receptionists, it quickly becomes obvious that IP telephony is going to continue winning converts. IP telephony systems allow for quick and easy scalability to accommodate new locations or growth within existing locations, as well as the ability to add people one at a time as needed, rather than investing in equipment that will handle more than an organization needs at the time. Scalability benefits also work downward: when an organization reduces its staff count, it is simply a matter of removing those users’ profiles from the IP telephony solution. Companies are no longer tied to long leases for equipment that remains underutilized.
The Customer Service And Bottom Line Advantage
IP telephony offers organizations tremendous customer service and value. First of all, IP telephony systems provide thorough information right at the time a call comes in by popping data onto an agent’s screen. This information can include the most basic of information, such as caller ID information. By integrating specific business applications with the IP telephony system, more in-depth information can populate the screen, including the caller’s buying patterns, address, current account status, and more. Many IP telephony systems also provide for operators significant background information on the current caller’s experience, such as where the call originated, how many times he or she has been transferred, and whether or not the right person is available to take the call. When the person is again transferred, IP telephony systems eliminate the chance of a caller being asked the same question twice (which is frustrating for callers, and frankly, poor customer service) because the most current information, including notes taken during the present call, populates the next person’s screen. IP telephony systems also allow organizations to implement skills-based routing, whereby calls are routed via an automatic attendant (attendant prompts the caller to choose from a selection) to the most appropriate agent based on criteria like language, experience, technical expertise, and other details. Advanced features that most service providers charge for are also available “free” with IP telephony and many SIP providers, including three-way calling and a built-in conference call bridge. This can further aid in customer service when more resources are required to fulfill a customer request or inquiry, and it also allows conference call access by international parties, a feature most expensive conference call services do not provide. Finally, IP telephony enables self-service options. For instance, when a caller simply wants to find out information about their own account, interactive voice response (IVR) within IP telephony systems enable callers to securely access that information by providing specific information. This eliminates the need for a call center agent to take time to answer a call, and it also eliminates the frustration that can occur if a caller is put in queue on hold for the next available agent to find out information that is readily available.
IP telephony is the way of the future. First, vendors are no longer investing research and development dollars into legacy TDM equipment. Second, IP telephony has simplified communications for numerous organizations and their positive results have been shouted from rooftops (or at least highlighted in well-respected trade journals). With TDM, there’s no interoperability, transferring between offices is not an option, and employees are often on different voice mail systems so forwarding messages is not possible. With IP telephony, companies instantly improve productivity with robust feature sets such as built-in conference call capabilities, four-digit dialing across locations, call center capabilities, and integration with desktop applications, all accessible locally or from off site locations via your IP enabled phone system. Because of robust features like the ability for an employee to log in from any phone in the world, employees are no longer tied to a desk.
How VoIP or An IP System Works:
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