VoIP – what’s in it for you?
There’s a lot of noise around the advantages of using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system at the moment, but given that changing your phone system from what you know is potentially quite a big decision, it’s probably worth knowing a bit more about it before you’re tempted to make the leap.
As the name suggests, instead of using the traditional analogue phone system, VoIP technology allows users to make phone calls using the internet by converting sound into digital voice communication and then transferring it through internet broadband.
It has been suggested that VoIP has benefits for many businesses, but what exactly are those benefits suggested to be?
Firstly, and crucially for a business, a VoIP telephone system is much cheaper than a conventional phone system and long-distance calls can definitely be cheaper. Not only this, VoIP is available worldwide – thanks to the internet. When you log in to your VoIP phone, using any broadband connection, so long as you have internet access, you’re sorted. VoIP systems can also be accessed through email or on the go.
VoIP systems are pretty flexible too. You can still use your conventional phone with a VoIP telephone adapter or a converter (a bit like a USB pen that you plug into a computer) which converts the signals from analogue phones into digital data that is then routed over the internet. You can also keep your original phone number as your VoIP number so no matter where you are, providing that you have a high-speed internet connection, you can still receive calls. VoIP phones also allow you to make video calls, again, so long as you have internet access.
Convinced? Well it might just be worth looking into.