VoIP Technology » Voip System

VoIP vs PBX – VoIP is Winning the Battle

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:43:48 +0000

PBX phone systems were the standard in recent years. These were needed to handle the huge telephony needs of big business. But a PBX is expensive, high

maintenance, and difficult to upgrade when the company needs change.

With the ubiquitous Internet availability, businesses of all sizes have another option for their demanding telephony needs. This is a VoIP system.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is the acronym for “Voice Over Internet Protocol.”

Protocols are the policies for how all things related to the Internet should work. These rules are in place to make sure that people around the globe are working with

the same rules which will help the Internet work best.

So, VoIP is the international standards for how the human voice can be transmitted over the Internet.

Traditional Communications

Consider the fixed landline in your home. Your home phone has a physical wire which is connected to a local telephone pole. That wire then connects to a group of

others at the telephone company’s central office. And finally, the utility has lines to all of their other central offices where lines exist.

When call from your home, the utility sends your call over the lines to the line of the person you are calling using the central office locations.

To make this happen, the phone company uses a Public Switched Telephone Network, or PSTN. This process uses dedicated lines and is relatively costly because of the

need for all of the physical wiring and equipment.

PBX System

An office business has physical lines which come into the building from the utility company, and then physical lines which connect each phone within the building to the

main wired control panel as well.

Traditionally, the business’ PBX or “Private Branch Exchange” would route the calls that come into the building for the different extensions in the system.

While this set up is certainly effective and has its place in certain operations, a small business owner may consider this larger system more complicated to administer.

In addition, PBX is often cost prohibitive for medium or small businesses to purchase, leaving a small business owner without many options.

VoIP Phone Systems

Many offices of all sizes are now moving away from PBX, and embracing VoIP technology.

Businesses can use this newer technology to address their telephony needs with ease of administration, the relatively easy ability to upgrade their systems, as well as

the number one advantage … reduced costs.

This advanced technology allow large, medium, and small business communication to operate over their existing data network.

Where in the past, each phone and each computer had to have its own line to connect to the central network of the building, now only one is necessary.

Just as your computer sends out digital data over the corporate Ethernet network, your voice over IP phone can turn your voice into digital data and send it the same

way and over the same cable.

Also, when wireless networks are available, the transmissions can use the wireless network as well. Cellular phones are one example of this wireless technology.

When you look at VoIP vs. PBX, it is easy to see that VoIP is the technology being adopted now, and large PBX systems are an effective traditional communications

method, but a cumbersome one.

Just as how, fax machines were the way to pass documents from one location to another, but now, we use e-mail … PBX has been the way to route calls but now

VoIP is taking over our telephony needs.

By: Andrew Stratton

How Do Businesses Benefit From Having a VOIP System?

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:54:08 +0000

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP technology is capable of cutting costs in telecommunications as well as improving the productivity of a business. Is it right for your business? Here is a look at what kinds of benefits VoIP can bring to business.

1 – VoIP service technology quality has really come a long way since its original inception. VoIP may have been extremely limited in the past, but this no longer the case. Today’s Voice over IP services have evolved significantly, allowing for you to make calls and receive calls using not only standard phones but also IP phones, which are rich in unique features. The sound quality has also vastly improved to the point where many companies have abandoned their traditional telephone systems in favor of the VoIP service.

2 – Using VoIP technology is capable of significantly reducing the costs you pay for telecommunications. The operating costs associated with VoIP services are generally quite significantly lower than when you are dealing with a traditional phone company, because the existing phone infrastructure is expensive to maintain and so are the industry regulations. VoIP providers have lower expenses and so they can charge a lot less for the services that they offer.

3 – VoIP services make your entire phone system a lot more flexible. They make it possible for you to do things which simply cannot be possible using traditional telephone technology. For example, they allow you to bring your phone system along with you since you can plug in anywhere where there is a broadband connection such as at someone’s home or in a hotel room. They also allow you to talk using your laptop, and to get your voice mail and your faxes through your e-mail. With this increase in usability, VoIP services make it possible for you to increase the productivity of your business significantly.

One thing is for sure: VoIP technology is continuing to evolve, and there are a number of compelling new features and benefits that are being developed in order to cater to small business. As an example, dramatic increases in mobility are being provided by combining VoIP services with wireless phone and PDA combinations to decrease cell phone charges while boosting functionality and productivity by a great deal. This is just one example of the exciting things that are happening in terms of VoIP service and technology advancements.

It does not matter what size your business is, VoIP technology happens to be a flexible as well as affordable technology that is capable of offering the same level of sophistication in communication tools that enterprise-size companies are using, meaning that VoIP will allow you to stand up against your competitors in terms of communications technology no matter how large or how small your own company happens to be.

By: Amy Nutt

Myths and Facts About VOIP

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:50:28 +0000

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is still a foreign term to many phone users, but as the technology continues to improve, and the prices keep falling, this new-way-to-phone stands to make big noise in the coming years as customers continue to give up their land line phones in search of better, more cost-effective options.

What follows are some common myths about the VOIP technology and the real information you need to know.

Myths and Facts about VOIP:

Myth: The sound quality is poor.

Fact: The first generation of VOIP technologically did have its share of issues, but all these services have since upgraded their technology significantly in the past two years. Now, VOIP customers can enjoy crystal-clear conversations that are on par with any traditional carrier.

Myth: You can only save money by calling other VOIP phone numbers

Fact: One of the biggest VOIP selling points continues to be free user-to-user calling over the network, however there are also considerable savings to be found in calling packages with VOIP service providers. In fact, many are competitively priced well below the large long-distance carriers.

Myth: The service is unreliable.

Fact: Individuals using VOIP for the calls reports no more dropped calls or service gaps than those using traditional cell phone or land line services.

While some companies experienced a rough start in this regard, additional testing and better hardware/software has helped make the service run smoothly.

Myth: Setting up a VOIP system is too complicated

Fact: For most VOIP systems, setting up is as easy as “plug and play.” In fact, if you have been able to get your cable TV or wireless in-home Internet working properly you should have no problem getting the VOIP system set up as well. Also, VOIP providers have spent time expanding their customer service departments. Customers who felt intimated by the technology can count on round-the-clock service and support centers to help answer their questions about VOIP installation, troubleshooting or general use.

Myth: Nobody is using VOIP for their calls.

Fact: On the contrary, more and more people are switching to VOIP for their personal and business use. According to industry sources, VOIP users are expected to grow in number by over 21% in 2008 with addition growth projected for 2009.

Myth: You can’t use a cell phone with VOIP

Fact: Initially, one of the biggest challenges facing the VOIP industry was giving people the ability to use their own phones when accessing the technology. Seeing that any real growth would be tied to this issue, VOIP providers are now offering dual handset capability which allows the user to seamlessly switch between their cell phone’s network and a wi-fi network carry the VOIP service.

By: Mark Etinger

Why Invest in Voip Technology?

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:15:21 +0000

The answer is, as usual, it depends. Voip is evolutionary, not revolutionary, technology. If you are moving into a facility where you need to completely build out your infrastructure, then installing a voice over ip device makes sense. It can be very competitive with traditional POTS switched networks. Some companies put a Voip blade in an existing POTS switch. They feel that it gives them the best of both worlds, but I suspect that they might be hedging their bets a bit too much and not benefiting fully from either technology.

Advantage Of IP-Telephony

There are some other ways that you can take advantage of Voip technology. In a “green field” installation, you have a number of attractive choices that can give you more network flexibility. One possibility is eliminating the wires entirely. There is nothing preventing you from installing Voip over wireless 802.11x networks.

Unified Messaging

Unified messaging is another example. Unified messaging is one-stop shopping for all your voice mail, email, and fax communications (Email Fax). Unified messaging lets you retrieve all your messages with one phone call or visit to a website. While unified messaging sounds great, the technology has not entirely jelled yet. It can be costly and complicated to implement, and the services have not been perfected, including problems with voice to text translation. Unified messaging is dependent on the Voip technology so as that application matures, there will be more incentive to implement a Voip solution.

Investing in Voice over IP

It is claimed that a Voip system will save 50% over the costs of maintaining the old equipment.

Of course, it isn’t clear if or not replacing an old system with a more modern switched network would result in similar savings. IT departments are real pragmatists. They will not invest in a technology unless there are demonstrated cost savings or substantial improvements in the quality of service.

Here’s a checklist of things to watch for when considering if to invest in Internet Telephony or not:

If you answer Yes to most of these questions, then you should seriously consider Voip Technology as part of your IT infrastructure mix.

- Does your company have good connectivity to the Internet?
- Are you planning on implementing unified messaging or other integrated data/voice services?
- Is your traditional POTS equipment overdue?
- Does your company have enough bandwidth for all your data and voice needs?
- Does your company have a substantial international presence or communication requirements?
- Does your company have multiple locations?

By: Jim Francisto

What You Should Know About VOIP Technology

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:46:32 +0000

You have heard it all-everyone is talking about the VOIP technology and how it is outpacing the telephones companies and even the cellular companies. So what is all the talk about?

VOIP allows you to make your entire local, long distance and international telephone calls over your high-speed internet connection. All of this for just one low price that can be rolled up into your monthly internet cable invoice. The technology is changing rapidly and there are a lot of new features available to people savvy enough to get in on the ground floor for this new technology.

So, what should you do? How different will your VOIP technology be over your regular telephone company? If you listen to the advertisements, you will realize that they are a lot alike, but there are also some benefits that VOIP technology now offers.

For your VOIP telephone phone, you can have voice mail, 3-way calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, simultaneous ring, call waiting, caller ID, call return, caller ID block, anonymous call rejection, do not disturb feature, and last number redial. If changing to the VOIP system you can take your existing telephone number, get great international rates, make it possible for people overseas to call you with it being a local call for them (gone are the long distance rates), you get free in-calling network and can manage your account online.

Well, this sounds a lot like the other phone companies, so what really makes the VOIP technology better? It is debatable as to whether or not this is better. It is definitely different, however; recently, there was a press release on News.com that “A technical review conducted by the British government has found several security flaws in products that use VOIP and text messaging, including those from Microsoft and Cisco Systems.” So, there can be a problem with the VOIP technology.

There is also concern that the VOIP does not full support their own encryptions yet. This means that it is easy to eavesdrop on VOIP telephones and to even change what is being said. Experts are working on security options, but have not yet found one that is completely reliable to take care of this problem.

If you look at it only one way, you would say, this is a major problem and I can not deal with that. However, consider the cyper terrorists. They can and will disrupt any communications system-all it takes is the time and patience to find a single flaw and everything can come crashing down.

The choice is yours to decided whether or not the VOIP technology is advanced enough for you to use this as your primary means of communicating on the telephone. Take your time and really think about whether or not this new VOIP technology will do everything you need it to do. If not, you might want to wait a few years until the technology has advanced more before changing over to the new VOIP technology. You know that technology will only change and be improved for the better.

By: J. Lloyd

Raising the Bar – Continuing Advances In Voip Technology

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:16:15 +0000

VOIP technology has advanced to a stage where VOIP is no longer an interesting start up, but a strong and valid technological force that offers so many benefits, not the least of which is huge savings in long distance phone calls. Many businesses have gone from expensive and complicated intra-office phone systems to switching to a VOIP system because of the increase in efficiency and strong decrease in cost. The continuing advancement of VOIP technology is what makes this possible.

Residential VOIP refers to the software that allows you to download the technology onto your computer and then communicate with family, friends, and acquaintances in the same way you would on the telephone, but your computer is used as a telephone instead. Because the technology is based on phone communication through the Internet, anyone you want to contact will also need to download the same technological software on their computers, but don’t worry, this is actually very easy!

What if you still want to call people who don’t have VOIP? One of the smartest technological advances by the companies encouraging the development of VOIP technology was creating an adaptor. An adaptor hooks up to a regular phone, and hooks it up to your VOIP so you can still use the residential VOIP to call any phone, whether it is a VOIP phone, a landline, or even a cell phone! This little piece of equipment allows you all the benefits of VOIP without any of the potential restrictions that could make people hesitant to invest in this service.

With the advancement of portable VOIP phones (Vonage is perhaps the best known company that provides this service), the question has been brought up of whether or not VOIP phones will be able to ever replace cell phones, and what would the difference be? While the technology is there for this to happen, the infrastructure isn’t there yet; though it is getting closer with each passing day.

The advantage of this would be that VOIP would be far cheaper, since long distance wouldn’t cost nearly anything and there would be no restriction on minutes. A wireless VOIP phone is also referred to as a “Wi-Fi VOIP phone,” and needs networks in the same way wireless internet needs networks, to work, but more are popping up every day, and many cities plan to increase the number of hot spots, which would make this a more and more viable option.

Many cell phone companies, sensing ahead of time what this could mean for them if they refuse to adapt, now design phones that not only work as regular cell phones, but also have features that allow the user to switch to their VOIP account if they are close enough to a hot spot. While complete VOIP is a long ways off, the beginning structures are there, and as the VOIP technology improves, it would not be surprising to head towards the day where VOIP isn’t a side game, but the main choice available to all phone users.

By: Candice Sabrina