Business VoIP – Is It For You?
Like everything new in this world, Voice-over Internet Protocol has been getting a lot of attention lately. It is considered to be the future’s wave. It spares you a sizeable amount of money while simplifying your business operations. However, VoIP may not be for everyone.
First off, let us define what VoIP is. It stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It makes use of the Internet as a replacement for a voice phone line and more. You may be wondering why it is so raved about. Actually, there are lots of reasons for that. If you ever ask a particular business why they use such service, you will hear about features packages, low costs, as well as reliability.
The ease of installation is one thing. Almost every business has an Internet connection and computers, so the set up of VoIP is by no means difficult. One of the things you must take into account when you switch to VoIP is that your telecom personnel must be IT proficient and/or your IT personnel must be familiar with the complexities of telecom.
One thing that telecom providers publicize about their service is the customization that was not available before. Regardless how small or big your business is, VoIP providers are likely to work on an individual basis.
You have to know why your company needs VoIP. Switching can be costly. Not only do you have to buy or upgrade equipment, but you also have to re-educate your employees about it.
To benefit from VoIP as well as the multimedia applications that it has, the workforce must be distributed with branch offices or satellite offices, telecommuters and personnel out in the field.
There is an array of reasons for you to make the switch to VoIP, at the same time, there are also reasons not to. We always want to cut corners, so it comes as no surprise that we would want to switch to VoIP. VoIP is a spectacular help, but it may not work for your company.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: Business Voip, IT, offices, thing, VOIP, want
Transform your Business Communication with Hosted PBX VOIP
In the major part of world, the traditional premise based PSTN systems are being rapidly replaced by the Hosted PBX Systems as faster and more efficient means of telecommunication. There is no doubt that the Hosted PBX VOIP Systems are actually better business phone systems that are cost effective and reliable while keeping the promise of delivering enterprise class features and Quality of Service (QoS).The Hosted PBX VOIP Systems are easy to maintain and are highly economical without putting too much strain on your pocket. The traditional PBX systems are becoming obsolete as it is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to own and maintain. It takes a lot of time to repair the complex PBX wiring and the technician charges a hefty fee for troubleshooting even a minor problem. On the other hand, the Hosted PBX Systems do not require troubleshooting and maintenance expenses as the system is hosted over the internet and the service is accessed online. The hardware and system is owned and maintained by the Hosted PBX Service Provider which exempts the user from spending thousands of dollars on maintaining and upgrading a monstrous PBX system.
Hosted PBX VOIP is the ideal business phone system for the small and growing business enterprises as being user friendly. A key feature of the Small Business PBX Systems is that they can be easily configured to expand its functionalities. The Hosted PBX is an internet based technology that can be programmed to route calls to multiple extensions and calls between extensions are usually free. The long distance and international calling is very cheap. This is a great benefit for business enterprises that have multiple office branches in different locations.
The ability to port numbers is another feather in Hosted PBXs cap. For a small business organization it is viable to shift to a bigger office in a new location as the business expands. But it is not feasible to move an entire bulky PBX system to the new location. With the Hosted PBX Systems, moving to a new location is simplified as you only need to carry your IP phones with you. You can plug your phones to the new office and you are ready to work.
Configuring a Hosted PBX VOIP System is a piece of cake. The online control panel makes it possible to enable users to log into the PBX system anytime and configure the settings as per their business requirements. For instance, if you want to play a new professional greeting to your callers you can just log in and upload that new greeting whenever you want in just a matter of seconds. Or else, in case you are going out of town for an important meeting you can modify the call forwarding settings to direct all calls coming to your office number to be forwarded to your cell phone so that you dont miss a single important call.
The Hosted PBX VOIP Systems also provide better connectivity between you, your employees and clients with a whole bunch of attractive business class features. The clients can contact the business people instantly and also access online support in real time to get their IT issues resolved in minimum time. The centralized nature of communication due to 24X7 online accessibility and collaboration among remote users optimized business productivity manifolds.
Features like voicemail transcription, fax mail, conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, direct inward dialing, simultaneous ringing, click to call, enhanced ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) allow users to access their faxes, emails and voicemail messages online with the ability to download, print, forward or delete the files when required. This is a great benefit for employees who work form home or are constantly on trips and need remote access to the system.
The Hosted PBX can project your company as a fortune 500 enterprise at just a fraction of the price. Toll free numbers, vanity numbers, professionally customized greetings, music on hold and many such digital features make a lasting impression on your callers to increase your customer base and build reliable and longer customer relations.
Unified Communication is the icing on the cake for the Hosted PBX VOIP Systems which can simplify your business communication by giving access to the world class technology and features that can transform your business communication. Choosing the right business phone system for your business can be a sure shot towards making your business successful. Hosted PBX can take your business communication to a truly enterprise level at a price that fits in your pocket.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: IP, IT, PBX, Unified Communication
Voice Over Internet Protocol
Voice Over Internet Protocol
Voice Over Internet Protocol is a special type of communication protocol for transmission and reception of voice and multimedia signals through the internet protocol networks. This technology is also known as Internet Telephony, Voice Over Broadband, IP Telephony, Broadband Telephony. In VoIP, voice, fax, multimedia and voice messaging applications are transmitted and received over through internet. For smooth communication over VoIP, efficient network support is must.
The process of VoIP communication begins with making a VoIP telephone call. The first step in making a VoIP telephone call is setting up media channel. Then analog voice signal digitization, encoding, packetization and transmission follow. The same steps are carried out in the reverse order on the receiving side. The entire process is carried out by different types of computers and modems. So proper IT support is prerequisite for setting up VoIP communication. It ensures that computers and modems function properly.
Special session protocols are used by VoIP systems to control the setup. Audio CODECs are used for encoding speech. Various types of CODECs are used for different implementations of VoIP. In some implementations narrow band CODECs are used while in some other high fidelity stereo CODECs are preferred. Maintaining CODECs in good health is the responsibility of network support provider.
Generally 3 types of VoIP tools are popular in the market. Those 3 VoIP tools are Hosted VoIP, Home VoIP, Hybrid VoIP. As the name suggests Hosted VoIP is meant for business organizations while Home VoIP tool has been designed for home users. Hybrid VoIP tool has been designed for the organizations which want to continue with existing non-VoIP phone systems but also want to reap the benefits of VoIP.
VoIP could be implemented using various technologies,such as IP Multimedia Subsystem,Media Gateway Control Protocol,Session Initiation Protocol,Real Time Transport Protocol,Session Description Protocol.
VoIP has gone through lot of modifications for marketing purposes. It now employs broadband internet access, using which the subscribers can make and receive calls. VoIP service providers now support both inbound and outbound services with direct inbound dialing. Obviously a strong network support should be in place to provide that kind of service. Many service providers proffer unlimited local calling for a flat subscription fee.
To avail of the VoIP service, a VoIP device should be connected to the network of a VoIP service provider. This could be done in several ways. The first way of doing this is to connect a dedicated VoIP phone to the IP network using Ethernet card or wireless Wi-Fi. Another way is to use an analog telephone adapter which links to the network using special hardware and firmware. The third and last way is to employ a softphone. Softphone is an application software installed on a network computer with microphone and speaker. To install Softphone on a computer, the help of an IT support provider could be taken.
The VoIP service is economically feasible for common users because it cuts down the infrastructure and communication costs drastically. Separate voice and data networks are not required for VoIP service. One network could be utilized for both purposes. Caller ID, conference calling, call forwarding and automatic redialing features come with no extra cost.
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Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: Broadband Telephony, IT, Session Description Protocol, Session Initiation Protocol
Selecting a Business Voip Provider
In earlier articles we have looked at the importance of a voip provider’s core and access networks in delivering a high quality and reliable telephony service. This article will focus on the telephony services and features that a voip provider delivers.
One of the key advantages of using a hosted telephony service is that it removes the requirement of installing and maintaining complicated equipment. Most small offices do not have in house IT and Telecoms technical expertise so how do these organisations manage adds moves and changes to their telecoms set up. With a business telephone system (PBX) this must be managed through a support contract with a reseller which is often expensive and usually quite slow to react. For example if an office wanted to change the call routing of a particular telephone number this would have to be dealt with by raising a support ticket with the maintainer. The response times for these requests is at best hours and can sometimes take days. A good hosted IP telephony service will have a management portal that empowers non technical staff (typically office managers) to make changes to their telephony service in real time using a web portal. The management portal should be simple and easy to use with clear navigation and help menus and should allow for all aspects of the service to be managed. This includes the adding of users, changing of user details, setting up call routing, voicemails and auto-attendants to name just a few. Business Voip provider Voxalis has a very easy to use admin portal developed specifically for non technical people to use. Using the admin portal allows a business to react quickly to change and not be at the mercy of a support contract.
Voxalis also has a user management portal that allows standard users to make changes to the set up of their phone such as programming keys, setting up voicemail, and personal call routing. By empowering employees with the user portal a business can be sure that its staff members are getting the most of the technology at their disposal. The user portal also removes the workload from office administrators and small IT departments.
A good hosted IP telephony service will have a management portal that empowers non technical staff (typically office managers) to make changes to their telephony service in real time using a web portal. The management portal should be simple and easy to use with clear navigation and help menus and should allow for all aspects of the service to be managed. This includes the adding of users, changing of user details, setting up call routing, voicemails and auto-attendants to name just a few. Business Voip provider Voxalis has a very easy to use admin portal developed specifically for non technical people to use. Using the admin portal allows a business to react quickly to change and not be at the mercy of a support contract.
Voxalis also has a user management portal that allows standard users to make changes to the set up of their phone such as programming keys, setting up voicemail, and personal call routing. By empowering employees with the user portal a business can be sure that its staff members are getting the most of the technology at their disposal. The user portal also removes the workload from office administrators and small IT departments.
From the above we can see that even before evaluating the telephony features that a voip providers have to offer there are questions that need answering about their network set up. Once these have been satisfied a shortlist of voip providers can be produced and an evaluation of the telephony features can begin.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: Business Voip, IP, IT, PBX