VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is like a 180-degree turn from the standard POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), which is the regular phone that we have known for centuries. With VoIP, voice signals are transmitted digitally over the Internet. Hence, it is essentially like an email being sent from the senderâ??s computer to the recipientâ??s, except that the data is in the form of voice. Many issues came about in its inception but have been addressed as well as years went by. Now, almost all forms of telecom businesses have tried and are now enjoying the technology.
For small or medium businesses who are still contemplating on getting VoIP, here are some of the many advantages VoIP can offer your business:
- VoIP allows your staff to make and receive phone calls wherever they are. This is good for businesses where travelling is required for the job. The VoIP phone can simply be attached to the laptop, and as long as there is Internet connection available in the area, making phone calls is just as easy as doing it from a regular phone. This also allows your employees to still be contactable by your customers wherever they are.
- VoIP providers offer cheaper call rates than standard PSTN providers. If your business makes a lot of long distance calls, whether domestic or international, you can definitely save a lot of dollars by using VoIP services. The more established VoIP providers are the ones able to charge lesser costs because they have presence in almost all major cities of the world. Thus, calling international is like calling locally in terms of charges.
- Installation of VoIP systems is not as hard as you think. Almost all service providers will install the system for you and configure it for ready use. There is no special training needed, or very minimal if there is, for your IT staff to go through in order to manage the VoIP system. Also, your existing infrastructure can even be used as VoIP, anyway, uses LAN and other forms of Internet connectivity. This will add up to your savings in installation costs.
- Compared to standard telephony, VoIP has far more sophisticated features. For one, you can have phone numbers with different area codes that you desire even if you are just staying in one location. This benefits businesses that have customers, or want to have clients, from other states or country. Say the business located in Australia wants to enter the US market, specifically New York, the business will just request for the VoIP provider for a US number with NY area code so all outbound calls to New York will just be like a local call, and will be charged way cheaper than standard international calls.
VoIP has many more advantages to offer. Itâ??s a good idea to get more information from VoIP service providers so they can also custom fit the VoIP package depending on the needs of your business.