What is VoIP?

VoIP Features

With the improvement that had been taking place for several decades, traditional landlines were also able to offer some great features toward the end of their obsolescence (considering that the technology is obsolete today). For example, you could take advantage of call diverting, voice mail; call blocking, and caller ID services. You could make national as well as international calls, albeit they were quite expensive.

The great thing about VoIP is that it offers all the features stated above plus some more. Since VoIP is the voice-over IP, one can take advantage of internet technology in innumerable ways. Not only are you able to take advantage of the voicemail feature but you can listen to it on your computer or smartphone. Furthermore, you can call people in any part of the world without requiring a phone set up—your computer and internet connection are enough. Video conferencing is another feature that gives VoIP the upper hand over traditional telephones.

VoIP Call and Sound Quality

Call quality is quite similar on both landlines and VoIP phones. They can both experience interruptions. Crackling can occur with VoIP, but you can avoid these problems by subscribing to reliable and reputable services and purchasing quality VoIP supplies.

VoIP Costs

In this particular area, VoIP takes the cake. Even though landline services providers have done their best to bring down the costs of traditional landline services, the overall costs, in the long run, are still much higher than VoIP, especially when considering international calls and weighing in value based on features. On average, integrating VoIP technology lets businesses save from 50% to 70% in costs. Not to mention, the installation of multiple landline phones in an office requires several wires to pass through walls. This hassle combined with the unsightly wires coming out of phone closets can make landline phones a lot of hassle and also costly due to maintenance requirements.

Technological Differences

Of course, the biggest difference between the two is technology. On the consumer end, an IP phone and a traditional phone work the same way. You pick up a receiver, hear a person on the other side, speak in the mouthpiece, and a conversation proceeds. However, if you have an internet connection but you want a landline phone in your office, you will have to go through the installation of copper wires and various other components. On the other hand, if you buy a VoIP phone, you can plug your internet cable into it and start using it to make and receive calls.

• As mentioned earlier, the internet data packets can travel on various lines at the same time. Contrasting to that is the traditional phone where when you are talking to someone, a copper wire (a line) is dedicated to you and can’t be used by anyone else during that time.

VoIP Cost Savings

The main reason for using VoIP is cost saving. You can save tons of money by switching to this technology for either residential or commercial use. The biggest problem with traditional phones is that the more time you spend talking to someone on the phone the more you pay. Contrary to that, you don’t pay for how much time you spend on the line when you are on VoIP. In most cases, your monthly bill covers everything for you.

When you compare the costs of using these technologies, you save more than 90% for making international calls on VoIP phones. The savings on local calls can be easily over 40% for using VoIP technology.

VoIP Flexibility

The flexibility of options with VoIP technology beats traditional telephones any day. The only way you can talk using a PSTN system is by having an orthodox telephone unit. This is not the case when you use VoIP. Once you are connected to the internet, you have a variety of ways to talk to someone on the other side of the world. You can use an IP phone, which looks like a traditional phone, or you could use your smartphone, tablet, or personal computer to make the call. This flexibility is associated not only with making calls but in other areas as well.

• For example, you can receive voicemails on your emails and respond to them right from there. In fact, by using small adapters, you can convert your traditional phones into VoIP phones as well.

VoIP Features

As time passed in to the digital era, traditional PSTN technology evolved and introduced a lot of features too. When landlines started becoming obsolete, you were able to put calls on wait and see the phone number of the caller before picking up their phone i.e. caller ID. However, these features cannot compete with what VoIP phones today have to offer.

• VoIP phones enable you to do voicemail with a twist. For example, you can now see a transcript of the voicemail right on the screen of your IP phone. People can still send voicemails to people who have hearing complications or are hearing-impaired, and rest assured they will understand the message by reading it on the screen.
• VoIP technology allows you to have multiple people over the phone at the same time and send faxes without any charges. What makes it even more advanced is that you can now manage your phone settings remotely. You can even set calls to be distributed to multiple phones at the same time—a perfect feature for large offices with many employees.

VoIP and Remote Working

With the VoIP technology, you don’t necessarily need your employees to be available at their desks at all times. Once connected to the network, they can stay at home or be travelling while still connected to their office phone number. This allows them to answer calls for customers and clients even when they are out of the the office. The best thing is that your employees can answer those calls right from their own smartphones. As a business owner, this helps you save a lot of money because your office overhead costs are brought down significantly.

Increased Productivity

Many of the productivity aspects of using VoIP technology might seem small, but when you add them up over a long period of time the benefits can be huge. In the past, employees had to stop doing their work in order to pick up a call. Today, they can answer a call from their smartphone or even their personal computer. Call parking is another unique feature that VoIP has made easy. With the call parking feature, you can put a call on hold at your office phone and pick up the same call from the phone in your storeroom for example. Again, these gains might seem small, but such tiny productivity spikes add up at the end of the day.

Choose Your VoIP Provider Wisely

It is first the responsibility of your VoIP provider to have security measures in place before you make the efforts from your side. The first thing you want to ask them is encryption. Encryption of your voice data means that your data will be converted in such a format that it will appear gibberish to anyone who tries to access your data. ID spoofing and call hijacking can be easily kept at bay by having your data encrypted.

Secure Your VoIP Phones and Wi-Fi with Strong Passwords

There is no doubt that memorizing all the passwords in today’s digital world is nearly impossible. You can remember three or four passwords, but if you are an active internet user, you might have more than a dozen passwords to remember. However, it does not mean that you should start allocating the same or simple passwords to every account. When it comes to your VoIP phones and Wi-Fi, you should protect them using strong passwords. Make your passwords a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters.

Use In-built Security Features of Your VoIP Phone

Your VoIP phones come equipped with several features that allow you to make them safe. When it comes to businesses using VoIP, these features can play a significant role. First, always use the login password and ID feature on the phone. Furthermore, create only limited accounts and allow them access. You can allow certain calls and disallow others. You can also decide the time during which all calls are blocked or diverted. Know these features well before you purchase a VoIP phone.

Install Only Authorized VoIP Applications

Use only the applications that your VoIP provider has asked you to install. Do not try to go for third-party software as they can do more harm than good. Furthermore, update your application as soon as you receive update notifications for them. You have to keep in mind that non-updated and unpatched versions of software act like open windows for cybercriminals to invade.

Look for Deep Packet Inspection Feature

Deep packet inspection goes many steps ahead of shallow packet inspection. Before the packets come to you through the internet, they pass through deep packet inspection where filtration of any malware and harmful packets takes place.

Have Strict Policies for Those Who Access VoIP

This one is significant for businesses that have integrated VoIP solutions within their operations. Sometimes, businesses take all the measures to protect their VoIP systems and are quite successful with their efforts. However, while doing this, they forget a very serious security threat—employees’ devices. These are the independent devices that belong to your employees, and they could be carrying malware and viruses in them. If any of your employees’ devices connect to your network, make sure you have told them to have proper safety features on their phones, so your system does not get infected.

Use Call Forwarding Wisely

To understand this thing you need to familiarize yourself with toll fraud. Toll fraud is also known as VoIP fraud. A hacker committing this type of fraud will gain access to your phones and then make calls from them without you knowing about it. It is therefore highly recommended that you check your call forwarding rules and their applications regularly. You want to make sure that your calls are being forwarded to the right people. In addition to this, you should also check your call logs properly and regularly. By checking call logs, you will know that no unauthorized calls are being made from the phone.

Use a VoIP Specific Firewall

When you have a VoIP-specific firewall installed, you will not have to go through your call logs to look for anomalies. In fact, this firewall will automatically detect any anomalies and inform you about them. T is always best that you let the professional installers take care of these things rather than relying on your skills.

Connect VoIP to a CRM

A great number of businesses that use CRM have their customer relationship management systems connected with their VoIP systems. When both systems are connected to each other, information from the VoIP system is available readily in the CRM for customer service representatives to look at. By looking at past call records, the CSRs of your customer service and sales teams are better able to serve the customers. The availability of such data allows for stronger customer relations and loyalty.

VoIP and Project Management

Google defines communication as the most important aspect of making any project successful. In fact, all the large organizations today believe in the power of effective communication to make projects successful. However, when new people are made part of the project in the middle, the progress can come to a stop because the new member has to be explained everything. However, with the use of VoIP technology, all your voice communications can be recorded for the newcomer to listen to and grasp what the project is all about.

VoIP Email Client Compatibility

You can connect your internal emailing system with VoIP to make the most of both technologies. For example, Microsoft Outlook can be connected with VoIP allowing you to create a database of your contacts and manage it with perfection. With such integration, you can always make your Microsoft Outlook contacts available on your phone system. Any audio messages sent by your customers can then be listened to from your Outlook software. This means you won’t necessarily have to be on the phone to listen to customers.

VoIP Helps You Manage Your Accounts

VoIP systems get all the information from your accounting software to your mobile devices. This allows your agents to schedule calls for customers and get reminders to make those calls. If any customers have not paid their dues, your agents will be able to get in touch with them as soon as possible.

VoIP Phones

Choose the phones that suit the requirements of the people who’ll be using them. Salespeople need to store a lot of records and the ability to call those numbers instantly. Customer service calls have to be recorded whereas the CEO might want a virtual receptionist feature on the phone. You want to look for features like a clear display, wideband audio, expansion module compatibility and multiple protocol support. You will have to look through a wide range of VoIP phones to find the ones that have all the features you need and are priced right.

Headsets

To make the most of your VoIP system, you need the right headsets. You can’t just work with any regular headsets and expect great quality when working with a VoIP system. You need to consider things like one-ear or two-ear operation, noise-canceling, ear cushioning, etc. before purchasing headsets.

IP-PBX Boxes

These are the most important components that go into a business VoIP phone system. These boxes allow you to route calls within your workplace and manage incoming and outgoing calls. You need a robust IP-PBX system to manage all VoIP calls in the best possible way and reduce your overall costs of having multiple lines.

VoIP Adapters

If you already have landlines in place and having a full VoIP system is out of your budget, you could consider buying VoIP adapters that allow you to connect even your traditional phones with internet lines. Or you could avoid the cost of buying more VoIP phones and hook up the available telephones with your existing VoIP system. You have to make sure your adapter is compatible with the equipment you have.

Network Hardware

Your entire VoIP system and its performance depend greatly on the types of routers and switches you have connected to the network. Keep in mind that the routers in the system have a huge impact on the call quality over your VoIP lines. Modern routers have the features of managing your network traffic and bandwidth in a sensible way. They switch priorities to make the most important network activities to get ample bandwidth. For example, an intelligent router will prevent some cloud sync from consuming all the bandwidth and affecting the quality of calls for your customer service department. You should look for a QoS feature when purchasing VoIP routers to save your bandwidth costs and manage your network traffic intelligently.

Intercom Equipment

Of course, one of the most important parts of communication for businesses is an intercom system. Employees working within a company should be able to get in touch with each other without busying the phone lines and additional costs. Ease of installation, performance, flexible call routing features and scalability make IP intercom systems a much-needed feature for businesses.

A Mobile Solution

You have to look at your current methods of operation and decide the type of solution you want to go for. If you have employees that don’t work from your office premises but are rather traveling, you would want a solution that meets these requirements. Not only do you want mobility to be a part of the solution but you also want a high quality of service. Keep in mind that when users are on the go, their connection with your system has to be perfect for proper communication.