Simply put, VoIP is “voice over internet protocol”, a type of internet telephone that can have some major advantages over traditional, land-based phones in terms of use and price.  There are some requirements to using VoIP and some equipment considerations to make, however, it can equal huge cost savings in the long run and is at least worth a strong look.  Your managed services provider can give you the basic rundown of what it is, how it works and how much it costs in terms of the initial investment and over the course of a year in comparison to other methods of communication.

 Three Basic Connections for VoIP:

Ÿ  Computer to computer.  This eliminates the cost of long distance calls by routing calls from one computer terminal to another.  There are several types of equipment that allow this and it is worthwhile to explore the type that best suits your needs.  It does require that both the sender and receiver have their computers on and connected to the internet.  It also requires a high speed internet connection.

Ÿ  Computer to traditional telephone.  After subscribing to a computer phone service, the caller can call any phone in the world, regardless of the type.  However, this format requires specialized software and will incur either a per minute or flat rate, per month fee.

Ÿ  Traditional phone to traditional phone over the internet.  With this setup, the caller subscribes to an internet phone service provider and uses a hardware adapter that connects any traditional phone to the internet, even without a computer.  This type of setup is not often seen in business usage, however.

Equipment Needs for VoIP

To get set up with VoIP, the company needs to first decide what type of service it will be using and how often the service will be needed.  Because most companies already have or will need computers, the computer to computer formatting will most likely be used, however, the computer to traditional telephone format is common as well.  One of the first items that will need to be bought or rented is the internet telephone; there are several types to choose from.  There will also be software that needs to be installed on the computer(s) that will be used for the service and there may be additional hardware that needs to be installed as well.

Why Use VoIP?

There are countless options for telecommunications in the modern business world, including via landline telephone, cellular phone, internet phone, instant messaging and email, to name a few.  While all of these have their advantages, they have drawbacks as well.  For instance, land line phone service is typically more expensive than the others.  Cell phone plans can be expensive as well, and they can be very challenging to work with in terms of getting the right amount of minutes for your business needs.  Using email or instant messaging to confirm a meeting time or date is one thing, but trying to explain a complicated business deal can be problematic via this form of communication, especially if your own email does not include the original message – you may not remember what you said or asked and the reply will make little to no sense to you at all.

VoIP allows a business to make and receive phone calls for a price that is far less than that of the more traditional forms of communication.  When it was first initiated, the sound quality for these phones was admittedly low, however, there have been many improvements to the service in recent years and it is a viable way of communicating and saving money no matter what size business you have.