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VoIP. It is an acronym that means “Voice Over Internet Protocol” and can be described as telephone services over the Internet. Or, as the FCC Website says: “Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line” (www.fcc.gov/voip).
Indeed it does, and with some spectacular features and capabilities.
VoIP has become the “telephone” technology of choice for many reasons, not least of which is cost for the Telco’s and cable companies to deploy. VoIP is based on IP and is by definition, digital. Digital equipment provides more bang for the buck as compared to analog (the old-time stuff many of us grew up with) and has some very interesting advantages. It has one major disadvantage, but more on that later.
When you think “analog,” think “sine wave.” Analog voice systems transmit the sounds of your voice in analog format, combining the tones and frequencies of the human voice. Digital systems convert those voice tones and frequencies into digital information that is then re-assembled at the receiving end, and played back as “analog” to your ears. Ears are very much “analog” devices. Analog equipment is relatively limited in capability and the transition to forms of digital communications has been an on-going process for a good long time.
VoIP as a truly usable technology is relatively new. Vonage™ and Skype™ are examples of VoIP services. Vonage customers currently enjoy essentially unlimited calling within the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe for a relatively modest flat fee. Skype is free for calls to other Skype subscribers (free subscriptions/registrations as well) and cheaper calls to “land lines” and cell phones (according to the Skype website).
The heavy advertising by the telecom and cable companies to induce you to take a package of voice (telephone) data (internet) and movies, is an attempt to lock in a customer base. The telecom companies are attempting to stabilize a threatened market and the cable companies are attempting to bite off chunks of that same market.
For businesses, the largely unheralded features of VoIP technology are where the real value of the technology manifests. Any business, large or small, could benefit from establishing a VoIP system. Any small business that experiences high call volumes that can come at any time of the day or night, and has a small staff, would especially benefit.
With a VoIP system installed, a company has available the equivalent of a giant PBX system. Almost unlimited extensions are available, virtually every feature ever offered by a Telco is available, and distance is literally no problem, providing internet access is available.
For a company with two or more physical locations, whether in adjoining towns or adjoining states, each phone in each office can be treated as an extension in a single office. All that is needed is some form of high speed internet access at each location.
A company with a single physical location but with a dispersed workforce would find VoIP an excellent choice as well. With the right software package, your laptop, your cell phone or your PDA, so long as high speed internet access was available, could serve as your “desk extension” — no matter where you are located. You could literally be physically in the local coffee shop, at home, at a client’s location, or anywhere a WiFi hotspot was available, and you could make and receive phone calls on your “office phone,” from your office “extension.”
Do you have after-hours staff who may work from home? No problem. “Transfer” the incoming line to their “extension” and they no longer need to worry about returning a customer call from their private phone, nor do you need to pay for an extra phone line to their location. If they have high speed internet access, the right equipment, and especially, the right software, they are ready to answer business calls without worrying about forwarding phones, or giving our their private phone numbers.
You will note that a repeatedly stated requirement is for access to high speed internet. DSL or faster is required for this protocol to work efficiently. That is probably the biggest weakness of VoIP systems. If you are depending on internet access for this service, you will only have the reliability that your ISP provides at each location. If you are lucky enough to enjoy a private network between locations, that is not an issue. Few of us have that luxury, however.
The cost of implementation is somewhat stiff, but when scale is added, or when amortized over a period of a year or two, the systems become extremely price friendly. A typical “roll your own” server will cost between $1500 to $2500, and each multiline phone will cost approximately $150-$250 each depending on number of lines and other features. If scale allows you to drop 10 or 20 $35+ a month business lines, the system pays for itself very quickly. Even if you are only able to drop three or four lines while retaining two or three, a cost savings of $70 to $105 per month adds up quickly. The server is able to serve a seemingly unlimited number of extensions, depending on how robust the server hardware is. One or 100, the same server will work just as well.
It is easy to think of many organizations that would greatly benefit from this technology. Churches, schools, emergency services (especially fire districts), engineering firms, real estate, construction firms, architects, utilities, and virtually any organization that uses telephone systems to communicate have a potential benefit from the use of VoIP technology. Disbursed locations or spread out staff members makes any such organization a strong candidate for this system.
What is the benefit of all of this? In a nutshell, you can enjoy the liberty to configure your phone system the way you want to configure it, and not have to accept whatever is offered by the “big guy” telephone company or cable company.
VoIP will not replace cell phones (yet). VoIP will largely replace the legacy analog “land lines” we have known all our lives. What a VoIP system will especially do, is afford a level of flexibility and service that is robust, extensive, and at a price almost anyone can afford. This VoIP is for you!
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