VoIP or Voice over Internet protocol, is a modern means of making phone calls, which works by
converting the speaker’s voice into a digital signal and transmit it through the Internet.
You can use VoIP in a lot of ways. You can use a specialized VoIP-enabled phone, or you can simply plug
in your regular phone to a digital adapter. VoIP works even if you do not have a phone. Just dial directly
from your computer using a microphone and a headphone set or using your smart phone.
VoIP are one of the best phone mediums when it comes to saving costs for both personal and business
use. Instead of calling from a costly old-school telephone system, you can do the same for a fraction of
the cost.
Take a look at some of the best ways you can save money by simply switching from traditional phone
systems to hosted VoIP:
1. Lower Charges with Enhanced Quality
VoIP naturally costs less as the calling feature is built on your existing internet connection. Technically
speaking, your traditional phone line is replaced with the SIP trunk. This saves up to 50% on your
monthly phone bill. Apart from lower prices, VoIP provides far better service and quality.
2. Remote Usage
VoIP is a ubiquitous technology; meaning that phones can work from virtually anywhere. This way
businesses can hire employees remotely, while providing them phone services. Ultimately, you can
reduce phone infrastructure and network costs, along with real estate and utility expenses drastically.
3. Reduce Installation and Maintenance Costs
VoIP does not involve any complex infrastructure needs compared to other telecommunication
technologies. There’s typically no setup fees for moving an old phone number to a VoIP provider. For
maintenance, your provider looks after customer support and uses web-based dashboards to make any
configuration changes to your system.
4. Cheap International Calls
Typical landline technologies get more expensive for long distance calls. But when it comes to VoIP,
distance doesn’t really matter. This is chiefly because VoIP calls travel over the internet, all calls are
technically local calls. Not only that, the call quality will be the same no matter where you are.
5. Premium Features Come Standard
VoIP subscriptions come with features that are typically not available with old-fashioned telephone.
These features include text messaging, voicemail to email, auto attendants, conferencing, one-click
calling, mobile apps, and more.
VoIP – Hardware and Software Infrastructure
VoIP requires some key infrastructure components to be installed at both your provider’s side as well as
at your home. Although there’s a lot of stuff that your provider needs to have deployed to run their
operations, here are a couple of components that they need to have to ensure that you get reliable
quality service:
Servers and Hosting: These are installed in enterprise class servers that are hosted in Internet Data
Centers (IDC). The servers and hosting makes sure that you get an always-on service with quality
bandwidth.
Bandwidth Optimization and Tunneling Software: This is installed on the server side to improve overall
quality of VoIP, even when the internet bandwidth is not adequate to support VoIP calls.
Here are some of the hardware components that you may need to have installed at your home:
Desktop phone and Adapter: You can use your existing landline phones with the help of a simple
adaptor to connect them to the internet. An adapter would cost you around $50. Also, you can purchase
specially designed VoIP phones, however they may cost a little more ($75-$250).
PC and Smart devices: To make VoIP phone calls, you can use a computer or other internet-connected
devices, such as smartphones and tablets using your provider’s VoIP app. Your smartphone is then called
a ‘softphone’.
