Telecommunications
Have you started a small business or are getting ready to start one, and feeling a bit overwhelmed by all your choices in technology? If you constantly hear terms and initials you've never heard of and/or don't know the meaning of, you're not alone! Who has the time to stay on top of all that? So if you've ever wondered, what is 'VOIP'? That is the subject of our discussion for today's post.
Technology and communications services today seem to move at the speed of light. The moment we get used to one thing, everything changes again with some new and improved version. It makes some of us long for the good old days, and a traditional phone system, with traditional phone lines — one that had its problems, but at least we understood the basics of how it worked!
The Internet has given us all the knowledge we can absorb, right at our fingertips. With it, comes both freedoms and dangers of a very different nature. Telecommunications with people, products, and businesses worldwide have become the "norm".
VOIP
VOIP stands for voice over Internet Protocol and is also often called IP telephony. Both refer to the way a group of technologies delivers multimedia sessions featuring voice communications, through applications like Zoom and RingCentral.
With today's fast-moving technological advances, a need for reliable communication on the Internet has resulted in a redesign of the infrastructure of our businesses. Small to large business owners alike have a need for better solutions to their communication issues, security problems, and a myriad of other daily hassles involving communication. Information technology has never been more prevalent.
A New Kind Of Phone Service
Voice over Internet Protocol has evolved to a new kind of telephone service for individuals and business owners alike. Traditional telephone companies are on what's called the public switched telephone network, and are quickly becoming obsolete, especially since VOIP service providers are popping up everywhere, and offer better service with more features for a LOT less money.
A VOIP provider even has optional IP-enabled phones and offers free IP phones with some business plans. For individuals, voice-over IP services are usually free, meaning you can make International calls and enjoy all the additional benefits without ever paying a bill.
Businesses Love VOIP
Traditional phone lines are a thing of the past. VOIP technology has made access to this kind of ease in worldwide communication simple and cost-effective. There are a variety of cloud solutions offered for both individuals and organizations.
Most of these VOIP solutions are free for the average person, and very affordable for small business startups. There are some IP technology features offered to businesses that are pretty irresistible, such as the Autobot operator. Think, "press 1 to make a payment, press 2 to hear your balance…", and so on. This allows businesses to have an automated answering system in place which routes incoming calls to the right department or person.
Entrepreneurs Love VOIP
If you're starting a business and trying to figure out your communications strategy, consider using VOIP technology. A VOIP phone system gives you an advantage because you're spending less money on your phone bill, yet you can call all over the world, and for pennies instead of dollars.
You'll spend less on equipment too since you can now use any Internet-enabled device for VOIP calls. This includes computers and many desk phones, cell phones, and mobile devices. In other words, it doesn't matter what kind of outdated telephone network or telephone service you were using, a VOIP service provider can make the VOIP system work for you, for less!
How It Works
An Internet Telephony or a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider uses your broadband internet connection and local area network (LAN) to give you a digital signal for your VoIP calls. The higher the volume of users and devices on your network, the more bandwidth you need for the broadband connection.
Luckily, this is something you can add or subtract as needed easily, adding to the scalability factor of your business. You will, of course, need good internet access and a high-speed internet connection to make your VoIP calls. In addition, you will want to work with a good IT company (or department) to update some of your equipment such as your router, or maybe to purchase a PoE switch. Since everyone has uniquely different needs and has different and variable types of equipment, it's impossible to say without tech support what your business will need.
Special Features
Since your employees won't need a hard phone (like a desk phone) to make phone calls anymore, you never have to deal with telephone companies again! No more having to call the telephone company to have another phone line put in, or making any phone calls from a hard phone again!
You can also use VoIP apps on your mobile device when you need to do any voice calling or answer telephone calls for work, but you're not at the physical location. You can use your Voice over IP number that you choose for your business, on any mobile phone or tablet with these apps. Make phone calls using your internet connection, and kiss your old phone service goodbye!
Some other terrific features are things like call recording, which can be enabled for any voice calls at any time, without disrupting the conversation or alerting the other party. For all voice calls using VoIP providers, incoming calls have caller ID, and you can enable your caller ID to display your business number or a restricted message.
Incoming calls can also be routed to a personalized voicemail if you prefer. You can even do instant messaging and conference calls with your VoIP phone service, and at a fraction of the cost. So making a VoIP call has never been easier, whether you have a VoIP phone or a desk phone.
Blue Oak Technology Solutions
Here at Blue Oak Technology Solutions, we like to think of ourselves as your IT department. Our clients enjoy monthly managed services that contain just what they need, and nothing they don't. One of the services we offer is equipment acquisition.
Because we have been in business since 2004, we have formed partnerships and alliances with multiple organizations in the related industries necessary to be able to help our clients with just about anything they may need. From office furniture to computers, mobile devices to software and hardware - Blue Oak Tech has you covered.
Some of our other services include things like 24/7 system management and monitoring, hosted email services, data backup, storage and protection, cloud service solutions, wireless solutions, and more.
We also offer technical support anytime and have an on-call technician for after-hours and emergency services calls. Our customer service is friendly and personal, too! Contact us today, at Blue Oak Technology Solutions to see how we can help your small to medium-sized business.
