SystemsNet Blog

Tag Archives: VOIP

VoIP Telephony and Why You Should Consider Using It

May 11, 2018VOIPBusiness Phones, Business Telephony, Office Phones, Phone Bills, Save Money on Office Phones, VOIP, VoIP ServiceSystemsNet Administrator

Dialing telephone keypad. VoIP telephony and the benefits

Ready for the flexibility of VoIP?

The telecommunications age began in the 1830’s with the first telegraph equipment. It’s contemporary developments in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, changed the world forever.

The first attempts at communicating “long distance” using electricity covered less than a mile. They were, however, responsible for the development of binary code, electrical rotary switching technology and many other techniques and technologies that form the basis of today’s communication revolution. From these beginnings through to the invention of the telephone and human-operated dialing and switching systems we have evolved to digitalized communication techniques and protocols for connecting to virtually anyone, any place, at any time. One of the technologies spawned from the simple wires and taps connection more than 150 years ago is VoIP telephony.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It represents a technology with global reach. VoIP works by digitizing sound. Ordinary POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service, no kidding, that’s what it is called) was invented in the mid-1800’s, with the first patent issued in 1876. POTS used analog interfaces to push or vibrate sound along a copper wire from one destination to another. VoIP expands this capability by encoding the values of the vibrations into binary code, dividing the message into small packets and reassembling them at the receiver’s end of the conversation.

While POTS has served us well for more than 100 years, VoIP is an improvement in many ways:

• The clarity of the digital signal is vastly superior to the analog version.

• The digitized signals can be transmitted cheaper and quicker than the analog signals.

• The digital signals can be moved out of the phone realm and into emails automatically creating a Unified Communication Platform.

• VoIP signals can transmit video and audio connections on a greater variety of devices. This means that you can have virtual machines known as “softphones” accessible from any computer, smartphone, or tablet.

• VoIP systems reduce the need for duplicate wiring that analog phones require by using your existing internet connectivity and cabling.

• VoIP phone systems make internal calling free even between geographically distinct sites by using SIP technology.

VoIP systems are available both as an on premise or as a hosted solution. In an on premise installation, you will need to set up a VoIP PBX, VoIP router and voicemail server. With a hosted solution you will still need a router to translate the VoIP traffic so that it goes to the right party with the proper quality of service assured.

While we’ve talked about some of the technical advantages and features of a VoIP system, let’s look at some of the benefits to the user community. VoIP systems being computer-based provide a much more comprehensive array of user experiences than a POTS PBX system can. With VoIP systems, you can set up users and features using a graphical user interface that allows drag and drop movement of phones and features. Your phone system can be accessed remotely and changes made from outside your office at full internet speeds rather than at the dial-up modem speeds of a POTS system.

VoIP systems allow, as mentioned before, Softphones. Softphones will enable a user to answer their desk phone from anywhere in the world provided they can connect to your installation through the internet. This function allows your team to work remotely at another internal office, at a different desk in the same room, from their home office, or from a customer site. When they are fully mobile, they can answer their desk phone on their cell phone as well. In some configurations, you can even use them for hot swapped offices by providing users a login code that will assign a specific desk phone to them for a given period or until they log out of the system.

The majority of VoIP systems create a receptionist console that can monitor all other lines to see if they are in use, manage out of office messages, allow hunt groups and a myriad of other features. All while reducing the total cost of ownership, improving call quality, providing video conferencing in certain circumstances and eliminating the expense of the site to site calls.

If you are interested in learning more about VoIP telephony and the benefits and applications for your business, please contact Systems Net today for an educational consultation or feel free to browse our website. As a premiere provider of VoIP and other IT services, we look forward to working to exceed your expectations.

Where Is VoIP Going in 2018?

April 12, 2018VOIPBusiness Phones, Business Telephony, Communications, VOIPSystemsNet Administrator

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Dialing on phone system

What to expect in VoIP technology in the coming year.

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, has become the clear standard for office phone systems. It costs less than old-style PSTN service and allows more features. The preferred way to go, especially for SMBs, is hosted PBX. It minimizes the need for on-premises hardware and lets people connect from anywhere. That much is now a solid base, so where are we going from here?

Wireless VoIP

A big area of growth has been wireless phones on a VoIP system. There are three ways to do this: Wi-Fi connections, cell network connections, and DECT phones. The mobile VoIP market is expected to grow at 28% a year in the next few years.

DECT, Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology, is most familiar in the home market as cordless phones with landline base stations. The technology works just as well with VoIP base stations. The handset range can be as much as 100 meters, though interference and physical obstacles can reduce it. Unlike Wi-Fi, DECT is specifically designed for voice communication, so it gives a higher-quality experience. Wi-Fi is less expensive, though, and often is good enough.

With the 5G network and 10 Gbps speeds on the horizon, cell phone connections to hosted voice systems will get more bandwidth, improving the quality of video and conference calls. In addition, they’ll be able to handle data in new ways. The specification now exists, and the first networks should start to appear in 2018.

Adding data to calls

“Unified Communication” is a hot buzzword. It means the convergence of voice, video, and data. It’s easier for people to reach understanding when they see each other as well as hearing. There’s more value in business calls when people can see images, charts, and spreadsheets as they’re talking about them.

UC is developing in ways that deserve the adjective “unified” more than ever. In the past, combining data with phone calls has often been messy. In 2017 there’s been a strong trend to real integration of voice and data services, and this will continue in 2018 and beyond. Software vendors such as Salesforce and Microsoft provide broad application suites that can easily be integrated with VoIP.

Bypassing the PSTN

Having a hosted PBX doesn’t just make calls to phone numbers cheaper. It often eliminates the need to call a phone number at all. Internet-only connections allow the full range of VoIP features, including ones that aren’t available on a voice-only line. Remote offices and business partners can connect to the same PBX as the main office and get high-bandwidth phone connections with access to video, conferencing, and integrated data.

Maintaining security

One of the less fortunate signs that a technology is successful is that crooks go after it. Security for VoIP systems has become an important issue. If the voice network isn’t well secured, it’s potentially a gateway for intruders to get into a business’s private data and customer records. Isolating the voice network from the data network reduces the risk. A hosted PBX generally provides better security than an on-premises exchange.

VoIP phones are computing devices, and as such they’re vulnerable to malware. Keeping their firmware updated regularly is important.

Security measures that aren’t designed with voice communication in mind can interfere with quality of service. The near future will see growth in VoIP-friendly security software and hardware.

Planning for the future

Internet telephone systems are evolving rapidly, but that’s not a reason to hold back. SIP has become the dominant standard for phones on the network, and phones built on it won’t become obsolete soon. Features and options will expand, but a hosted PBX provides the flexibility and scalability to adapt without spending a lot. VoIP phone systems are today’s reality for business, and they’ll only get better.

Are you looking for a scalable, robust hosted PBX for your business? Talk to us.

What Can VoIP Offer You?

February 22, 2018VOIPOffice Phones, Phones, Telephony, VOIPSystemsNet Administrator

Woman using internet based phone services

Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems

We are sure you have been told about the numerous benefits and advantages of Internet-based phone services and features. However, are you aware of how impactful these services and features can be to your business? Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems can offer your business a variety of benefits, including the following:

Getting notified of your voicemails through email or cell phone notifications
On-hold music that you can customize
Auto attendant services
The ability to make changes to your telephone
Cordless telephones

While these features and services are great for helping your business for the entire year, the VoIP services can greatly impact your business during the holidays. During the holidays, many businesses will have different opening and closing hours than they do for the earlier part of the year.

Business Hours

If you have plans to close your business during the holiday season, change your hours, or schedule events for certain days, your customers can always be in the loop. You will not have to worry about your customers being placed on hold or being sent to voicemail because VoIP will allow you to remain in contact with them at all times. It does not matter if your business will take a break during the holidays or if you will have events scheduled, you can answer your customers’ phone calls even when you are not in the office.

Route Your Calls

If you will have a business event or a Christmas party on a particular day and you do not plan to take any phone calls, you will be able to route your office phone calls to your cellular device. If you receive phone calls that you do not want to answer, you can route those phone calls to your voicemail. You can answer the phone calls that you feel are important and should be answered immediately.

Take Your Work Home

If you have plans to work from the comfort of your own home during the holiday season, you will be able to do this and not worry about the progress of your business. You can answer your office phone calls on your cell phone from the VoIP control panel in your office. You can also make the decision to take the office VoIP phone home and use it on your home’s router.

Who’s Working?

Not only will you be able to answer phone calls on your cell phone while you are home, you will also be able to use your system so your loyal customers do not think you are not accepting any business during the holidays. You can make sure all of the phone calls are routed to the employees who are working. You will not have to worry about phone calls being sent to employees who are off for the holidays. Your customers will always have their questions answered when you ensure that you are routing your phone calls to the right people.

You Have A Message

One of the great things about VoIP is that it will allow you to customize your business message. You can even record a holiday greeting for your answering machine or your voicemail settings. There are various things you can include on your answering machine or voicemail, including announcing sales, promos, etc.

VoIP gives any business the flexibility, dependability, and reliability they need in a service. If you want to ease the pain and frustrations of the holiday season, VoIP can certainly alleviate some of that stress for you. If you want to keep up with the holiday pace, please do not hesitate to contact us today for additional information about VoIP.

7 Reasons Voice Over IP is Great for Your Call Center

February 1, 2018VOIPBusiness Phones, Office Phones, Telephone Service, VOIP, VoIP ServiceSystemsNet Administrator

Call center representatives at a help desk using VOIP

Flexibility is a given fact with VoIP

The purpose of your business call center is to be communicating constantly. As the central point of contact for your help desk support, the call center deals with the steady incoming press of clients calling for either customer service or technical assistance. Your talented and indomitably cheerful staff members are on the phones all day long, chatting with customers, sorting out problems, and creating a positive support experience. A common and very recently outdated misconception is that any company that wants a call center will have to pay the usual hefty phone bill and go through the rigors of line installation. Fortunately, as the world of incredibly efficient software grows, new solutions to old questions are being discovered. VOIP, or Voice over IP, is gaining popularity as a practical and cost-effective replacement to the classic business phone system. Here are seven key reasons why your call center could benefit from replacing the old phone lines with VOIP.

1 Smooth Setup

The first thing to realize about VOIP is that it’s completely software based. All that hassle about phone jacks and special wiring has finally been obsoleted by the new SaaS internet world. No wires, proprietary boxes, or unfamiliar installation guys coming over to put in the wires. Installing VOIP onto one machine or hundreds of them requires nothing but a little configuration. Many VOIP services are, in fact, 100% cloud based meaning there’s not even any software that needs to be installed on each machine, simply an intuitive online interface that manages your calls.

2 Hassle Free Scaling

One of the hallmarks of a growing business is the need to add more people and teams to an already established task. With physical phone lines, every time you want to add five more call center support techs, you would need to either already have phone lines paid for that were not in use or bring in the installation guy again to wire up five more phones. With VOIP, all you need to do is add five new seats to your dashboard and get your recruits logged into their new phone system. The same principle applies to shrinking a team as well, simply remove the extra seat from your VOIP management interface. You never need to have more access points open than you have employees to fill them.

3 Mobile Flexibility

Almost every VOIP platform has complete mobile access in app form. This allows you to extend assigned phone numbers to employee mobile devices because the phone numbers are connected to a cloud service and not any brick-and-mortar location or phone line connection. With this kind of freedom, if you’ve been thinking about change then this is a great time to look at your call center policies. With diverse and mobile VOIP, your call center could work from home, be ‘remote only’ or even take working travel vacations because they will be able to answer their call center assigned phone numbers from anywhere with wifi or data access.

4 CRM Integration

Unlike phone lines, VOIP shares the same kind of data as your CRM and other business management software, and is quite inter-operable. This means you can integrate the calls made through your VOIP service with CRM data, logging who is contacted, when, and for how long. More intuitive software can even auto-transcribe the conversations and log that as well, creating a truly comprehensive client contact history through the beauty of unified systems and automation.

5 Cost Effective

VOIP services are usually based on a modest subscription fee and low per-minute rate and all together it’s still nothing compared to the exorbitant prices of phone companies supporting multiple lines. VOIP, on the other hand, runs on a surprisingly small amount of bandwidth and you’re already paying for company-wide high-speed internet. To top it all off, even international calls are less expensive with the cloud-based VOIP because the internet is a more universal system to work with.

6. Cloud Services

Most if not all VOIP providers adhere to the Saas philosophy that their clients accessing the cloud also deserve service and support of the software they’re providing you. This means that any trouble you might ever have with the VOIP function or service will be quickly and professionally addressed if taken back to your provider. Cloud services are an increasingly popular way to cater to customers and your company could profoundly benefit from the B2B support provided your chosen VOIP service.

7. Overall Better ROI

Comparing the two systems, starting from scratch, the first thing that becomes apparent is all the extra little costs that come with a traditional phone line system. The PBX, dialer, installation appointments, and necessary physical equipment are all added to the initial setup fee and then monthly costs of maintaining a traditional system. Setting up a VOIP call center, on the other hand, requires a business subscription plus a simple fee for each seat in your call center. No extra equipment is needed, though you may choose to equip your team with headsets, and if there is per-minute fee is is usually quite low. The two systems side-by-side make the comparative ROI incredibly apparent.

VOIP takes less setup, less equipment, less monthly overhead, and comes with its own SaaS support service. Whether you’re about to open a new call center or are thinking about renovating an existing office, you have every reason to invest in VOIP as your primary voice contact system. For more information on Voice over IP services, contact us today!