One question that is on the minds of many business owners is, "Should I be using VOIP in my business?" This is a great question and as usual with many things, the answer is, "that depends." Many people assume that there are cost savings associated with using VOIP services. This is sometimes true but VOIP services can actually be more expensive in some business applications.
VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and the name is applied to a wide range of services that convert voice telephone calls to a stream of data which can be passed over private networks or the Internet. There are 3 main areas of VOIP that could be used in a business.
- Consumer VOIP services - These are free or low cost services such as Skype, Vonage, or Google Voice that are typically used for their enhanced features or for saving money on long distance telephone calls. These services are especially popular for placing International calls. Skype is also gaining momentum as a video conferencing service. These services often do save money but the quality of calls can vary since the provider has no control over the user's Internet connection. If a call is poor quality the user can easily place the call over a regular telephone line. These services do work especially well to save money when an employee is located in another country. The amount of money saved is usually significant compared to buying traditional telephone service. If occasional calls are poor quality they can be placed over a land line telephone so there is little disruption to the business.
- Business VOIP services such as hosted PBX - Hosted PBX services are becoming quite popular with business. A hosted PBX is a telephone system that is housed outside of the customer's office in the provider's network. The customer uses an Internet connection and VOIP telephones connected to their local area network. The advantage of these services can be a fixed cost per month with unlimited calls as well as using the same telephone system for employees with a common voice mail and dialing plan. The disadvantage of these services can be service outages caused by the customer's local area network, the internet connection, or the hosted PBX provider. It is also often difficult to diagnose the source of the service outages resulting in frustration for the customer and service provider. The highest quality hosted PBX providers will provide their own Internet connection and often insist on managing the customer's local area network so they can make sure that service works properly. Some customer's save money with hosted PBX but many do not due to the cost of local area network upgrades. These systems need to be looked at on a case by case basis.
- VOIP based business telephone systems - These systems are provided by placing the telephone hardware at the customer's office. The features are very similar to a hosted PBX and the telephone lines can be VOIP based (called SIP trunks) or traditional telephone lines. The initial cost of these systems is often 20 to 50% higher than a traditional telephone system but there are long term savings on maintenance, for example; employees can simply plug their phone into any network jack in the office. There is often a requirement for upgrade or replacement of the local area network equipment for these systems to function properly.
VOIP is growing rapidly in business telecommunications and there is no question that this trend will continue. In spite of the popularity there are many customers who have experienced significant service interruptions due to poorly planed installations. Even the best installations do tend to have a higher incidence of occasional unexplained technical problems. It is highly recommended that hosted PBX and other business installations be handled by a trained professional with a past record of successful installations. Make sure that thorough reference checks are performed on any vendors before the project is implemented and that the system is fully tested under real life conditions before the installers leave the building.
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