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VoIP: Limitations and Challenges We've talked in our blogs about the advantages of VoIP technology in the workplace. It is important to also be aware that VoIP is not a technology that you buy out of the box. It is important that when you migrate to VoIP you get the assistance and support of a managed service provider. VoIP is feature-rich, but it is also complex. For instance, VoIP can allow for high definition calls using G.722. The quality difference is fantastic. However, G.722 has limited availability. Old telco lines cannot carry this standard. Also, when calls move from one mobile carrier to another, HD is lost and the call drops back to G.711. Finally, before you adopt G.722 HD calling, keep in mind that this means your voice packets are traveling over the open internet, which creates very real security concerns. Utilization of HD means you will need to develop security protocols and use encryption. Another thing to be aware of with VoIP: segregate bandwidth to ensure s...

Benefits of Using VoIP Technology More and more businesses are implementing Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP technology because of its versatility, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. With new developments in this technology, the scope of its applications is widening. It is becoming more than just voice communications technology. That is why businesses of all sizes are migrating at an increasing rate. Here is a short list of some of the benefits. Versatility/Flexibility: There are many VoIP service companies that have been working feverishly to enhance the use of this technology. They are bundling up other communication applications into a single unified communication platform to increase the efficiency for businesses. This means all modes of communication such as voice, fax, video, web conferencing and emails can be utilized, using a single software application. The ability of this application to convert voice into an email or fax into an email can bring a tremendous amount of ef...

Costs Savings and VoIP In the last blog we talked a little bit about some of conveniences and flexibility that Voice over Internet technology can offer your employees. However, flexibility is not the only advantage: VoIP offers several opportunities for cost reductions. First of all, VoIP systems may require less capital investment than older PBX technologies because they are reliant less on hardware and more on software. You aren't spending as much for physical on-site hardware. You also have lower external support costs. Because a PBX needed to be re-configured every time you added or deleted a user or phone number, or moved a phone’s physical location, users had to pay for the PBX manufacturer’s support operation to make a service call. Even if the service could be handled by an in house IT employee, they would have had to go through expensive training and each of the re-configurations would be time consuming. With VoIP, configurations are handled via interfaces accessible on...

BYOD: Why is This Concept So Attractive to Employees? Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, to work was an idea a few years ago that is becoming a reality very fast. To use your personal smartphone, tablet or laptop for work seems increasingly natural. Employees are embracing this concept without any serious reservations. As more and more business activity becomes technology driven, to have electronic gadgets right by your side all the time make sense. According to a survey conducted by Logicalis about 75% of employees in high growth markets such as Brazil and Russia and 44% in developed markets bring their own devices to work. Let's examine all the factors causing people to want to use their own devices at work. Familiarity: This may be the most relevant reason for someone to bring their own tablet or laptop to work. It may be the operating system, web browser, or other apps on their devices that they know so well and feel comfortable using. Convenience: Companies have been pr...

What does VoIP offer your employees? VoIP, the acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol, can offer a lot of great conveniences for your employees that make their work environment dramatically more flexible and user-friendly. VoIP offers many features that just are not possible using more traditional PBX systems that have been the mainstay of commercial telephony for decades. First of all, VoIP systems provide each end-user with a range of new features that transform workplace communications. Because voice signals are now carried by packets and their movement is not limited to the restrictions of specific telephone “lines,” VoIP allows for dramatic new communication options. Here are just a few examples. A user can forward the desk phone to a mobile phone. The user can also set rules for forwarding. All calls can be forwarded to voicemail after a certain time. Specific numbers can be forwarded to a mobile phone or to voicemail. More intriguingly, telephone messages can be transforme...

VoIP: A New Dimension in Communication for SMBs Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is about a decade old technology that is gaining popularity among individual subscribers and businesses. In conventional systems, phone calls are made using telephones or handsets that are connected by phone cables. These calls are routed using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) carrying a signal from one telephone to the other. But instead of connecting telephones to the phone cables through phone jacks in the walls, VoIP uses the internet where phones can be connected to broadband devices, adapters or PCs using broadband. With this system, voice is converted into a digital signal and carried over the Internet. Let's take a look at all the options that are available to make calls using VoIP. Make Calls from a PC: Using this platform a call can be placed from your PC. Your computer is connected to the Internet via broadband. A specially designed software app allows you to place and recei...

VoIP: Basics on what this technology transition means for commercial users VoIP is the acronym for Voice over the Internet Protocol. You've probably heard of this technology and are aware that it represents a shift from the traditional telephony network. This technology is moving us away from the telephone network that has been the standard since the invention of the telephone. VoIP represents a different way of connecting telephone endpoints. It also represents a change in the signaling used to carry those voice messages to those endpoints. In a standard telephone connection, voice is carried back and forth via analog signals. With VoIP, the voice signal is converted to digital packets. Then, instead of being carried along what is known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the signal is carried over broadband Internet. Traditional telephone circuits now become concurrent paths in this new world. To provide some background, office and commercial telephone users gener...