Business technology is constantly changing and improving. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling technology is a great example of this. It has been gaining popularity among both individual subscribers and businesses.
In conventional systems, phone calls are made using telephones or handsets 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.
VoIP has many benefits. Aside from generally being less expensive than traditional phone service, it is much more accommodating to unique needs. Calls from certain sources can be automatically routed to certain phones, voicemails can be sent to your email and listened to on any device, call forwarding is quick and easy to set up along with hold messages, and much more.
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 receive phone calls right from your PC. When deployed, this software displays a dial pad. You can dial a number using a mouse or keyboard. You will need a headphone or speaker to hear and a microphone to speak. When your PC is connected to a phone or another PC on the other end, you can talk like you would on a regular phone.
Software with video capabilities will let you see each other if it is a PC to PC call and both computers are equipped with cameras. In this case you don’t even need a telephone handset.
MAKE CALLS USING A REGULAR PHONE
You can make phone calls with a regular phone using VoIP technology, but for this you will have to have a service, such as Vonage, that provides VoIP access. You can subscribe to a service for a monthly flat fee or a per-minute rate.
Your regular phone can be plugged into an adapter which is then connected to a broadband device. Some services will allow you to make calls within their service network only. But there are other services that will let you make calls anywhere. That means you can call local, long-distance, international, and through mobile devices.
VOIP TELEPHONES
There are VoIP service providers that provide special phones. To use these phones you don’t need an adapter, they are designed to work with your broadband device. You can connect this phone directly to your broadband modem using an Ethernet cable and use it like any regular phone.
Companies providing VoIP services are focusing on providing unified communication platforms that will include phone, emails, faxes, videos, and voicemail capabilities. Their goal is to make all of these possible to use regardless of the communication medium, including handheld devices.
THE ROLE OF MSPS
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can help businesses with the installation and management of hardware and software, enabling VoIP technology in your business. This will also organize communication networks by integrating them into your overall IT infrastructure.
Now SMBs can eliminate another worry (management of their communication systems) by outsourcing their IT services.
