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Beginners-Guide-to-VoIP-1

Often, we get to listen to terms like VoIP phones, hosted telephony, IP phones, and cloud-based telephony being used in business. The revolutionary technology uses the internet to make phone calls, providing users with an inexpensive choice to landline telephones and hosting a multitude of useful bonus features. In this blog, we will find out more about what is VoIP phones and understand what is VoIP.<br><br>

John450
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Beginners-Guide-to-VoIP-1

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  1. BEGINNER’SGUIDE TOHOSTEDVOIP

  2. VOIP,HEARDABOUTIT? HostedVoIP(anacronymfor“VoiceoverInternetProtocol”)isatypeof internetphonesystemwhichisquicklytakingoverfromstandardbusiness phonesystemsandlandlines.TheVoIPindustry isnowworth£40bnand growingatapproximately9%per year. Simplyput,itisapieceoftechnologythatconvertsvoicecallsintodata and thentransmitsthemovertheinternet. VoIP offersanumberofcost-savingbenefitsandfeaturesthatcanhelp businessesimprovetheircommunications. Shouldyouconsiderswitching? Decidingwhetherto switchfromafamiliartechnologythat’sbeentriedand testedfordecadestosomethingnewcanbeanerve-wrackingprocess.It’s vitalthatyouunderstandwhatthetechnologyis,howitworksandcompares toothersystems,andwhattheconsiderations ofswitchingare,before you candecidewhetheritisrightforyou. Tohelpyougettogripswithhowthetechnologyworksandtherelevant terminology,we’ve createdthissimpleguidewhichwillexplainallyouneed toknowaboutVoIP,andhelp youmaketherightchoicesforyourbusiness.

  3. WHATISVoIP? ThesimplestwaytounderstandVoIPistoimagineitasaprivatemembersclub. Theclubyouchoose,whotheothermembersare,whichfacilities youuseand how often,willaffecthowmuchvalueyougetfromyourmembership.IfyoudonothaveVoIP,youareanon-member. Membership Youjointheclubviaa VoIPserviceproviderandtoactivateyourmembershipyou need areliable,fastinternetconnection,andaspecialVoIPphoneora‘softphone’app. The costofmembershipisquiteaffordable(aroundthesamepriceasaconventional businessphonesystem),buthasthepotentialtosaveyoulotsofmoneydependingon how muchyouinteractwithotherclubmembers. OtherMembers Aspartof yourmembershipyoucancallothermembersofyour club(people using thesame VoIP platformasyou)forfree,oratadiscountedrate. Ifyoucallanaffiliatemember(people usingadifferentVoIPplatformto you)you can sometimesget cheapercalls –but thisdepends onwhat the affiliateclub’s set-upis. Ifyoucallanon-member(peopleusingstandardphones and phone lines(calledPBX) thenyoupaystandardratesforyourphonecalls. Sometimesyou’llknowthatthepeopleyou’recallingareclubmembers,suchasfellow colleaguesinyourownofficeorotheroffices,andsometimes youwon’t.Ifyou pickaclub whereyoualreadyknowlotsofthemembers,youcanmakebigsavings.Ifyouneverring othercluboraffiliatemembers,thenyou probablywon’tsavemuch–thoughthere can stillbeotherbenefits tobeingamember(e.g.lowerrunningcosts,enhancedfeatures). 3. Facilities AspartofyourVoIPclubmembership yougettheuseoflotsoffacilities thatnon-members don’tget, suchas accessto aclever portalthat linksto yourcomputerdiary(e.g.throughMSOutlook)andcanredirectcallswhen you’reinameeting. Theportalalsoenablesyoutoredirectcallsandyour answerphonetoyour mobileorotherlandlinessoyou nevermiss calls becauseyou’reawayfromyourdesk. You cangetanupgradedmembershiptouse even morefeatures,likecall recording,butobviouslythepricingandbenefitsoffereddependonwhich clubyoudecidetojoin,andwhatfeaturesyouwanttouse. Itistheclub’sjobtomakesurethatyoualwayshaveaccesstostate-of- the-artfacilities so,over time, itwill upgrade thefacilities automatically andaskifyou wouldlikethelatestpremiumfeaturesonyourphone system. HOSTEDVOIP MEMBERSONLY MEMBERSONLY PASS

  4. VoIPVERSUSPBX VoIP isapieceoftechnologythatconvertsvoicecallsintodataandthen transmitsthemoverIP(internetprotocol)ordigitalnetworks,suchas broadband,Ethernet,WiFioreven3Gand4G. Touseityouneedtoswitchfromusingastandardtelephonesystemand phoneline(aPBXtelephonesystem),tohostedVoIP.Thismeansthatthe‘brains’ofyourtelephonesystemismovedoffsiteandintoaservice provider’sdatacentre.Italsorequiresyou togetaspecialVoIPphone- whichlookslikeastandardphone,butisactuallymorelikeacomputer-or asoftphoneappwhichcanbeaccessedfromyourPC,smartphoneortablet. Withastandardphonesystem,addingorremovingusersrequiresanengineertomovethelines.WithVoIP,becauseitusesaninternet connection,addingandremovingusersismuchsimplerandcanbedonevia aninternetportal. Thinkofitas… AdesktopPC(PBX)comparedtoalaptopwithaGmailaccount(VoIP).With a desktopPCyouhavetobeatyourdesktouseit. Ifyou’renotatyourdesk,you can’t.Withalaptop,youcanmoveitquicklyandeasilytoadifferentdeskandas longasithasaninternetconnectionyoucancommunicatewithpeople.Evenifyou don’thaveyourlaptopwithyoubutyouhaveasmartphoneoranothercomputer youcanstillgetyourGmailmessages(calls/voicemails)throughaninternet connectionbecausetheinformationisstoredinthecloud. • ConsidertheVoIPoptionifyou… • Areasmallbusiness • Have5to200people • Havefibrebroadbandavailable

  5. ON-NETVERSUSOFF-NET On-netcallsaremadeusingahostedVoIPsolutiontorecipientsusingthesame serviceproviderandthesameplatform.Theseareusuallyfreeormuchcheaper thanstandardcallrates. Off-netcallsusetraditionalphones and phonelines and aremadeto non-hostedVoIPusers,orrecipientsusingadifferentVoIPserviceproviderand platform.Thesecallsarechargeableatyourserviceprovider’sstandardrate. Thinkofitas… Anonlinedatingagency.Onceyou’vejoined,you cancontactothermembersofthe samedatingagencyforfree(orataheavilydiscountedrate).Ifyouwanttocontact someonewhousesadifferentdatingagency (i.e. acompanythatusesadifferent phonesystem)youhavetopaytocontactthem. • ConsidertheVoIPoptionifyou… • Make lotsofinternalcalls • Havelotsofdifferentofficeswithinthesamecompany

  6. INTERNET VERSUS PHONELINE We’veallexperienceddelayonaphonecall,whetherit’sthroughapoor mobilesignal,oralongdistancecall,andknowthatasplitseconddelay canmakeconversationincrediblydifficult,aspeoplefindthemselves talkingovereachother. Unlikealandlineormobilephonecall,theexperienceandqualityofa VoIPcallisalldependenton howstrongorfastyourinternetdataconnectionis.Itisimperativetohaveplentyofbandwidthandagoodinternetdata connectiontoensurepeakperformance.Many VoIP providersadvise thatbusinessesshouldhaveaninternetconnection dedicated solelyfor VoIPusage. Thinkofitas… Aroad.Thebiggerandlesscongestedtheroad(internetconnection)is,the fasteryouwillbeabletogo. Thesmallerandmorecongesteditis,themore delaysyou’llexperience. • ConsidertheVoIPoptionifyou… • Havefibrebroadbandorasuperfastconnectionavailableinyourarea • Don’texperienceconnectivityproblems • Are eligible forthe Government’s SuperfastBritain grant

  7. WIDEBANDVERSUSNARROWBAND Duringthedesignofconventionaltelephonysystems,itwasestablishedthatitwas notnecessaryforlistenerstohearallthefrequenciesthatmakeupthehumanvoiceinordertodeterminethewordsbeingspoken.Soastandard phonesystemwasdesignedtopickupandtransmitaspecificsoundrange, basedonfrequency(300hzto3400kHz),toallowpeopletoconverse,butavoid unnecessarycomplexity. Thisrangeiscalled narrowband. Changestohighdefinitiontechnologyhaveprompteduserstodemanda superiorqualityaudioexperience.Widebandisable to pickupandtransmita broadersoundrange(150hzto7kHzorhigher)andthereforegivesmoresound clarityandabetterquality. The clearerthesoundis,thelesslikelylistener fatiguewillbe,duringthecall. Thinkofitas… StandardTVandHDTV.Youwon’tmissoutonanyoftheactionbywatchingyour favouritesoapoperaonastandardTV(phone),butifyouwanttowatchawildlife documentary(i.e.needgood callquality),thepictureclarityonHDwillbebetter, enablingyou toseemoredetail. • ConsidertheVoIPoptionifyou… • Makecallsinanoisy environment • Makelotsofconferencecalls

  8. SIPTRUNKING SIP(SessionInitiationProtocol)trunksareusedto addVoIPlines toa business’existing,standard(PBX)phonesystem.Thisisparticularly usefulforbusinesseswithperiodsofhighseasonaldemandorthatare experiencingaperiodofsharpgrowth. Thinkofitas… Anextensionleadwhichcanbepluggedintoanexistingpowersocket (conventionalphonesystem),ifandwhenextralinesareneeded. Thetrunksallowyou touseastandardphonesystemandsimplyconvert thecallintodatasothatitcanbecarriedovertheinternetratherthana phoneline,andyoucankeepaddingmoretrunkstoyourphonesystemif andwhenyouneedthem. However,aSIPtrunkingsystemwill onlytrunk(convertthemtodata and transmitthemovertheinternet)ifalloftheotherstandard(PBX)phone linesarealreadyinuse. • ConsidertheVoIPoptionifyou… • Have astandardPBXsystem • Experiencehighseasonaldemand • Experienceunexpectedhighcallvolumes • Needmorephonelines • Haveahighspeedinternetconnection

  9. JARGONBUSTER DATACENTRE Adatacentreisahighly-securestoragefacilitythathouses,managesandpowersa business’ITinfrastructure,includingservers,systemsandhardware.Imagineitasalargelibrarywhichisfullofdata.Youcanrentspaceinthislibrarytostoreallyour information,whilealsobenefittingfromyourserviceprovider’spower,expertiseandsupport. DATACONNECTION Adataconnectionisalsoknownasaninternetconnectionoraconnectivitysolution. Thereareseveraldifferenttypes-ADSLbroadband,fibre-opticbroadbandand Ethernet–and theyareused totransmitdata(e.g.emails,pictures,videos,files,or phonecalls). INTERCONNECTING Thisisthephysicallinking ofaserviceprovider’snetworkwithequipmentorfacilities ofanotherproviderinordertoexchangetrafficanddata. PBX APBXisastandardbusinesstelephonesystem(with deskphonesandlandlines) thatmanages abusiness’ internal andexternal calls.Its main purposeis toallow employees tosharephonelinesandsaveorganisationsfrompurchasinganindividual lineforeachemployeeattheoffice. BANDWIDTH Isusedtodescribeinternetspeeds.Thinkofadataconnectionasatubeandeachbit ofdataasagrainofsand.Ifyoupouralargeamountofsandintoanarrowtube,itwill takealongtimeforthesandtoflowthroughit. If youpourthesameamountofsand throughawidertube,itwillflowthroughmuchfaster.Thewiderthetube,themore bandwidthadataconnectionhas. CLOUDCOMPUTING Initssimplestform,cloudcomputingmeansstoring andaccessing data andprograms inadatacentre‘overtheinternet’insteadofyourcomputer’sharddriveorserver. What thismeansisyourdata–photos,documents,programsorwhateveryouchoose -isbasicallystoredinaserverrun by athirdparty,andaccessedovertheinternet, ratherthanononeofyourdevices.

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