.: VoIP: A Wise Investment for Small Business
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Small businesses are always looking for ways to increase their competitiveness by cutting costs, improving their value proposition and requiring their staff to work more efficiently.
Today, in the telecommunications industry, a new technology called VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol (Internet-based phone service) has emerged and is making all of the above and more, possible for SMBs (small and medium-size businesses). VoIP technology compresses voice (audio) data into packets that can be transmitted over data networks and the public Internet, and converted back into voice at the receiving end. This is the basis for some of the significant cost savings as voice now becomes just another form of data, allowing for integration with web based applications and the development of new features that would be impossible using traditional networks.
SMBs Demand Higher Functionality at a Lower Cost
Traditional telephone networks were designed solely to carry low-fidelity audio signals with a high level of reliability. Although these networks are very reliable for voice communication, they are not well suited to service today’s explosive growth of digital communication applications, because they: are expensive to build; must have the capacity from day one to address potential growth, increasing initial costs and creating an underutilized investment; transmit data at very low rates and resolutions, making them poorly suited for delivering high-fidelity audio, entertainment-quality video, or other rich multimedia content; use dedicated circuits for each call, which allot fixed bandwidth throughout the call’s duration, whether or not voice is actually being transmitted; cannot be leveraged to provide new or differentiated services or functions, such as video communication, that the network was not originally designed to accommodate.
Advantages of VoIP Technology
VoIP uses packet-switched networks to carry non-real-time data using much less bandwidth. The advantages of such networks are flexibility, efficiency, and scalability. Flexibility: networks can be built in a variety of configurations to suit the number of users, client/server application requirements, and desired bandwidth availability. Efficiency: bandwidth is consumed only when needed; service providers can converge their traditionally separate voice and data networks, and carry voice, video, fax, and data traffic over the same network; many terminals can share the same connection to the network and as a result, significantly more traffic can be transmitted over a packet-switched network than over a circuit-switched telephony network. Scalability: Extensions can be easily added to the network as growth demands.
These advantages help create cost savings that can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower telephone bills. Around the world, more than 25 million SMBs could realize significant benefits by employing VoIP as their phone service.
A Hosted PBX
A Hosted IP PBX system is built using a VoIP infastructure specifically for small business. This system offers many advantages to SMBs compared to traditional telcom offerings. Businesses that opt for non-hosted VoIP phone systems, must first invest in a scalable and very expensive platform; as well as devote resources to set up, configure, and maintain them — a significant overhead cost.
In a hosted PBX service, configuration and maintenance are handled by the service provider and included in the monthly service price. In any price comparison, an SMB must look at all these costs and consider the entire total cost of ownership associated with on on-premise based system versus a hosted solution.
In a hosted IP PBX environment, a subscriber uses their broadband IP network for a small business phone system as well as data service. Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for VoIP service requires only IP phones, or analog-to-digital converters for analog phones. This dramatically reduces start-up costs. Typically, all applications are also hosted, eliminating multiple vendors and points of contact.
Hosted PBXs Reduce Costs from 50 to 90 Percent
With traditional business phone systems, each company must pay for expensive equipment, phones, applications, installation, and maintenance, as well as bring in trunk lines. On top of this, a business will need to add in expensive monthly fees for local and long distance calling, a maintenance contract and annual upgrade costs.
Payback periods for a PBX phone system may never occur, preventing smaller companies from considering a traditional business phone system and forcing them to rely on basic, multi-line service and phones, which can be really expensive. Even after the upfront and quite substantial investment, customers could hear a busy signal if traffic exceeds the number of available lines.
For small businesses, the only alternative has been to use regular, basic phone service, which requires that all users must be in the same physical location, have a limited features and pay a large up front cost. Hosted PBX services nearly eliminate the upfront investment and cover the local and long distance calling costs for a low monthly fee, and include all the features.
For a monthly subscription fee, a business enjoys unlimited long distance and local calls in the U.S. and Canada, and can use all the advanced applications including auto-attendant, ring groups, and extensions. These features would cost much more if provided with traditional solutions. Also, since each user can have two non-blocking lines, up to 20 calls can be handled by a single extension, reducing busy signals and customer abandon rates.
Hosted PBX Features
Most hosted PBX include unlimited calling to the US and Canada; E911 emergency calling; a business class telephone with one-touch controls, DND, park, conference and much more; auto attendant that will route your calls to the appropriate extensions; full featured conference bridge and much more!
For SMBs that demand more features at a lower cost, VoIP is an alternative with great results!
Article keywords: business voip, voip
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
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Michael Brito is an internet marketing consultant and freelance writer for a variety of consumer related products.
.: New VOIP Articles
1). 6 Voice Over IP Tips
There are many benefits to VoIP. Here are 6 benefits we found to voice over ip. You may be able to think of even more reasons to switch or to include this exciting way to communicate at reduced prices.
2). Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch To VoIP
If you are considering changing to voice over internet protocol or VoIP for short you need to know the arguments for changing. Here are our top 10 reasons to switch to VoIP.
3). 7 Good Reasons Not To Switch To Voice Over IP Technology
For every positive there is a negative when it comes to voice over ip technology. Here are 7 good reasons not to switch in spite of the savings you may realize.
4). How To Choose The Best Voice Over Ip Provider
Choosing the best voice over ip provider may require you to do something that you have never done before. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best voice over ip provider.
5). Residential VoIP: Things to Consider Before Switching
Choosing VoIP over traditional telephone services has its pros and cons just like anything else. It is up to the consumer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and to come to a conclusion with eyes wide open.
6). Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer
As more of us are building our own local area networks at home to connect our family members to each others data and appliances, broadband connections to the outside world have expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty of bandwidth to consider converging our home network with voice over IP telephony.
7). VoIP Communication Technology
VoIP... or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is the latest and greatest communications technology.
.: Top VOIP Articles
1). VoIP Problems?
Well of course there's VoIP problems, although I think problems is too strong of a word. Instead I would call this VoIP issues. (Just semantics? maybe, read on!)
Some may be old enough to remember making long distance calls where there was static or crackling on the phone line connection. Maybe you remember having to speak LOUDER in order to be heard on the line.
2). How To Set Up A Business VoIP System
To set up a business VoIP system, you need several components. A central device to manage the calls, the way a private branch exchange (PBX) or key system unit (KSU) does in traditional phone systems is one of them.
This can be a dedicated piece of hardware such as an IP PBX, a regular PBX that has been IP-enabled, or a server running specialized software.
3). VoIP Information: Benefits & Drawbacks
Once upon a time, a telephone was just a telephone. You set the base in your home and it featured either a corded or cordless handset for talking to family and friends. Even though that same telephone remains the standard, VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, is increasing in popularity and gradually beginning to change the way that the world sends and receives telephone calls.
4). Skype versus Yahoo
With the influx of complaints regarding Skype’s fall from grace, Danny Wirken measures up the top competitor and internet giant Yahoo!’s news internet telephony service.
Cheaper, faster, better quality, better customer service and a brand you can trust. These are the things Yahoo! want you take away from any of their promotional material for the new Yahoo! voice VoIP service.
5). Voice Over Ip – What Is It And What Are The Choices?
Voice over Internet Protocol. First was the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had a vision. He saw people communicating over long distances with their own voice, not trough beeps and squeaks. Then came the Internet. A few students and the US military had a vision, somewhat similar to Bell’s. They saw people communicating over long distances, but this time in writing.
6). Why VOIP?
Voice Over Internet Protocol delivers the service of converting the analog line into a digital signal so that voice could be transferred through the internet and this proves to be a lot cheaper than the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Voip is the best for making long distance calls in, inexpensive rates.
Voip and IP telephony are fields which have seen extensive growth and they continue to develop efficiently.
7). Advanced VoIP Gateway Technology
Increased demand for video-based applications in the mobile network drive the deployment of 3G networks. Inherent complexities in traditional video gateways cause performance bottlenecks and inflate costs. If the industry expects to absorb the impending explosion in demand, these proposed cost-saving and complexity-reducing changes are needed.
Unrelenting market demand for video-based applications over mobile networks is driving the increased deployment of 3G networks.