Whether we are talking about infrastructure, telephony, or technology in general, technology advancements occur exponentially. However, it appears the majority of organizations utilize legacy technology equipment costing them more each year. In regards to telephony, the newer advancements in technology are lower in cost and result in better quality with enhanced features.  In addition, depending on your calling habits, you can save hundreds of dollars in phone bills each month just by switching to Voice over IP (VoIP). This leads us into the VoIP discussion.

Voice over IP is gaining momentum across a broad spectrum of industries and organizations.  Voice over IP utilizies advancements in the Internet and infrastructure to provide a better overall telephone service.  Chances are you have heard of such residential VoIP providers such as Vonage, etc.  VoIP has actually been around since 1973, but the first VoIP service provider did not come into existence until around 1995 when people began recognizing the possibility of sending data packets over the Internet to communicate.  In 1995, while the sound quality was not very good, people reveled in the fact they could make long distance phone calls without the prices charged by long distance providers.  Speaking to the point of security, this area has seen significant attention since the beginning of VoIP as well. When VoIP first came on the scene, several providers lacked the ability to provide 911 service.  Now, the majority of VoIP providers have 911 features allowing customers to call in times of emergecy.

Today, VoIP phone systems can integrate with all types of applications, provide greater flexibility, increase call quality, grow with your organization, and provide a significant cost savings over legacy analog telephone systems. In addition to the cost savings, some other VoIP benefits include:

    - Simplified Infrastructure. VoIP does not require separate voice and data networks.  You eliminate dedicated voice lines, which means you will likely pay less for ongoing support and future investments.

    - Management. VoIP is a software based system making managing the system a simple software application you can manage yourself.  With legacy phone system, all adds, moves, and changes have to be accomplished at an expense by your telephone service provider.

    - Scalability. VoIP systems can literally scale to any size environment.  However, legacy telephone systems are purchased with a certain number of telephone extensions and may need to be completely replaced to grow with your organization.

    - Flexibility. VoIP allows you to be tied to your system from any location.  Utilizing this functionality, you can setup a fully functioning office anywhere there is a broadband Internet connection and place or receive calls as if you were sitting at your office desk.

Utilizing a software based phone system, such as Asterisk, utilizes cost effective advancements made in the telephony and infrastructure areas.  The business case is where technical and financial matters come together.  A well-written plan for your organization will consist of one-time costs, variable costs, recurring costs, risks, and opportunities. However, with a VoIP system such as Asterisk, you can build a phone system with all the features and functions you want without the heavy expense of proprietary and legacy telephone system costs.  

Is VoIP Right For You?

VoIP is clearly the voice technology to be utilized now and in the future.  VoIP technology offers tremendous cost savings, as well as providing key advantages in the areas of functionality and business integration. If your organization has multiple locations - branches, telecommuters, remote offices - that are already connected to a company Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN), you are a prime VoIP system candidate. You share all the features between your locations, and VoIP can allow calls between them via simple extension dialing with zero cost per call.  For organizations with high long distance charges due to calls between locations, this alone can be an attractive reason to consider VoIP.

Take advantage of one of our telephony experts, learn more, and get your questions answered today!  Simply contact us and we will help you explore all the possibilities.