VoIP – Is it something I should care about?

So many clients ask, “What is VoIP? Do I need VoIP?” and the quick answer is you may already have it. Let’s go through what VoIP is and how you may already be using it, and then get specific on how VoIP can deliver value to your business.
VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. Internet Protocol, or IP, is the language of the Internet. Whenever you do anything on your business network and on the Internet IP is the routing protocol to get your email, file request, web page from its source to its destination. Consequently, Voice over IP is the term used to describe the process of taking voice signals from a device, typically a phone system, and turning it into the same types of data packets as your email, web page or file.

Many telecom providers have already converged their networks behind the scenes. So this is why you may already being using VoIP and not know it. It’s less costly, and a much more efficient way for them to maximize their network usage.
So what does this mean for the average small business? There are a few different reasons to choose VoIP for your business; here are a few of the most common:

• Your business has multiple locations
- VoIP systems can reduce or eliminate office to office calling for your business
- Dial by extension no matter which office the other person is in
- If you are in a remote office that isn’t your home base, your extension can follow you

• You want to centralize call routing throughout your business
- Instead of having an operator in each office, just have one who can send call to any user on the VoIP system wherever they are
- Live answering can follow the sun instead of being tied to a specific time zone

• You expect sustained growth in numbers of employees
- There are many hosted VoIP providers out there that will allow you to grow your system 1 user at a time with a small incremental charge plus the cost of the new phone
- VoIP systems allow for geographic dispersion while maintaining connectedness for an employee. Hire who you want no matter where they need to work from, phones aren’t a limiting factor anymore

• Your old phone system is dying and you have no choice but to invest in a new system
- The global telecom infrastructure is moving to VoIP. You will find it harder and harder to get good support and access to replacement hardware if you purchase a legacy PBX
- Many traditional phone vendors only offer VoIP systems now

Moving to VoIP is simple and complicated all at once. Having a trusted partner to navigate the decision making process is essential. In the world of VoIP your IT provider is a critical voice in this process, since you will very likely be combining all your phone traffic with all your network traffic. Don’t leave them out of the loop, their partnership will ensure you can avoid a disastrous implementation, in fact they may be able to do it for you. Ask.