VoIP Phones - New era of communication

1. VoIP Phones New era of communication

2. Synopsis • What You Should Consider Before Switching to VoIP Phone Systems? • Things to Consider When Selecting One of the Best VoIP Phone Systems • The Process Involved in Selecting the Best VoIP Phone Systems • VoIP Phone Systems and Some Ways to Improve Call Quality • Important Questions to Ask Before Selecting a Provider of VoIP Phone Systems

3. What You Should Consider Before Switching to VoIP Phone Systems? • Consider the size of your business. You have to understand that every business is different, so what works for one business may not be suitable for yours too. This is the reason why not all VoIP deployments are the same. You do not really need a highly sophisticated VoIP service when you are a 1-3 person company. In case your business is smaller than 15 people, you may benefit from a hosted VoIP system. For a larger business, you would want to consider the options of both on-site and off-site based VoIP phone systems. • The type of Local Area Network support you have available in your area is another important consideration. The quality of your network will have a huge impact on the quality of calls you can make through your VoIP phone system. You just cannot hope to get maximum benefits from your VoIP service if you do not pay attention to having a high quality LAN connection. If your business relies heavily on the Internet, it makes great sense to set up a separate network for your VoIP service. You can also invest in network switches to improve the quality of service. • Consider the available bandwidth when switching to a VoIP system. This is extremely important if your main goal is to save money with a VoIP system. That additional VoIP traffic needs a better internet connection with a higher bandwidth, and that is why you should be willing to upgrade your internet connection. Be sure to ask your VoIP service provider about the size of your voice packets to determine adequate bandwidth. It is also a good idea to take advantage of "bandwidth shaping services, which ensure that voice packets get more attention than your data packets. • Know how many long distance calls you have to make on a regular basis. Many people switch to VoIP phone systems thinking that it is a cost-effective way to make calls. It certainly is, but you are not going to experience that benefit if your business relies heavily on local calls. You will notice a reduction in overall cost if your business involves long distance calls.

4. Things to Consider When Selecting One of the Best VoIP Phone Systems • Know what features you really need in your VoIP phone system. Sometimes, you can really work well with basic features, but on other occasions, you need an IP phone with routing capabilities. It means that some offices work just fine with only one Ethernet run per workstation. If that is the case in your office, you will have to use the same Ethernet connection for the IP phone and the desktop computer. Selecting a right phone is important in this situation because you cannot use a system that does not come with dual Ethernet ports. Therefore, it is important to consider if you can really work with or without the routing capabilities. • Know if you would need to use Power over Ethernet with your new deployment or not. If you want to use Power Over Ethernet or you have a plan to use it in the near future, it is important to ensure that you have selected an IP phone accordingly. You should also keep this important point in mind when selecting a service provider and ask them if they can guide you in this regard. • Get to know more about specific codec and protocols your VoIP service provider supports. It is easy to find an IP phone that supports SIP as well as other voice codec, but sometimes, you may have to be careful because your service provider may be supporting a limited number of voice codec. Therefore, it is important to select an IP while making sure that it will be compatible with the kind of voice service you are going to get. • Consider your budget before you start looking for a VoIP phone system or service provider. In case of IP phones, you can find so many of them and all coming with a different price tag. You can find an IP phone that costs you only $40, but there are IP phones costing more than $400. It all depends on what your budget constraints are and what features you want in your IP phone. The same holds true when you start looking for a service provider. The packages they offer may be vary a lot as well.

5. The Process Involved in Selecting the Best VoIP Phone Systems • You should always consider what phone system you currently have available. You may already be using a VoIP service provider but may not be happy with the kind of service you are receiving. It is also important to consider your current phone system because it helps you ensure that you do not select an IP phone that is incompatible with your existing phone system. While you may think that an IP phone system works with every phone service, that is not always true. Therefore, it is better to have some information in this regard before finalizing your decision. • Know your needs and determine who is going to use those phones. In other words, you should have clear idea about the job responsibilities of a person who is going to use an IP phone. This is important because this information is going to help you select one of the best VoIP phone systems with the kind of features you require. Sometimes, the person using the phone would require standard features, such as Call Transfer, Call Hold, Conference Call, and Call Parking. Depending on your needs, you may require a different phone with a larger speakerphone and sidecar capability for adding extra extensions. So, know your needs and determine how you are planning to use your VoIP phone to make a good decision. • Get more information about how many incoming calls the person using an IP phone is going to receive. In other words, you should know the frequency of calls on an IP phone to make a right decision. It also helps you determine how many line appearances you need. An average office worker may not need more than 3-5 line appearances, but a receptionist or administrator may require up to 10 line appearances. Moreover, if your employee is going to use the IP phone all day long, it is important to invest in a higher quality phone.

6. VoIP Phone Systems and Some Ways to Improve Call Quality • Be sure to opt for private VoIP service. You may certainly be able to save some money when opting for public VoIP services, but you are not going to get good quality. Private, dedicated networks are going to perform much better. • Use high quality cables. Cutting corners can significantly affect the call quality. You are likely to face fewer issues in this regard when you opt for CAT-5 cabling, as it is fast enough to manage VoIP traffic. • Pay special attention to network monitoring. The best thing is to take advantage of your service provider's network monitoring service to handle packet loss and jitters in a better way. This will directly affect the overall call quality. • Be careful when allocating bandwidth. This is another aspect where many people make wrong decision and end up compromising the quality of calls. It is best to keep data and voice traffic separate with the help of a VLAN. You can also take advantage of non-blocking switches, as they help prevent packet loss and collision. Be sure to use network analysis tools to know that everything is working fine. • Make use of echo cancellation hardware. You can invest in VoIP hardware, IP PBX, and handsets with echo cancellation feature. This may require a greater investment, but you will notice a considerable improvement in the overall quality of your calls. • Consider upgrading your network suit for better results. You may think that you can manage everything with your existing networking monitoring and management suit, but you will be better off upgrading it to accommodate VoIP.

7. Important Questions to Ask Before Selecting a Provider of VoIP Phone Systems • Ask about Flexibility of Their Offerings • It is important question that you should ask before you decide to cut a deal with a service provider. You have to understand that VoIP service cannot work without an IP connection, which is why it is important to ensure that the service provider provides you with a range of network services. • Ask about Financial Stability • A financially stable service provider will also be in a good position to improve their service and employ new hardware with the change in the market trends. • Ask if You Get Hosted Service or Not • You have to select your VoIP phone systems after deciding about the type of service suitable for your business. A managed service provider will save you from spending a lot of time, money, and resources to manage your system, but a premise based service provider will offer you the voice network that you will have to manage and administer within your facility.

8. Good Bye • For more details, please visit - http://www.dcstelecom.ca/voip-digital-phones/