Voice over IP

It is often said that advancement in communication technology has shrank the world. While this statement is true, it needs to be modified a little. The credit for shrinking the world does not go only to the communication technology, but also to the advancement in the field of IT. Essentially, it is the advancement in the convergence of technologies rather than their isolated development in their respective areas which is to be held responsible for this shrinking of the world. This is testified by the voice over IP technology.

VOIP services as these are called in short, have been made possible by the convergence of communication and internet technologies. What is VOIP? Voice over internet protocol is a way of communicating with the others by making use of the software which can be run on computers or mobiles and by using high bandwidth internet connectivity. Using it, you would be able to communicate with the people free of cost or at a fraction of cost of the traditional telephonic methods. You are required to download and install the program on the computer or the mobile and get connected to the internet for communicating with the others.

VOIP has many benefits, which can be summed up below:

1.Allows for making free and cheaper long distance calls. The rates are a fraction of the costs involved through the traditional medium.

2.VOIP services are not just about voice communication. It allows for multiple ways of communication. You can do chatting with the people (send them I.M.), send SMS to mobiles of people, do group chatting or video conferencing, etc.

3.It also comes with additional features like call holding, diverting, barring or forwarding. You can even transfer files from computer to the other person and make adjustments or changes to the various functionalities.

4. Business VOIP services are especially helpful in managing multi-location communications among the employees. Some of the businesses make extensive use of VOIP services. These are the ones which have to deal with international clients, or the ones which are required to communicate frequently with distant employees. Some of the businesses are based on VOIP exclusively, like the call centre or the BPO operations.

5.The VOIP services can be had in different ways. You can use the computers based software to communicate, if you are working on computers. You can even attach the VOIP phone to the system to make it more convenient to receive or make calls. Even the Cordless phones can be used which can obviate the need for keep sitting at one place. If you are on the move, but are connected to the WLAN, or through the mobile internet service provider, then you can use the mobiles loaded with the VOIP software to make or take the calls.

6.Contributes to environmental improvement: If it were not for the VOIP phone services, people would have moved or traveled around more leading to greater stress on the fuel resources and contributing to environmental deterioration.

Phone systems

When it comes to buying business phone systems there are a range of options to choose from. The choice invariably has to be made on the company brand, the model and whether you need a new system or an old one can do. All boils down to your precise requirements. When it comes to determining what the precise requirements are, you need to consider following points:

1.Number of employees: As a rule of thumb, more are the number of employees more is the requirement of extension lines connecting them. But, this could be a false assumption since not all types of employees may be required to be on exclusive lines. May be it is one department that needs a line. So, number of employees as well as their precise needs require to be factored in.

2.Nature of calls: Whether your business has more of incoming calls or the outgoing calls can also determine what type of systems you need. More inbound calls could mean that you might need to set up multiple incoming lines which can be directed to customer service representatives. On the other hand, more outgoing calls need to be explored in greater detail. Where are most of these call made could be crucial in deciding what type of business telephone systems you need? If it is more of long distance calling that is done, you might need phone systems having the VOIP functionality.

3.Nature of business: This also goes a long way in determining what type of business phone system need to be used. If you need to have employees in the field for most of the time, then you might not need centralized business phone systems. Instead, you might need to give them mobiles with internet connectivity and VOIP functionality to reduce the costs of communicating substantially.

4.Old or new systems: What is wrong is getting an old but refurbished system for your needs? This might save you quite a big chunk of money. Small businesses might find having a look at resellers shop worth the money. It is important to check for the various functions. It is also good if the resellers are offering the warranties or guarantees on these products.

5.Growth rate: You would certainly not like to be doing shopping for phone systems every year. You would like this one time investment to be providing you benefits for at least a couple of years. The growth rate of business can indicate what all communication facilities would be required in next few years. Based on this assessment, you might consider buying the right model now.


Every business would like to reduce its operating costs by better planning and management of operations. Reducing telephone bill costs is very much possible if careful choice of the business telephone systems is made on the basis of precise requirements of present and foreseeable future. So, take your time and be prudent and rational in making the choice of the right system.