VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol

Today the buzz words are VoIP and MPLS. VoIP has many meanings for many different people. Is VoIP right for your business? Top Speed Data will have a frank discussion with you on the different type of VoIP services and the impact to your business.

First, you need to think about what you want:

  • Hosted VoIP service?
  • Premise based owned and maintained VoIP phone system?

What is VOIP?

VoIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol)is a Protocol of encapsulating voice calls in a data packet. It does not mean that your call MUST travel over the Internet. In fact, most VoIP calls for businesses do not travel over the Internet but remain on the company’s private network.

Why VoIP?

By controlling the network that VoIP calls travel on, you control the “quality” of the call, allowing businesses to have near “toll quality” calling as we all have been used to for the last 100 years.

2 Common Types of VoIP

Hosted VoIP (provided by a carrier)

With Hosted VOIP solutions all of the equipment necessary for controlling the call is in a central office or a data center maintained by a carrier, including the equipment. The only equipment that a business would need would be compatible VoIP phones and some type of broadband connection to the hosted system.

Many people like this type of system as it allows multiple locations to appear as a single location even if they are many miles or states away. Companies can have one central answering position or an automated system for the total company. This can cut expensive for the company and allow calls to be transferred between locations easily. In addition, no extensive private network needs to be maintained by the company connecting the disperse locations.

Premise Based VoIP (owned and maintained by the business)

Premise based VoIP systems are also very popular. Several companies make VoIP systems such as Shoretel, Cisco, Nortel and Avaya, just to name a few. With a premise based system, you also get the advantage of VoIP within your company’s network or across your company’s wide area network connecting remote locations. Generally speaking, the premise systems are going to have a higher upfront cost to deploy and take more management to administer.

Which system is good for you depends on many variables. With the help of Top Speed Data Communications, we can help you decide. We will discuss your business needs and show you the pros and cons of different designs. Top Speed Data will also provide you with questions to ask when either a selecting a vendor to purchase equipment from or subscribing to a Hosted solution.

Call today to set an appointment. 866-998-3282 ext 716 or e-mail Glenn@topspeeddata.com today for your free professional audit of your telecom services and gain the information you need to make a decision on whether or not to convert to VoIP.