Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a technology that digitizes voice communications (in particular, telephone calls) and enables them to be sent over a broadband internet connection. This has many benefits the primary one being that a business no longer requires physical, or analog, telephone lines to be able to access the standard (PTSN) telephone network. Some services enable the user to call the PTSN network directly while others allow calls to any telephone number including local, long distance, international and mobile numbers. Some VOIP solutions require a computer to function while others allow users to plug into a specialized VOIP adapter without the need for computer hardware.
One of the benefits of implementing VOIP is that it can provide standard PABX services. This means, for example, that a business can implement an internal phone network with multiple lines while only having one (or a small number) of connections to the outside telephone network. This means that functions such as call waiting, call redirect, call following and so on are provided by the VOIP solution. Some solutions also enable IP faxing which allow anyone with an email account to send faxes without the need for a dedicated fax machine.
VOIP solutions use broadband internet access to perform their functions and require a VOIP enabled phone or other device. This can be implemented in a number of ways:
• Dedicated VOIP Phones – these are connected directly to the IP network using standard communications technology (such as WiFi or Ethernet) and are marketed in the same way as digital business telephones.
• Telephone Adapter – an adapter connects to the IP network and implements the required hardware and software to convert analog signals from a standard telephone which is plugged into it.
• Softphones – this is application software that mimics the functions of a telephone completely in software; this requires the computer on which the software runs to have a microphone and speaker to provide the functions of the telephone handset. The software will typically display a dial pad and display (such as those found on an ordinary phone) that enable the user to enter phone numbers (and perform other functions) using a mouse and keyboard.
The flexibility of VOIP systems in today’s digital environment has made them highly popular. VOIP solutions can be delivered as private, on-premises solutions (using specialized hardware) or as hosted systems. Hosted, or cloud, VOIP solutions are offered by a telecoms carrier that implements the required software and hardware at a central datacenter and offers the service to users using a subscription model.
