The term VoIP is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol, which means voice over the Internet. It is the technology used to deliver voice and multimedia sessions (such as video) via an Internet Protocol (IP).

VoIP phones are therefore physical devices or computer/mobile software designed to transmit voice over the Internet.

This allows audio signals from a standard telephone to be converted into a digital format and transferred over an IP network (such as the Internet) and vice versa, so that calls can be made between telephones connected to the traditional network and telephones connected to the Internet.

Why is it so beneficial compared to conventional telephony?

VoIP presents many advantages, and we will now mention the most important:

Cheaper than conventional telephony:

IP telephony does not require any additional hardware to work because you simply install software in the mobile devices where you want to implement it. This makes for easy and more affordable installation and, therefore, requires less initial investment.

Easy to install

Deploying an IP telephony system is very simple because you only need to install the software client on the mobile devices that you want to be able to use the VoIP network and install the VoIP switchboard. Installation becomes just configuring software that can be hosted in the cloud,  and you don’t need to be highly technically minded for this.

More features

While conventional telephony cannot add more features, as it is restricted by the physical hardware it sits on, IP telephony allows you to add all kinds of features, including creating automatic actions, interactive voice response services, instant messaging, call recording, video calls, voicemail and fax systems linked to email, call queue and wait time management, and so forth.

Moreover, thanks to all the above, IP telephony is much more configurable, which allows for a telephone system that is thoroughly tailored to a company’s particular needs.

Improved audio quality

Thanks to increasingly faster networks, we can say that nowadays, the VoIP protocol allows us to get better voice quality in calls and eliminate any delay in communication, thus creating a more fluid conversation.

Greater Mobility

Thanks to IP telephony, any device can be connected to the network – all you need is the software and an Internet connection. This provides a great deal of flexibility when changing the workplace location but remaining connected to the company’s network, which is becoming especially important with the rise of teleworking.

Greater scalability

Because IP telephone networks do not have the access limitations of conventional telephone network links, the number of resources can be changed according to demand. Terminals can be added or removed based on current needs in terms of company growth, peak and off-peak traffic, and so on.

Virtual switchboard, always operational

Opting for a cloud-hosted switchboard, requires no physical storage space,  as well as bringing important advantages such as saving trips to configure it each time something needs fixing.

It is also much easier to modify your switchboard’s parameters and options depending on the moment.

Plus, of course, it is always available and working, without having to continuously attend to it. This extends answering hours, since there will always be someone to answer, be it an interactive menu, a voicemail message, or any other imaginable solution.

As we have seen, IP telephony brings nothing but advantages. This together with its easy implementation and low costs, makes it an ideal solution for any company – regardless of its size – looking to take the leap and stop relying on traditional telephony, thus gaining many benefits.

[*] At Teldat we thought it would be interesting to have external bloggers, and thus broaden the spectrum of information that is transmitted from Teldat Blog. This week, Mario Zarzuelo, a student at the University of Alcalá de Henares, writes about The advantages of VoIP.