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VoIP in 2016: Now and next

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25th May 2016
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In the second of a series of three articles about voice over the internet, Tom Herbert examines the different types of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) currently available on the market, and what may be available in the future.

For a look at the growth of the service and what companies should look for when adopting a platform, see article one.

While there are an almost countless variety of different VoIP systems on the market, this article will explore the three main types of VoIP currently available to business: Converged networks, SIP trunks and full cloud, and take a look at the pros and cons of each.

Converged networks

The basic premise is that you have separate telephone and internet, with internal network VoIP. Your traditional ISDN phone system is served out to your employees, and the telephone switch in your server room runs VoIP on an internal network.

This means you only have one cable going into each phone where traditionally you would have two: One for voice, which would go into your phone, and one for data, which would go into employees’ computers. With this option the computer plugs into the phone, which is then carrying voice and data.

As this converges the two cables into one it is often called ‘converged networks’. This cuts the cost of kitting out a building, and also makes installation a lot simpler.

Pros:

  • Dedicated lines means a loss of internet does not mean a loss of voice services
  • Having one cable instead of two cuts the cost of installation

Cons:

  • More expensive per user than pure cloud
  • Requires purchase and maintenance of onsite server and equipment

SIP trunking

Instead of methods that deliver voice and data separately, SIP trunking means you can use your data network, rip out your ISDN channels and just run voice over a dedicated connection between you and your providers.

If your average ISDN channel is £15 and you have 20, that’s a £300 saving.

Most providers will also be able to offer quality of service guarantees, meaning that the quality of the phone line should be the same as a traditional phone line.

However, what happens if the internet goes down to this building? You lose voice and data. It could be argued, therefore, that having the two separate routes – ISDN and internet connection – is currently safer.

Pros:

  • Infrastructure and running cost savings
  • Quality of service guarantees

Cons:

  • Loss of internet means loss of phone
  • Still requires infrastructure maintenance

Full cloud system

The ‘no kit on premises’ option. Your provider will send you a phone for each user, you plug it into your internet connection and it registers with the provider’s system.

Technology enthusiasts and internet service providers sell this as the future of voice services – no hardware in the building, just an internet connection.

This has many advantages, including cost savings, immediate scalability and the fact that the technology is relatively future-proofed, allowing you to add a variety of other VoIP options, including resilient internet, conferencing, call recording and many more.

This option is favoured by many CIOs as it the simplest – you give a phone to an employee, say ‘plug that in’ and they’re on the company network. They have the telephone system sat in the cloud and it doesn’t matter where they are, as long as they have an internet connection.

While full cloud connection is often touted as the next big thing in telephony, there are problems that come with a cloud system. With the internet between you and the provider’s network you can’t always guarantee quality of service on the phone line.

You also still have the same issue as the SIP trunk option – if internet access goes down the building, so does your phone access.

However, as pointed out in the first article in this series, modern businesses are increasingly reliant on the internet, so they are likely to struggle with no access regardless of whether they have a phone connection, so this argument is becoming increasingly redundant.

Pros:

  • Cost savings, scalability and flexibility
  • Opens up other VoIP options such as conferencing

Cons:

  • Loss of internet means loss of voice services
  • Quality of service issues could provide a risk for business
VoIP infographic
AccountingWEB

Next steps for VoIP

In this increasingly mobile, ever-connected age, where is VoIP likely to go in the future? In terms of next steps, the term ‘unified communications’ is becoming increasingly popular.

Some VoIP providers offer a mobile phone with an app that automatically diverts calls to an employee’s extension, while others offer the ability to select the device on which you receive calls via ‘presence sensor’ that links your mobile handset to your desk station.

As far as future trends with voice, providers are increasingly offering ‘everything in one basket’. Once a company has transferred voice across to the cloud, it then becomes about different methods of communication, for example internal communications tools, potentially adding value to the company and making employees feel more connected to the company.

But there are so many different types of communications systems out there it can cause more problems than it solves. Years ago companies sang the praises of cloud communications apps and what they could do for companies in terms of time and efficiency. However, the sheer number of apps available and used, and the security issues that causes, have forced vendors to look again.

Providers are now offering ways to streamline and simplify methods of communication. However, in order to simplify customers have to go with one provider. While many companies would prefer this option, it does mean tying yourself in to one system, and employees often have their own ideas about which system they use.

While the future of VoIP isn’t certain, if its advocates are correct and the technology continues to develop then the possibilities are potentially endless. Should this scenario comes to pass, it’s likely finance decision makers in business will be hearing a lot more about VoIP in the future.

 

The next and final article in this series will round-up the different providers available on the market.

Has your company converted to VoIP? How did you find the conversion? Has it saved your business money, or is quality of service or security an issue?

Replies (1)

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By morgani
26th May 2016 23:43

We pretty much got forced down the VoIP route about 3 1/2 years ago. We were taking on our first office and it was taking an age to get a phone line installed. We therefore cancelled that and went for cable internet only and a VoIP phone system. The setting up was a little tricky at first but as I have got more used to it then it really isn't very hard at all. We use a cloud option and for multiple incoming lines our bills including all calls are max £35 a month. Call quality has never been an issue.

Yes lack of Internet can be an issue as phone systems are lost but we receive more emails and rely on the Internet for most everyday tasks. So if we did have normal phones but no internet we couldn't probably answer client queries much until Internet was back up anyway. Our Internet reliability is very good by the way and I cannot remember the last time it was down.

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