VoIP vs Unified Communications: Whats the difference and which is better?
When many people first start out thinking about VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems for small business, they tend to fall into the trap of the ‘knowing both sides of the coin’ argument. There is a great deal of confusion when it comes to understanding how VoIP differs from traditional telephone services. That confusion is compounded by the fact that most companies selling VoIP phone systems for small business do not offer hosted VoIP services. This means that even though they are selling a great product you still have to figure out how to make calls using it – which can be more difficult than you might think.
Traditional phone systems for business have been around for quite some time, and as they have evolved over the years they have also gotten more user-friendly. The days of trying to work through a complex menu system are long gone. In the last few years there has also been a tremendous amount of development in the protocols used by VoIP networks like Vonage. These newer protocols now allow people to transfer large amounts of data very easily over the Internet. All of this is a very appealing aspect of VoIP phone systems for small businesses, but they still need to decide what features are most important to their customers.
One of the most important features of VoIP phone systems for small businesses is voice communication. You want to be able to make calls without having to hold the phone to speak to someone or be typing constantly to make sure your email arrives. Voice over IP allows you to eliminate all these extra steps. Instead, people can simply make voice calls using their computers.
Another aspect of VoIP phone systems for small businesses is the fact that many of them allow multiple calls coming in at the same time. They work much like a phone with multiple analog channels all connected to a single IP address. VoIP servers then process these calls on each individual server. For example, if someone calls you and your phone is at your home, your VoIP server would process the call and then send it to your phone at your home. This means that your phone would not even have to pick up the phone because it would be connected to the server directly. This saves you money because you would only have to pay for the calls that you made with your phone at home.
With VoIP you will also find yourself saving a great deal of time. When you have a traditional phone plan, you have to manually check your phone to see who has called you. This can lead to a lot of missed calls because people do not recognize who is calling. With VoIP phone communication, all calls made are going to come to you as long as they are using the same IP address. You do not have to check your phone because it will be connected to the VoIP server instead.
You will also find that VoIP phone systems are much more affordable than traditional phone systems. Many people cannot afford to upgrade to VoIP services because the rates are so low. However, by choosing VoIP as your communication method you can save a lot of money, while at the same time still be able to use top notch quality calls. VoIP is becoming the communication standard in many countries around the world. If you are unsure about whether or not VoIP is right for you, it may be a good idea to get an evaluation done to see how well you will adapt to it.
