Voice over IP | M12 Solutions

Voice over IP (VoIP) has been an industry buzz word for a while now but, what is it, and what does it mean for your business?

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is the technology used to transmit voice conversations over an internal or external data network using IP packets (digital form); without loss in functionality, reliability or quality. This brings rise to a vast array of benefits. Most notably:

Lower Cost: One infrastructure for voice and data

The major advantage of Voice over IP is a reduction in cost. One infrastructure carrying both voice and data, provided by one supplier, can be managed, maintained and upgraded much more efficiently and cheaply than two separate networks for voice and data. Voice over IP also allows certain calls to be free of charge, particularly site to site calls over a WAN link.

Once Office: Multi-site & mobile employees - working off one system

Employees spread all over the country working from branch offices (or even their homes or on the move) can all be given extensions of a single number with the ability to route calls between themselves.
Customers are unaware that employees aren't all in one central office location due to the seamless process of transferring between different locations. This can aid the SME user to appear far larger and introduce call centre technologies such as calls triggering onscreen pop ups with customer details.

Incredible New features: VoIP allows businesses to access new features they may not have enjoyed before. Such as video conferencing, Instant messaging and large conference calls.
Total Integration: (or "Convergence") VoIP systems integrate your phones, voicemail, email, SMS, faxes and other communication tools.
Feedback/Monitoring: You can get better stats on phone usage, better monitor remote phone users' phone calls. This is a huge plus if you have or are considering using homeworkers.
Future Proof: All major call carriers (BT, NTL, C&W, etc) are investing heavily in VoIP technologies with a view to replacing the current UK network with an IP based version.