More commonly known as VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, this is possibly the future for much telephony. Hosted telephony is not new, it has been around for quite a while but now it works over broadband instead of analogue or ISDN lines. Hosted telephony means the system is somewhere else, it doesn’t matter where anymore. It means you don’t have to have the telephone system on your premises; you don’t have to maintain it. All this is done for you. Hosted telephony is an application. You might think of it a bit like a web site. The web site is hosted in one or more safe buildings somewhere. As time goes by extra features and benefits can be added which then become part of your service or as chargeable extras. There are so many things that can be said about hosted telephony, its flexibility now and where it might go in the future. For now here are a few of the benefits:
- Location free – If you have an IP phone you can plug it in anywhere in the world that has suitable broadband and you will be on the same phone number. Standard area codes are no longer confined to a location; you could be in Cardiff and still have a London number or even several different area numbers. When you need to move just pack it all up, take it to your new premises, plug it all in and off you go.
- Simple equipment – All you need is the phones, a router, maybe a switch, some cables and a broadband service. Common IT equipment.
- Future proof – This may be a brave statement but it is true to say that as extra features and benefits are added the system is automatically upgraded.
- Lower maintenance – As you don’t have the system on your premises you don’t have to maintain it.
- Lower call rates – Call rates are often less and usually free between any phones on the same system.
- Computer integration – You can control the phone from your computer or even use a soft phone on your computer with a headset. Some systems already integrate with popular applications.
- Scalable – It’s easier to add or reduce the number of phones as you need them.
- Feature rich –Some features that come as extras on a more traditional phone system come as standard such as voicemail.
- Uniform use – One system working the same across multiple locations.
- The list goes on …..
Here are some things to look out for:
- Does it work – VoIP is maturing but there may still be some systems out there that don’t work very well. That is call quality is poor and/or features don’t work properly. Try it out first, either by a demonstration or by trial. If a supplier has many customers it’s probably good.
- Quality of Service – Hosted telephony over broadband or VoIP relies on the quality of broadband you have and the capacity of it. Cheap and cheerful broadband will give variable service. Get a supplier recommended broadband, don’t overload it and it will work well. There are two qualities of call. The lower one gives a better quality of call than a mobile but not quite as good as a land line. The higher quality service gives an almost hifi quality but uses more of your broadband capacity.
- Cost – There is usually a service charge for each phone or SIP. A SIP is the equivalent of a telephone line but can handle more than one call.
Support – You will either be able to configure it yourself or the supplier can do this for you. If the supplier configures things for you is it part of the service or do you have to pay for it. - Contract term – This could be anything from rolling monthly to 5 years. Long term contracts often have penalties if you want to get out of them.
- The phones – There are a host of suppliers that can provide IP Phones. All will work but some are better than others. Polycom, Astra and Linksys are popular phones that cost from £60 upwards each.
- Does it do what you want?
