When switching to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems, a business will need to incorporate new equipment and technology. Though it may seem daunting, the transition and subsequent result leads to more manageable communications, a shallow learning curve and support during the process.
“One of the biggest differences between using a traditional phone system and going to a VoIP platform is the huge reduction in equipment that is needed, and you’d be getting better features and advantages out of it,” says Alex Desberg, sales and marketing director at Ohio.net. “When you’re moving from a traditional world to a VoIP world, there is a reduction in the equipment management and the space required to have the brains of a Private Branch Exchange unit living in your office.”
Smart Business spoke with Desberg to find out what a company can expect when switching to VoIP in regards to space concerns, hardware, and learning and maintaining the new technology.
What are the equipment requirements when incorporating VoIP?
It actually reduces the need for premise based equipment and the resources to keep that equipment up and running. Integrating VoIP systems removes an old phone system, and takes old phones off desks and replaces them with a phone designed for VoIP. It normally uses your existing Internet connection unless that needs to be upgraded to handle the additional bandwidth from the voice communications.
How are employees trained on the new systems?
When the new technology is being presented, part of the process of moving to VoIP is what your business environment can assimilate. There’s a large amount of education upfront in terms of system capability. For instance, end user education is conducted where, when it’s time to put a phone on somebody’s desk, the vendor trains the employee on how to use the phone — there is somebody whose sole responsibility is to go out and train a customer. The employees learn how the phone on their desk works and how that works in conjunction with how calls are coming in.
Is the installation done by the vendor or by the company?
It can be either. If it’s done by the vendor, it’s done as part of that training so when the vendor is out doing the installation, training also is being conducted.
How much maintenance is required?
Software updates, upgrades to the system and maintenance done on the system are all part of the service. The only thing that needs to be maintained in terms of hardware or software is the phone on the desk. If a company owns its own hardware, the equipment will be supported until it stops working and then the customer may need to replace it. Software upgrades are automatic, typically involving a phone reboot in the middle of the night during non-office hours.
What happens in the case of power outages?
One of the functions of VoIP is that it actually has some built-in disaster recovery. So even if a phone loses power, breaks or Internet connection at the office is lost, the system itself is aware of that outage and reroutes calls. For example, if a company’s phones go down from a power outage, the system can automatically send calls to alternate lines such as cell phones.
How much bandwidth does a company need for VoIP?
It boils down to how much bandwidth a company has prior to installing VoIP. If a company is already pushing its usage to the peak and there are issues with its Internet service, adding a VoIP Internet-based phone system will not help the scenario. The solution is to either upgrade bandwidth or separate voice and data into two connections. But the company can grow the system as needed. ●
Alex Desberg is sales and marketing director at Ohio.net. Reach him at [email protected].
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