VoIP Telephone Systems & Infrastructure

What is VoIP?

Voice over Internet Protocol is a procedure and class of technologies for the delivery of voice transmissions and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet. But, what exactly does it do?

VoIP utilizes the internet to transmit voice calls, in the form of data packets. VoIP phone systems can also be a software application or app, and not require an office phone as you would see at the reception of a hotel.

Voice over IP technology is incredibly flexible for small company users. Phone lines can be used from the employees location and calls can be seamlessly transferred from office phone to mobile. Conversations can evolve from text messages to voice call, to video conference call, all in the same app.

Examples of VoIP

Microsoft Teams is a great example of VoIP Solution. What Teams have is a built-in video conferencing option that allows you to have a meeting with your employees and other people that may be outside of your company! Teams is a go-to choice, another reason for this is because it has chats that you can organise into channels which improves organisation.

3CX is another great example of VoIP Solution because it allows you to operate your PC just like a mobile phone! What 3CX allows you to do is to use your headset to speak to people through a phone system that uses the internet. You can also download the 3CX app on your mobile phone that links your office number to your phone, so not only do you have to use your headset, but as an alternative, you can use your phone!

How is VoIP able to do this?

VoIP infrastructure refers to the connection, bandwidth, software, and hardware that makes it possible for you to communicate with anyone in the world by transmitting your voice over the internet

Top-tier communication is an essential part of your business. Quality and reliability are key factors in setting up your VoIP infrastructure. The core things to consider when setting up your VoIP infrastructure are:

  • Its reliability and uptime

  • Its troubleshooting and notification capabilities

  • Its call quality framework

  • Its response and and restoration capabilities
  • Its security and compliance reliability.

How should you optimise your VoIP Infrastructure?

VoIP Bandwidth

Be sure that you have sufficient bandwidth in your network to support your software apps. This should include your contacts, integrations, and any other applications you’ll need to operate your business efficiently. In other words, businesses need at least 64Kbps upstream and downstream for each concurrent call. This means around 1 Mbps per person. Having enough bandwidth will improve the quality of your calls and prevent problems with dropped calls.

Guaranteed bandwidth is preferable to shared bandwidth. Shared bandwidth costs less than guaranteed bandwidth, but it may cause you to degrade the strength of your internet connection. With guaranteed bandwidth, you get the guarantee of consistent internet speed, even during peak periods.

You can use either an ethernet cable or a WiFi connection for VoIP. Ethernet cables generally produce better results than a WiFi connection, so we would recommend that you use an ethernet cable.

Use a professional router and firewall so you can program the Quality of Service rules to prioritise voice traffic in your network. Quality of Service rules will send your data packets with a high priority. This isn’t something you can do with a normal router. Setting your router up correctly will prevent problems with echoing and delayed speech.

Make sure that you are using USB headsets, you should always avoid using Bluetooth as it can cause audio problems, for example; static and low quality input & output. You should also be aware that VPNs and proxy servers may cause call delay, blocked calls or interference due to traffic.

VoIP Security

From a security standpoint, adopt standardised security frameworks and check that your cloud-computing vendor uses them as well. Make sure that your VoIP provider secures your call content and the connections at both ends. Your cloud-computing vendor should be using secured data centres.

As spam, viruses, hacking, and other cyber crimes continue to rise, you should properly set up your VoIP infrastructure as it will help prevent some security risks, but all businesses must be wary of mistakes. It’s important for your business and teams to stay current on emerging security threats.

Important VoIP Integrations that you should consider

CRM

Integration with your CRM system allows your sales teams to call clients automatically without having to switch devices. Therefore, making it easy to log calls automatically. Instead of risking human error by having to manually enter information when the call ends.

Click-To-Call

By merging VoIP with WebRTC technology, companies can add click-to-call service to their websites without having to download and install an app, otherwise known as webcall or click-to-dial. Users simply click on an icon to request an immediate connection with another person in real time.

Text

Texting is an easier way of communication because of the ease of access to mobile phones. This allows both the customer and the employee to communicate directly through text and remotely. It is a safe and secure way to ensure that your messages are going to the correct person.

Emails

Microsoft Outlook supports VoIP, so users can make calls and manage emails if that’s where your company contact information is kept. In addition, this solves the pain point of having to look up phone numbers manually. This app also lets users receive messages as audio files. Not only this, it will also notify you if you miss a call, if someone leaves a voice message or sends a text message!

Cloud Backups

To minimise the risk of losing data, you should integrate apps like Dropbox or Google Drive. This is an efficient way to back-up important files that need to be saved and secured in a safe place. This can be accessed only by you anytime and anywhere.

Choosing the right phone system

When you are looking at new phone systems, you need to take into account how many people would use it, estimate how long they would use it for and for how many days. You should also have clear answers when deciding. These are a few things that you should consider:

  • What are your objectives as a business
  • What is cost of the phone system
  • How can you get reliability
  • How can I support my clients and who can I turn to if I need support?

We at The Haven are ready to assist you. We sell phone systems to clients and support them in whatever way we can, whenever they need it. We can set up the phone system for you and guarantee that you will be 100% confident that your phone system will work as best as it can!

If you are interested in getting the correct Phone System for your company, make sure to head to our “Contact Us” page and do not hesitate to leave a message!