VoIP Phones - New era of communication

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VoIP Phones

• New era of communication

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Synopsis

• What You Should Consider Before Switching to VoIP
  Phone Systems?
• Things to Consider When Selecting One of the Best
  VoIP Phone Systems
• The Process Involved in Selecting the Best VoIP
  Phone Systems
• VoIP Phone Systems and Some Ways to Improve Call
  Quality
• Important Questions to Ask Before Selecting a
  Provider of VoIP Phone Systems

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What You Should Consider Before Switching to VoIP
Phone Systems?

• Consider the size of your business. You have to
  understand that every business is different, so
  what works for one business may not be suitable
  for yours too. This is the reason why not all
  VoIP deployments are the same. You do not really
  need a highly sophisticated VoIP service when you
  are a 1-3 person company. In case your business
  is smaller than 15 people, you may benefit from a
  hosted VoIP system. For a larger business, you
  would want to consider the options of both
  on-site and off-site based VoIP phone systems.
• The type of Local Area Network support you have
  available in your area is another important
  consideration. The quality of your network will
  have a huge impact on the quality of calls you
  can make through your VoIP phone system. You just
  cannot hope to get maximum benefits from your
  VoIP service if you do not pay attention to
  having a high quality LAN connection. If your
  business relies heavily on the Internet, it makes
  great sense to set up a separate network for your
  VoIP service. You can also invest in network
  switches to improve the quality of service.
• Consider the available bandwidth when switching
  to a VoIP system. This is extremely important if
  your main goal is to save money with a VoIP
  system. That additional VoIP traffic needs a
  better internet connection with a higher
  bandwidth, and that is why you should be willing
  to upgrade your internet connection. Be sure to
  ask your VoIP service provider about the size of
  your voice packets to determine adequate
  bandwidth. It is also a good idea to take
  advantage of "bandwidth shaping services, which
  ensure that voice packets get more attention than
  your data packets.
• Know how many long distance calls you have to
  make on a regular basis. Many people switch to
  VoIP phone systems thinking that it is a
  cost-effective way to make calls. It certainly
  is, but you are not going to experience that
  benefit if your business relies heavily on local
  calls. You will notice a reduction in overall
  cost if your business involves long distance
  calls.

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Things to Consider When Selecting One of the Best
VoIP Phone Systems

• Know what features you really need in your VoIP
  phone system. Sometimes, you can really work well
  with basic features, but on other occasions, you
  need an IP phone with routing capabilities. It
  means that some offices work just fine with only
  one Ethernet run per workstation. If that is the
  case in your office, you will have to use the
  same Ethernet connection for the IP phone and the
  desktop computer. Selecting a right phone is
  important in this situation because you cannot
  use a system that does not come with dual
  Ethernet ports. Therefore, it is important to
  consider if you can really work with or without
  the routing capabilities.
• Know if you would need to use Power over Ethernet
  with your new deployment or not. If you want to
  use Power Over Ethernet or you have a plan to use
  it in the near future, it is important to ensure
  that you have selected an IP phone accordingly.
  You should also keep this important point in mind
  when selecting a service provider and ask them if
  they can guide you in this regard.
• Get to know more about specific codec and
  protocols your VoIP service provider supports. It
  is easy to find an IP phone that supports SIP as
  well as other voice codec, but sometimes, you may
  have to be careful because your service provider
  may be supporting a limited number of voice
  codec. Therefore, it is important to select an IP
  while making sure that it will be compatible with
  the kind of voice service you are going to get.
• Consider your budget before you start looking for
  a VoIP phone system or service provider. In case
  of IP phones, you can find so many of them and
  all coming with a different price tag. You can
  find an IP phone that costs you only 40, but
  there are IP phones costing more than 400. It
  all depends on what your budget constraints are
  and what features you want in your IP phone. The
  same holds true when you start looking for a
  service provider. The packages they offer may be
  vary a lot as well.

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The Process Involved in Selecting the Best VoIP
Phone Systems

• You should always consider what phone system you
  currently have available. You may already be
  using a VoIP service provider but may not be
  happy with the kind of service you are receiving.
  It is also important to consider your current
  phone system because it helps you ensure that you
  do not select an IP phone that is incompatible
  with your existing phone system. While you may
  think that an IP phone system works with every
  phone service, that is not always true.
  Therefore, it is better to have some information
  in this regard before finalizing your decision.
• Know your needs and determine who is going to use
  those phones. In other words, you should have
  clear idea about the job responsibilities of a
  person who is going to use an IP phone. This is
  important because this information is going to
  help you select one of the best VoIP phone
  systems with the kind of features you require.
  Sometimes, the person using the phone would
  require standard features, such as Call Transfer,
  Call Hold, Conference Call, and Call Parking.
  Depending on your needs, you may require a
  different phone with a larger speakerphone and
  sidecar capability for adding extra extensions.
  So, know your needs and determine how you are
  planning to use your VoIP phone to make a good
  decision.
• Get more information about how many incoming
  calls the person using an IP phone is going to
  receive. In other words, you should know the
  frequency of calls on an IP phone to make a right
  decision. It also helps you determine how many
  line appearances you need. An average office
  worker may not need more than 3-5 line
  appearances, but a receptionist or administrator
  may require up to 10 line appearances. Moreover,
  if your employee is going to use the IP phone all
  day long, it is important to invest in a higher
  quality phone.

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VoIP Phone Systems and Some Ways to Improve Call
Quality

• Be sure to opt for private VoIP service. You may
  certainly be able to save some money when opting
  for public VoIP services, but you are not going
  to get good quality. Private, dedicated networks
  are going to perform much better.
• Use high quality cables. Cutting corners can
  significantly affect the call quality. You are
  likely to face fewer issues in this regard when
  you opt for CAT-5 cabling, as it is fast enough
  to manage VoIP traffic.
• Pay special attention to network monitoring. The
  best thing is to take advantage of your service
  provider's network monitoring service to handle
  packet loss and jitters in a better way. This
  will directly affect the overall call quality.
• Be careful when allocating bandwidth. This is
  another aspect where many people make wrong
  decision and end up compromising the quality of
  calls. It is best to keep data and voice traffic
  separate with the help of a VLAN. You can also
  take advantage of non-blocking switches, as they
  help prevent packet loss and collision. Be sure
  to use network analysis tools to know that
  everything is working fine.
• Make use of echo cancellation hardware. You can
  invest in VoIP hardware, IP PBX, and handsets
  with echo cancellation feature. This may require
  a greater investment, but you will notice a
  considerable improvement in the overall quality
  of your calls.
• Consider upgrading your network suit for better
  results. You may think that you can manage
  everything with your existing networking
  monitoring and management suit, but you will be
  better off upgrading it to accommodate VoIP.

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Important Questions to Ask Before Selecting a
Provider of VoIP Phone Systems

• Ask about Flexibility of Their Offerings
• It is important question that you should ask
  before you decide to cut a deal with a service
  provider. You have to understand that VoIP
  service cannot work without an IP connection,
  which is why it is important to ensure that the
  service provider provides you with a range of
  network services.
• Ask about Financial Stability
• A financially stable service provider will also
  be in a good position to improve their service
  and employ new hardware with the change in the
  market trends.
• Ask if You Get Hosted Service or Not
• You have to select your VoIP phone systems after
  deciding about the type of service suitable for
  your business. A managed service provider will
  save you from spending a lot of time, money, and
  resources to manage your system, but a premise
  based service provider will offer you the voice
  network that you will have to manage and
  administer within your facility.

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Good Bye

• For more details, please visit -
  http//www.dcstelecom.ca/voip-digital-phones/