SMB and Enterprise business solutions with VoIPTrekker

Everywhere you turn it seems there is another ad for well known VoIP-based phone service that uses a broadband connection to save money on calls. Even the traditional telephone and cable companies are starting to push the service. The technology of VoIP itself is not new; telephone companies have been using it in their own backbone for years. What is new is rolling the service out directly to end users.

But there is another aspect of VoIP that is more important from a business standpoint. Replacing existing internal phone systems with VoIP networks can cut costs, simplify administration and enable a variety of new applications that improve collaboration and productivity.

The benefits are outstanding. Wherever your office is and your workers are make no difference. You'll be able to transfer calls or place calls from anywhere within your company organization while saving money. You'll have the same service as those expensive PBX system either with a hosted PBX or a Premise PBX!

Moving From Analog to Digital

VoIP represents the latest in a long series of actions to change voice transmission from an all-analog to an all-digital process.

The analog system has a tremendous quality of service built in on the old copper lines. It assigns a dedicated end-to-end connection for each pair of users, with separate channels to allow simultaneous two-way transmission. Those lines could carry a lot more than just two people's voices but they don't, thereby wasting a lot of potential bandwidth. Standard phone service is like having your own limo waiting outside your door with the motor running ready to take you anywhere on a moment's notice. It is very good service, but also not very efficient.

VoIP allows many voice transmissions to pass over the same piece of copper or fiber by dividing the communications into packets and then routing these packets, mixed in with those from other users, to the other person in the conversation. VoIP is like having a fleet of shared taxicabs. It makes very efficient use of the available resources.

To guarantee an adequate level of service, the International Telecommunications Union has approved standard H.323 which sets out standards for voice, video and data. The implementation of H.323 by manufacturers and carriers brings VoIP quality up to the level of older switched networks and opens the door for its widespread adoption.

The aspect of VoIP being widely promoted right now is using an Internet connection to replace traditional phone lines. From an IT standpoint, however, what is important is how it can facilitate internal communications. To begin with, it means only one set of wires that have to be strung to the desktop since the computers and phones will both just be nodes on the same network. It also means that staff only needs to support a single transmission protocol.

The real value, however, will be in the area of converged applications that VoIP enables.

First of all, it brings voicemail, e-mail and faxes into a common inbox where they can be deleted, answered, forwarded or saved. They also provide presence management; the ability to see who else is logged onto the network at the time.

In a call center or help desk situation, for example, an analyst or agent can then escalate a call simply by finding who else is available and transferring both the caller and all supporting data or documents to that employee. This reduces the number of callbacks and improves customer service.

What businesses can use VoIPTrekker?

Any business that needs the flexibility with their PBX to get calls anywhere and anytime.