VoIP Business Phones & IP PBX

A Quick Introduction to VoIP Business Phones/IP PBX

You can save your business money and enjoy an instantly scalable phone system by using a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) system. While traditional telephone service requires a service call to add lines, VoIP lets you add lines immediately with a few clicks on a website and a handset to plug into the wall. You can purchase any size system to start and add lines as needed as long as you have enough bandwidth, a compatible switch and router, plus a battery backup solution so you still have a phone connection during power outages.

To deploy a VOIP business system, you need a few basic pieces of equipment, including an appropriate data plan that provides enough bandwidth to host it. The other pieces of equipment include the router, digital multiline phone system, softphones, and headsets. If you want to use existing equipment, you need telephone adapters, too. You will also need one of two options for a backup in case the power goes out: a battery backup or a Power-over-Ethernet switch.

The router connects the computers on your network and the network equipment to the internet. You need a high-quality, high-powered router specifically designed to handle your current phones plus a larger system. Check the router’s specifications to ensure its compatibility with your voice-over-IP service. If you will share your internet connection for the VoIP lines and office web access, you need a router with quality of service (QoS) setting. The QoS lets you prioritize voice traffic above other router traffic so your VoIP calls remain clear. Some routers can also handle Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections and manage Wi-Fi connections.

VoIP phones come in the same range of designs as traditional phones, so you can choose a simple single handset or a multi-line system. They also come new, refurbished or open box. These handsets come with features like call waiting, call transfer, call parking, conference, etc. Other features available include sidecar capability so you can add extra extensions, a speakerphone, and oversize displays. The number of line appearances a VoIP phone has also matters. These typically range from three to 10. In offices with one Ethernet run per workstation, you need VoIP phones with dual RJ45 Ethernet ports so the desktop and phone can share the Ethernet. Check the VoIP phone system to ensure it uses the same voice codecs as your provider, so they will work together. The most common codecs are G.711 and G.729. Others include H.323, MGCP, and SCCP.