VoIP and Bandwidth Management
In the advent of Internet and dial up, VoIP was always deemed luxury. It was so hard to make voice calls back then, considering the latency and lag associated with slow speeds. VoIP was mainly used as a last resort back then; it was only used when other means of communication over the PSTN phone system are not working.
It’s a thing of the past now. Broadband speeds of today are more than enough for the measly traffic that VoIP always comes with. A sample for this would be this: some of the most high quality audio codecs used with VoIP in HD voice require around 128 kbs upload and download speeds. Majority of us today have over 2-3mbps connections. With speed connections reaching 10mbps, you’ll never have problems with bandwidth when using VoIP.
However, you can still have a bandwidth crunch when you use VoIP in a mobile. Today, 3G technologies give more than sufficient bandwidth to pave way for a seamless VoIP experience. It’s not the speed of the mobile Internet that serves as a limiting factor, but the latency and lag that come with wireless connectivity.
Wi-Fi connection serves to be a great alternative since it is covered by a standard Ethernet connection. It’s much more reliable within its area of operation. However, emerging 4G technologies are proving to be the perfect one for VoIP, which yields a new acronym – VoLTE – Voice over LTE.
Maybe the biggest threat to mobile VoIP is not the technology per se, but the data caps that are imposed by carriers. VoIP might not put a dent in your usage rates, it’s the wrong way of thinking that using it might cause overshooting in the data limits.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: bandwidth management, connections, data, PSTN, speeds, used, voip bandwidth, VoIP/PSTN
VPN for Business VoIP Phone Systems
Despite all the benefits and the extreme influence in unified communications, Voice-over Internet Protocol has a lot of issues. Security being one of them. This problem makes many companies stay away from a VoIP set up from their PSTN set up. However, since PSTN is expensive but not as fast as VoIP, several companies want to switch to a Business VoIP Phone System to yield better results, and they are known to be very fast. VoIP is deemed the future of communication, you know
Every issue today is some sort form of business in one way or another. That being said, there is a solution to every problem. It can be used in VoIP phone systems, as well. VoIP security problems can be solved through virtual private network. Virtual private network (VPN) refers to the safe and secure network set up that can be used by some people, like company employees. It is typically encrypted for security purposes.
There are many advantages in using VPN. It lets you modify your VoIP phone systems from just about everywhere. With the use of this dramatic feature, you can browse websites that can only be accessed by a single country. When you use VPN, you can actually bypass the regional restrictions like firewalls and any related web filtering.
Another benefit that comes with using VPN is it doesn’t allow other people to track your online whereabouts. For this reason, it is considered the security guard for your data transference on the web, be it audio, video or text data. This is actually possible, considering with VPN, they could not locate you. This is beneficial, and it lets you go over even publicly without worrying about hacking issues or any other security threats. Your IP address will always be hidden. Only your VPN IP address can be seen by the public. Nonetheless, to be precise you’re on the safe side, you must always ensure the security of your VPN along with that of the private server that you will be connecting with.
VPN will enhance the quality of your VoIP calls very efficiently, for that matter. With VPN, you can make more affordable VoIP calls than the leading VoIP service providers.
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Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: actually, always, Business Voip, Business VoIP Phone Systems, private, PSTN, used, VPN
When should you switch to a Hosted PBX VOIP Business Phone System?
Hosted PPBX VOIP Systems are transforming the communication landscape for the tiny and budding business organizations. With the constant innovations and developments in the telecommunication world, business enterprises are constantly searching for substitutes to the expensive premise based PSTN networks. The Hosted PBX Systems offer remarkable cost savings to cut cost and expenses involved in business communication by utilizing VOIP technology to deliver the best quality and services.
The searches have shown that the Hosted PBX VOIP Systems are being rapidly embraced by the small and growing business organizations especially in the US and greater parts of Europe. With more and more business enterprises gradually turning to Hosted PBX as the affordable business phone systems, the question that arises is when should you switch to a PBX VOIP solution for your business communication?
What is Hosted PBX VOIP?
The Hosted PBX VOIP Systems are cost effective, feature rich business phone systems that transmit voice and data over the web. The Hosted PBX technology integrates analog and digital communication as digital data packets which are compressed and encrypted prior to transmission over the internet. Utilization of internet to transmit analog voice makes the system highly cost effective by eliminating the increasing cost of calling for long distances.
The Hosted PBX Systems do not require the need to buy additional hardware or PBX equipment to carry out business communication smoothly. The Hosted PBX Service Provider owns the necessary hardware and software needed to deliver the service and functionalities. The user only needs a device to access the system and a reliable internet connection.
Features of Hosted PBX Business Phone Systems
The PBX Business Phone Systems have an upper hand over the traditional PSTN telephony systems in terms of advanced digital calling features. The two offerings include standard and additional features. The standard features are usually available in any plan you choose while for the additional features you need to pay a little extra fee.
Some of the exceptional Hosted PBX VOIP features include:
Email Encryption- Email encryption safeguards customer data from thefts and hacking while it is being transferred online. Important business transactions are carried out through emails. It is absolutely necessary to safeguard that vital information from prying eyes.
Click to Call- Click to Call button connects a visitor on your site directly to the support or sales department for any query or request. It increases the customer interaction and makes the customer support sound pro-active.
Visual Call Reports- Visual Call Reports are a great way to analyze the behavior of the caller traffic for your business and how to improve your business communication. The reports can be generated in real time on the basis of the day, time of the day or numbers that are dialed.
In addition to these sophisticated calling features the standard calling features include Call Waiting, Call Transfer, Call Hold, Call Forwarding, Conference Calling, 3 Way Calling, Virtual Extensions, Caller ID, Voicemail and Music on Hold.
Why go for Hosted PBX?
First impression is the last impression. Many of the potential customers reach your organization through a phone call. It is either you grab that opportunity or loose it. A professionally sounding business phone system can making a lasting impression on your clients and project you as a large corporate to build trust among your callers and you.
The PBX VOIP Systems are professional business phone systems that have features like Auto Attendant, enhanced ACD and IVR which segregate the calls and prioritize them to minimize the hold time for a caller and always direct calls to the appropriate extensions.
The system is accessible 24X7 which makes it possible for entrepreneurs and remote users to stay connected with other employees and clients regardless of their physical location. The Hosted PBX is a wonderful way to connect dispersed workforce as a unified unit operating under one roof. Important data like documents, faxes, emails and messages can be shared among remote users in real time which keeps the employers and employees on the same page with minimum efforts.
Superb voice quality is the icing on the cake for the Hosted PBX Systems. The tons of added features and complete technical support simplify business communication greatly. Unified Communication integrates voice, text, images and data in a single unified platform that can be accessed by any device. If you are looking for quality of service, reliability, support and latest features at affordable prices then the PBX VOIP Systems should be your ideal choice for a business phone system.
Technology specialist at therealpbx.com ‘Adom Brown’ is a specialist in Hosted PBX Systems for small and medium business enterprises. It Owns and Manages the network and Business PBX Platform so there is no point to rely on the third party companies for our Voice traffic, data traffic and Business Phone services, Unified Communication, business class voice quality, real time customer assistance, scalable office PBX VOIP system and more.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: IVR, PBX, PSTN, Unified Communication
Global fixed line VoIP market set to generate $40 billion a year by 2015
VoIP substitutions winning voice market share – with room for more
Voice over IP now has over 120 million subscribers worldwide, according to the latest analysis from Point Topic, and its growth looks set to accelerate as predictions indicate a $40 billion annual VoIP market by 2015.
Point Topic’s data revealed a global growth in VoIP of 12.6% during 2010 and shows that there is plenty of headroom left for VoIP * around the world.
“The growth of VoIP has been bumpy but shows signs of acceleration,” said John Bosnell, Senior Analyst at Point Topic. “VoIP has all the hallmarks of a classic substitution commodity. This is where customers look at the service that is delivered by a new product and decide that it meets, or exceeds, the service they are currently receiving and when it is appropriately priced they will switch from one to the other.”
Referring to the above, for example, consumers are switching from the standard telephone system to an end to end IP service that provides voice services at a very attractive cost and adds other possibilities.
“France has been something of a test bed for VoIP. Driven by an active supplier base that has made VoIP available to a large percentage of the population over the last decade, the providers have been rewarded with significant take-up,” added Bosnell.
The result has been a rapid shift away from PSTN. In France by 2010, over 50% of telephony traffic originating on fixed networks was started on a VoIP phone.
The scale of the opportunity
The whole broadband market and all its consumers are potential customers, and there is good evidence that consumers see VoIP as a superior substitute for traditional PSTN calls.
“We expect there to be over three quarters of a billion fixed line broadband subscribers by the end of 2015, in theory all of them are targets for VoIP,” said Bosnell.
Any projections about the size and value of the VoIP market should be treated with caution however, according to Point Topic. At this stage in the development of a market there are so many variables that forecasting models can easily be off by a significant margin. For example, an increasing number of subscribers are doing without a fixed line telephone service at all, relying instead on mobile.
Bosnell added: “Given a number of assumptions, relatively consistent ARPU, regulatory easement, a cautious set of projections and so on, we expect the global fixed line VoIP market to be generating at least $40 billion a year in five years’ time.”
The extended opportunity
Point Topic’s analysis on VoIP has so far focused on fixed line services, however Internet telephony, where services like Skype are active, is a more enigmatic market.
“It is highly fragmented and generally served by companies who don’t or won’t report regular statistics and revenues. However Skype, the market leader, has had considerable publicity recently and does report some numbers. From these we estimate that there are more internet telephony than VoIP users, with Skype alone accounting for almost 150 million regular callers,” said Bosnell.
However revenue generated is much lower. At the end of 2010 it had around 9 million paying users generating $8 a month on average. Again it is the potential size of the cake that makes for some attractive opportunities.
“If Skype continues to grow as it has been and manages to keep its ARPU at the current level then it will be generating in the region of $2 billion a year by the start of 2016. If you work hard and manage to marry your internet telephony service with a major mobile device manufacturer and solve any number of technical and regulatory issues, the market could really explode,” concluded Bosnell.
About Point Topic
Point Topic is the primary websource for DSL, FTTx, cable and other broadband supplier and user statistics, databases, information and reports. Its data is in use worldwide amongst governments, commercial organisations and as general reference. A range of online services provides the most up-to-date, accurate and cost effective worldwide and UK specific broadband data sets available. See http://www.point-topic.com for more details.
Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: ARPU, IP, Point Topic, PSTN
Routers are a Critical VoIP Component
The Router is a critical link in any VoIP deployment. Most routers that you get from cable companies or that you can purchase at Best buy for under $100.00 dollars are simply not capable of effectively handling business VoIP. A quality VoIP router for a small office costs about $350.00. Routers for larger offices vary based on the number of users at each location and start at $700.00 for 15-users office.
VoIP routers provide the following benefits;
1. QoS – Quality of Service
2. SIP Server Redundancy
3. Traffic Shaping
4. VoIP Proxy
VoIP Terms Defined
1. QoS: stands for Quality of Service: QoS does several things, on a network that shares voice and data, a QoS capable router gives priority to voice traffic. This is important because there will be times when you are on the phone and someone else using your network sends or receives a large file or downloads a video and you do not want this to affect the voice quality of your call. A router that can provide QoS will prevent this from happening.
2. SIP Server Redundancy: A quality voip service providers in USA has servers at more than one location. If one location goes out of service, the secondary or back up location automatically takes over. A true VoIP router will automatically route calls to the backup location if the primary location is out of service. The router you get from your ISP or Best Buy does not have this capability.
3. Traffic Shaping: Allows you to decide how much bandwidth to allocate to voice and how much to data. If you give priority to voice traffic, you could use up all your available bandwidth and your computers will not be able to access the internet. VoIP routers have this built in.
4. VoIP Proxy: Allows phones on your network to register directly with the PSTN. If your cannot do this your call first has to travel to your VoIP Service Providers SIP server and then to the PSTN. Any increase in distance that your VoIP packets have to travel increases the chance of lost packets and other forms of network interference.
Most quality voice over internet protocol providers strongly recommend that you install a router designed for VoIP traffic in order to guaranteed Quality of Service. They are hesitant to require it because of the higher costs. If your business depends on your phone, you would be wise to get a VoIP router.
AVAD Technologies is a leading small business hosted VoIP in USA. With its cutting edge line of integrated voice/data solutions, AVAD Technologies provides complete VoIP configuration to cost-conscious, results-driven, value-oriented organizations. Avad Technologies offers voice over internet protocol services, VoIP Services, VoIP advantages and Call Center Software for small business and large enterprise customers.
AVAD Technologies is a leading small business VoIP provider of Hosted VoIP PBX phone service.
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Categories: VOIP Articles Tags: Avad Technologies, Call Center Software, PSTN, usa