Many organisations have implemented VoIP Solutions as part of their move to an Integrated Communications Strategy. Usually, the rationale includes the financial benefits of toll-free long-distance and International calling, improved customer relations, and better performance and productivity in the workplace.
However, if the VoIP Solution is not properly implemented and managed, problems can arise over time. Without becoming too technical, here are some of the more common
Most people nowadays use website contact details to get in touch with a Business. They usually have email addresses and Business Phone Numbers plus other information like address details and contact names.
One reason might be that a company you deal with has changed its contact details since you last dealt with them. They could have been taken over, moved, or simply gone out of business. The details you have are out of date and you are having difficulty in contacting them.
If the number you have is a cell number, it could be different for a number of reasons. One reason is that If a prepaid number is not used or recharged for a period of time, say six months, it is reclaimed by the cell company (“Churned”) and reissued to another client.
There are however, from time to time, darker reasons.
As a consequence of the pandemic, many businesses have moved to a Work from Home and remote access basis. The way they do business, the way they interact with customers and customers interact with them has radically changed.
This has meant a sea-change in internal corporate structures. New Internal and external corporate communications have placed intense pressure on IT as they implement VoIP or Cloud Phone systems on a restricted budget.
Companies that have implemented VoIP Phone Systems have seen the financial and operational benefits of VoIP Phones, but have also seen the downside reducing the cost savings. High maintenance costs, unstable internet connections, and poor quality connections are common issues.
One effect of the pandemic has been a quantum increase in remote working and working from home. IT strategies have morphed from strategic to survival as they change to cope with the new business imperatives.
In remote working the need to communicate increases, and it is even more important in helping to maintain team morale and manage projects with a geographically dispersed workforce.
Collaborative applications like SharePoint, Zoom, NetMeeting, and Skype have become the norm in business. Cloud storage as a means of document sharing and project communications is now essential. A Cloud Phone, a phone that uses Voice over IP (“VoIP”) over the Internet is becoming indispensable for productivity, privacy and general communications.
More than ever, business communications are vital to a business’s success. Customers and suppliers need to get in touch. The company needs to maintain an Internet presence to market its goods and services and support an e-commerce facility. Geographically dispersed businesses need business communications to link home office, manufacturing sites and depots at home and abroad
New company business, communications and IT strategies need to reflect the new realities. Many companies are looking to implement an Integrated Communications Strategy that defines a common look-and-feel throughout the business.
One effect of the pandemic has been a quantum increase in remote working. In some cases, lockdown and travel restrictions have forced a move to work from home. Adopting e-commerce as a business platform has meant interacting digitally with customers and suppliers.
In remote working the need to communicate remains, and is even more important to maintain team morale. Virtual meetings using applications like Zoom, NetMeeting, and Skype have become the norm.
For many, remote working and remote meetings are very new and they are wary of the technology and unsure of how they should interact with other meeting attendees. Sometimes the first few meetings are less productive than the face-to-face equivalent as people find their feet and create a new working culture.
VoIP for Business has become a fixture in the marketplace. Most businesses use it, appreciating the many benefits it can bring them. The benefits associated with VoIP for Business have been highlighted by the increases in remote working and working from home following the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. That has, in turn, driven a need for video conferencing as an essential corporate communications medium.
In the past, whenever an employee left the office they were uncontactable, with the possible exception of the evening at home or in their accommodation on the road. This made communications between staff, the office, and each other difficult at best.
All that has changed with the advent of Business VoIP. Simply put, with Business VoIP and it’s inbuilt video-conferencing capability, individuals and teams need never be uncontactable, inside or outside the office. True mobility is possible.
If we extend the traditional definitions of conference calls, that of a group in a static setting using tabletop microphones and cameras, to include ad-hoc group video calling with smart devices, to and from anywhere, the benefits of conference calls to a business are undeniable.
Now that VoIP is commonplace in business, the focus has moved from implementation to management, particularly the management of VoIP Quality.
The concept is simple. VoIP traffic is a series of ethernet packets. The packets must arrive in the same order as they left and not be damaged or lost in transit to ensure that both parties can talk comfortably. One of the primary measurements of VoIP Quality is that of VoIP Jitter, something that can seriously affect VoIP traffic quality.Continue reading
Most, if not all IT Departments are under cost pressure. They are being asked to continue with business as usual and provide support for remote working and work from home imposed by COVID-19. Some are also managing the transition to full online e-commerce. With no increase in budget or staff.
One solution that is becoming increasingly popular is outsourcing VoIP systems to a Managed Service Provider (“MSP”) that provides both software support -and VoIP Phone maintenance. That fixes some budget costs and frees staff to carry out more urgent tasks.
Managed Outsourcing, in this case, only part of the VoIP environment is outsourced. A typical case is the maintenance and installation of VoIP Phones. This will involve having MSP staff on site. Full outsourcing, on the other hand, the MSP takes responsibility for the operation and management of the full VoIP environment. This can be accomplished either inhouse or on an MSP’s premises. In-House, the MSP manages your existing environment. They can also duplicate your environment on their site. Typically users outsource management to the MSP and hand full control over to them.
If you intend to use an MSP, you are embarking on a long-lasting business relationship and one in which the MSP will have access to most, if not all, of your business secrets.Continue reading
Most businesses, small and large, now use VoIP technologies as the core of their Unified Communications strategy. The benefits, financial, operational and to their business profile are undeniable, making VoIP a no brainer.
Within VoIP, there are several options that an organisation can choose to improve the quality of service. Among these are SIP Trunks.
SIP Trunks replace the physical connections provided by traditional communications suppliers. Simply put, a SIP Trunk is the digital equivalent of the conventional physical link. It is usually called a data circuit. It supports voice, data, streaming media and video services, the basis of a business Unified Communications environment.Continue reading
Most, if not all businesses use some form of Business VoIP.
Simply put, it is the transfer of the business internal and external voice communications to a digital platform. Business VoIP can be part of a larger digital Unified Communications environment comprising VoIP, video-conferencing and Social Media.
A Unified Communications implementation ranges from full-blown onsite hardware and software implementations to outsourced managed solutions to virtual software running on a single PC server. Continue reading