What is VOIP and how does it work?

Forget copper cables and handsets.

VoIP is the technology which converts your voice into a digital signal, letting you make a call directly from a computer, a VoIP phone, or other data apparatus. To put it simply, it’s phone service delivered over the internet. You might also hear it called IP telephony, internet telephony, broadband telephony, or broadband phone service.

VoIP is phone service delivered across the internet.

How it works
Packet-switched VoIP puts voice signals into packets, much like an electronic envelope. VoIP packets can be transmitted over any VoIP-compatible network, like a local area network (LAN).

Since VoIP uses packets, much more information can be carried over the network to support and improve your communication requirements.

In addition to traditional voice services, VoIP provides you access to advanced software that could possibly help your employees be more agile and effective. VoIP solutions geared toward businesses have developed into unified communications services that treat all communications–phone calls, faxes, voice mail, email, web conferences, and much more –as different units which can be delivered via any way and to any handset, such as cell phones.

Switching to VoIP may also save you money on communications services. Long-distance and worldwide calls are usually free with VoIP service. The only fee is for your internet access.

Implementing VoIP does not mean that all your workers have to use IP-enabled phones. The best VoIP providers implement IP telephony in a way that protects your investment in existing telephone equipment, even if you have analog telephone channels.