VoIP Phone Systems
Our Guide To A VoIP Phone System For Small Businesses UK
Running a small business is stressful enough, without having to learn the ins and outs of how the latest VoIP phones systems work. We have created a helpful guide to explain what VoIP business phone systems are, how they work and what they can do to unlock the potential of your business.
VoIP Systems — Your Journey Begins Here
What is a VoIP Phone System
VoIP is the future of telephone systems and businesses across the UK are unlocking the potential they offer. They are more than just a phone system for keeping your business connected to your customers. A VoIP phone system will help you to achieve replicating all the functionality of a large business without the huge setup costs. Many business VoIP providers, including us, can integrate the phone system software into your existing customer relationship management or help desk software.
VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. It is also referred to as a hosted phone system, IP telephony, internet calling, internet phone to name a few. And it replaces traditional business phone systems. Rather than send voice over copper wires to the final destination, VoIP converts spoken voice into data. This data is sent over the internet to the final destination, where is it converted back to audible voice. As all calls are data this is easily saved and can be mined to provide you with insights. Such as when are the busy periods of inbound calls, so you can provide more cover during those peaks.
VoIP phone systems are also easily adaptable. During the Covid-19 pandemic. Our business users were able to change overnight from an office based setup, to staff working from home. And their customers didn't even know the difference.
All VoIP systems use software to set up the configuration. This software is either online accessed via a secure online portal or running on a computer network. Either way, allowing you to control adding and removing users. In fact the functionality VoIP offers goes much further than adding users. We have compiled a list of the top 12 functions our small business customers take advantage of every day.
How does a VoIP Business Phone System Work
Let’s start by saying that using a VoIP phone system is like using a traditional phone system. If you want handsets, there are a whole range of VoIP handsets to choose from. We like to keep things simple for you and have a couple of options to look at. Making a call on a traditional phone requires your phone company to create a physical path. A traditional phone system transmits your voice from point A to point B, using copper phone lines linked up all over the country.
VoIP transmits calls another way. As you speak, software known as Codecs, digitises your voice. These are hardware devices, like handsets and are also software-based, as used in soft phones (more about that later). Either way, the codecs convert and compress your voice into ‘digital packets’. These digital packets are then broadcast in real time using Internet Protocol also known as IP. You may have heard of the term IP address. All computers connected to another computer have their own IP address to identify them. The digital packets sent via Local Area Network (LAN) your office network, or via the internet. They are usually transmitted by Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) or by Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP). At this point your digital packets are delivered to their final destination (the person you are talking to at the other end). The digital packets are then decoded and decompressed by the codecs and converted back to audio. They arrive, almost instantly, not enough for the human ear to notice any delay.
The illustration above illustrates the elegant simplicity of the VoIP system. Most of the setup is managed in the 'cloud' by us.
Every industry has jargon, and ours has lots! Great for telecommunication engineers, not so great when you are not. We are often asked, what is a soft phone? Well they are not phones made of jelly! They are also known as Software-based VoIP phones and the term soft phone is an abbreviation. Any internet connected device, such as a laptop, tablet or desktop computer that has a microphone and speakers has the potential be a soft phone. Many businesses using a VoIP business phone system, don't have traditional handsets. They prefer to use headsets plugged into desktop computers, running the VoIP system software.
Quick Overview
The illustration above maps out a typical VoIP business phone system. VoIP handsets, soft phones on existing computers and smart phones, link up to our hosted phone platform, which in turn then transmits the calls via the internet to the final destination.
The benefits VoIP phone systems
Cost Savings
Cost Savings
Cost Savings
With VoIP business phone system
your small business will reduce the cost of making calls, nationally, internationally and to mobiles.
There is no need for expensive infrastructure installation and maintenance, which will put a smile on anybody's face.
Agility
Cost Savings
Cost Savings
With no fixed infrastructure, VoIP phone systems are agile, allowing your business to easily & quickly adapt to changing working environments. All you need for your phone to work is an internet connection, so working from home, the beach, or the boardroom — no problem!
Scalability
Cost Savings
Scalability
VoIP business phones systems grow as your business grows, without the need to install more expensive phones lines. Extra capacity and users are added in minutes using our user-friendly web based software.
No expensive engineers required!
We are always here if you need help.
Who we work for
Westbrook Communications has over 20 years experience in providing businesses and organisations across the UK with state of the art managed IT systems and IT support.
Head Office
Westbrook Communications,
City Business Park,
Somerset Place,
Plymouth,
Devon,
PL3 4BB
Tel: 0330 380 9090
Get in touch on email
info@westbrookuk.com
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ICO Number: ZA352194