What is IP Telephony?

IP Telephony is the word to describe the internet technology that allows phone communication through broadband internet. Hence, calls are routed through internet in order to reach the callee that can either be using an IP telephone or a standard telephone line. This medium of communication is commonly referred to VoIP (Voice Over IP).

What is the difference between IP telephony and standard telephony?

IP Telephony uses a technology known as VoIP which stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. This technology uses internet as the communication backbone to carry voice whereas standard telephony system is using what is called PSTN (Public Switch Telephony Network). It is not uncommon to require some phone network upgrade or maintenance in order to have access to some advance functionalities in the PSTN world. This situation does not exist in the IP telephony world. All advanced functionalities are available at your fingertips.

The second major difference lies on cost for long distance calls. In the standard telephony, long distance call charges are mostly based on how far the caller and the callee are from each other. Farther they are, more expensive the call will be per minutes. Distance is not the major factor being accounted for long distance calls with an IP phone. Therefore, the cost per minutes is significantly reduces.

We have recently invested in standard telephony equipment. Do I have to reinvest again to have access to an IP Telephony system?

Although the ideal case would be to reinvest again on the cutting-edge technology that will last very long, it is possible to keep your current investment while taking advantage of low-cost that IP telephony system has to offer. In order to do so, you will need to invest in SIP trunk Gateway. To have more information, contact us so that we can further discuss and see how we can help you save.

How come IP telephony is less expensive than standard telephony? Does it mean I have to give up some functionalities I already have? Do I have to lower my expectation? Doesn’t lower cost mean lower quality?

Cost are lower in IP telephony is mainly caused by the type of infrastructure the technology relies on rather than reducing the quality of services. Ironically, cost are lower but you have access at the same time to much more functionalities at a very low cost and something for free. Think about Interactive Voice Response System (IVR), Fax-to-Email, Voicemail-to-email and FollowMe to name only those.

IP Telephony uses so many terms that are so new to me. What do I need to understand?

There are mostly 3 types of IP telephony system available in the VoIP world. You can either have the managed cloud IP telephony system, the on-premise IP telephony system and a hybrid infrastructure IP telephony system using SIP trunk gateway.

Managed cloud IP telephony system means that all the telephony infrastructure is managed and hosted by us. You only need to get configured IP phones and plug it to the internet and you are ready to go! You can even plug it anywhere you want as long as you have access to broadband internet.

On-premise IP telephony system means the telephony infrastructure is installed on one of your company’s site. This also mean that you will be responsible to have all infrastructure redundancy to minimise downtime time of your telephony system. In this type of service, you will be required to purchase the infrastructure equipment and the IP phones. Contact us to have more details.

Last option, is the SIP trunk gateway. It is the infrastructure component that will help you keep your existing standard telephone system and still benefits of the VoIP low cost. However, many if not all advanced features might not be available to you. You have to keep in mind that the main functionality of a SIP trunk gateway is to convert your analog signal into a digital signal compatible with an internet protocol. Contact us to have more details.

What happen if I have a power outage?

In case of a power outage, your telephone system will be unavailable. However, not only your telephone system is offline but also your computers, fax machine and possibly the entire network system. If it is critical that your telephone system remains available as long as possible, an infrastructure design that encompass UPS batteries shall be considered so that the system remain available until the outage is over.

I heard that emergency operator does not have my location. Isn’t dangerous?

No. When you use an IP telephony system, one of the requirements is to update and maintain your site location. However, keep in mind that an IP phone can be unplug and plug anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet broadband connection. In such circumstance, the emergency operator cannot be 100% confident that the distress call is coming from the location on file. For this reason, the operator will need to confirm you location so that emergency services can be dispatch to the correct location.

I am hearing about SIP channel, what is that and how does it impact the IP phone system?

In a nutshell, a SIP channel is a phone line. In order to receive calls of to perform a call outside your network. The more you have SIP channels more simultaneous outside calls can be made and received. That being said, it doesn’t mean you need as many SIP channels as IP phones you have. Contact us to be advised and to ensure you buy only what you need.

I am already with a VoIP service provider so there is no reason I should change provider since I am already taking advantage of the VoIP saving.

SN communications is having a pricing structure that is highly competitive. Even though you are already with a VoIP provider, there is a significant chance that you can further increase your saving by asking us a quote. Challenge us to reduce your cost even further. You might be surprised!