E-Dude's VoIP FAQ Overview On VoIP Phone Service

So here my VoIP FAQ teaches you the basic VoIP knowledge to use when reviewing VoIP phone service providers and internet phone services.

Make sure to check out other pages in my Tutorial for a more in-depth dive into Business VoIP. I love this VoIP FAQ stuff!

• Q What is Business VoIP phone service?
• a. Voice over Internet Protocol is a packet based data transport technology. VoIP turns voice phone calls into IP data packets and uses either an Internet connection or other existing network connections such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or perhaps a Wide Area Network (MPLS WAN) to transport the telephone call between two or more locations.
• b. To be functional for business, VoIP calls generally must be able to be placed at least partially using (terminated on) the Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN. In other words calling from a VoIP line to a "landline" requires the PSTN, ie: not everyone is using VoIP (yet)

• Q What are the basic benefits of using business VoIP?
• a. Well no VoIP FAQ would be complete without a mention of the basic benefits. In most applications this would be a reduction of costs by utilizing existing internet access and getting rid of the phone lines. The more locations you have, the more the savings, as multiple lines can be aggregated at a single location if desired.

• b. Also erasing or capping long-distance toll charges between company branches or in businesses (especially call center environments) where there is a great deal of outbound long-distance calls.

• c. There are numerous other employee efficiency and customer service opportunities, as business VoIP phone service can be combined with Unified Communications and "on network" dialing schemes. For more information on this see the basics of VoIP Article.
• Q What other VoIP FAQ do I need to be aware of before I start using VoIP phone service?
• a. You can use VoIP equipment that is capable of making voice over IP phone calls "as is", a.k.a. IP ready, generally over an internet connection using SIP trunks.
• b. Alternately you will also be able to use equipment (adapters) that will allow you to keep your existing phone equipment, although sometimes with limited functionality compared to the first option.
• c. Many times business VoIP phone service can be provisioned using an integrated T1 technology that is then fully managed by the service provider. This is a great choice to leverage VoIP, with none of the equipment hassles. Visit the "Contact E-Dude Page" to learn more about this option.
• Q Big VoIP FAQ - Is VoIP reliable for business use?
• a. When purchased from and provisioned by reputable VoIP phone service providers, voice over IP is extremely reliable and many times is cost effective. If you're a smaller business, take a look at the basics of VoIP Article before making a decision.
• Q Can I use our existing internet connection for VoIP?
• a. Many times this is possible, it all depends on the number of concurrent telephone calls taking place at any one time. It's important to note that Internet circuits without Service Level Agreements a.k.a. SLAs, may not deliver consistent, quality voice over IP phone calls.
• b. See E-Dude's broadband connection test page to test your internet connection.
• Q Is a PC or computer network required to do VoIP?
• a. Well a very small business with one, maybe two phone lines can use existing analog handsets with Analog Terminal Adapters a.k.a. VoIP ATA. In this case a computer would not necessarily be required. Larger businesses can avoid computer based deployments by using virtual or hosted PBX. Otherwise, we're looking at buying or leasing PBX equipment that is basically a big computer designed to make and receive phone calls.
• Q Do I need a new phone system or can I use my old one to do Business VoIP?
• a. Using a VoIP service provider's integrated service offering skips having to buy special equipment. Otherwise for premise based VoIP equipment, for anything larger than a one or two telephone office, some type of existing or IP ready phone system combined with a quality VoIP phone service provider and internet connection is going to be required to provide the Quality of Service components needed for decent Internet phone services.
• b. Take a look at my small business phone systems page and the broadband phone system article to get a good idea of what kind of hardware and hosted VoIP options are available and may be indicated for your specific situation.
• Q A popular VoIP FAQ is can I take my existing business phone number to the VoIP service?
• a. Absolutely, any business implementation of voice over IP would allow for keeping ie: the "porting" of your existing phone numbers.
• b. If during your VoIP FAQ research there is no discussion of taking your existing numbers with you, or if phone calls can only be placed using a personal computer with software, run in the other direction and as quickly as possible. Offers of this type are generally residential in nature, and this is not a quality business-class VoIP provider.
• c. It should be noted here that one of the great benefits of VoIP is for a business to obtain phone numbers that are a local telephone call for people in geographical areas that are a long-distance phone call away from the business. See my VoIP DID article for an in-depth explanation.
• Q Overview of Basic business VoIP systems
• a. Best to take a look at the following pages to assist in your VoIP FAQ research:
• i. Small Business Phone Systems
• ii. Broadband phone system
• iii. Basics of VoIP
• iv. Internet phone service provider
• v. Phone and Internet Package Features To Save Money
• vi. VoIP Phone Service Providers You Can Trust
• Q Where can I call with business VoIP Phone service?
• a. This is a great question because not all VoIP phone service providers will be able to terminate or place calls for you in all the places you might expect. For instance not all VoIP phone service providers might have availability of phone numbers in smaller rural areas with unique low demand area codes. If you're in an area like this, you may be assigned a phone number from "the next town over" resulting in local callers INTO your company being charged long distance rates.
• b. In a general sense a larger provider should be able to allow you to call both nationally and internationally. But with this said review my E-Dude's Voip DID page for further explanation.
• Q What about 911 service?
• a. Another excellent VoIP FAQ question, because as of this writing, the FCC essentially puts the ultimate burden of assuring a "working 911 solution" is in place on the customer, rather than the provider. However all providers are required to have the ability to provide accurate 911 location services. Again there is a specific article on VoIP 911 so take a look at it for more information.
• Q What are the service quality issues for my business?
• a. If properly implemented VoIP phone service can provide tremendous efficiency for your employees, enhance your business and save money.
• b. It's important to do the VoIP FAQ research and know that choosing a less than quality provider, or a botched installation or VoIP migration can be disastrous. The reason for this is once you change or "port" your main phone numbers over to the VoIP phone service providers, you really have no recourse or way to quickly and efficiently to bring them back to your previous provider.
• c. Choosing the right provider and technology for your particular situation is of tantamount importance. Throw in here that it would be nice to be saving some money or gaining some efficiency and the selection process becomes somewhat more complicated. Check out my contact E-Dude page if you'd like some assistance in this area, or have more VoIP FAQ.
• Q I hear some VoIP services are free and others carry a monthly charge?
• a. Well, in the business world nothing is free. In the real world you get what you pay for. With that said the goal really is to reduce and then cap your firm's long-distance charges. This can be done in a number of different ways and is many times best left to a professional broker to assist you. One that I can recommend is The Telecom Broker. , just tell them you read E-Dude's VoIP FAQ and I sent you!
• Q Can I save money by using VoIP phone service?
• a. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. See my basics of voip article. If you are a small business with less than five phone lines, you may be able to get unlimited long-distance calling from the incumbent or "main" phone carrier in your area without having to migrate to VoIP. However with this said, even a one man shop can generally save money if there is a lot of long distance calling going on, or you feel comfortable getting rid of the phone line and have a good stable internet connection.
• b. Equipment costs are another consideration, as are issues surrounding customer service or efficiency initiatives within your business. Sometimes VoIP may simply be a logical second or third benefit of a Unified Communications a.k.a. UC initiative or the implementation of a branch to branch MPLS Wide Area Network (MPLS WAN) or private IP backbone.
• Q How would I use a VoIP wireless phone?
• a. There are numerous implementations of VoIP on a wireless basis. See my VoIP wireless phone page and also my Internet without phone line page for more information. If your real question is can you use a wireless voip headset, there is a page here on this as well.
• Q What is Skype?
• a. This is one of the first computer to computer phone service networks, and a major VoIP FAQ I get all the time. As such you generally need to utilize a VoIP soft phone or sip softphone which is essentially a piece of software that is installed on a PC.
• b. Although there has been a lot of hype around Skype ( hey that rhymes!) because it's "free", in a general sense you'll need to pay Skype for telephone numbers and anything resembling business class phone service. My suggestion is look at other alternatives if you are a larger firm with more than a couple of lines.
• Q Will Instant Messenger services work with VoIP?
• a. Actually the vast majority of instant messenger applications such as AIM and Yahoo already use voice over IP to allow participants to talk to one another over the Internet and even to do videoconferencing.
• b. So if you're looking for cheap long distance phone plans and to connect with another person on an occasional basis, this option is a good one because it's truly free. These instant messaging applications use your existing Internet connection and generally have the ability to do file transfers, short text messaging and so forth.

If you still have questions after this VoIP FAQ, I'd suggest reviewing my VoIP Tutorial page , or if you're looking to actually choose a quality provider, see my VoIP reviews pages.

Hopefully, my VoIP FAQ has answered your basic questions. Check out the many links below for other articles. If you're confused and need help, visit Contact E-Dude About Business VoIP Phone Service
to ask any VoIP phone service questions you may still have.

The Next Page in the VoIP tutorial is Business VoIP Pros and Cons – What You Need To Know

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