With the development of technology 4.0, many new terms appear, sometimes making us wonder. For example, VoIP is applied every day in life, but what is VoIP, not everyone can understand.
Established in 1995, up to now VoIP is being widely applied in all areas of life. The VoIP technology has brought a revolutionary change to the telephony industry. Thanks to its outstanding advantages over traditional telephone technology, VoIP has become increasingly familiar, especially with businesses.
So what is VoIP? How is VoIP technology applied for business? Let us learn more about VoIP in the article below. Get started!
What is VoIP?
VoIP, also known as Voice ip, actually stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, also known as making phone calls over the Internet. In a word, the sound is transmitted over the Internet protocol.
Research on VoIP shows that VoIP technology uses packet switching, packets are encapsulated and transmitted over the Internet medium. To replace the old voice transmission technology using circuit switching. Circuit switching requires the use of a separate infrastructure, so call switching can take advantage of the Internet infrastructure immediately. On the same Internet infrastructure, it is possible to use web, mail, and VoIP as voice and video calls. To do this, the phone lines will have built-in protocols, connected to a service provider’s IP PBX. IP phones have the same structure and shape as regular desk phones. Connected directly to the LAN via Ethernet cable, RJ45 interface or voice software (softphone) installed on the computer.
As a result, VoIP technology helps businesses save costs effectively and manage everything easily.
What are the connection forms of VoIP in the business?
In enterprises, the application of VoIP technology is often popular in the form of a hardware connection or a software connection. The most common method of using Voip is with a traditional phone. There are many ways to apply Voip technology with traditional analog phones, digital phones also known as VoIP phones.
The following are details of the common types of connections commonly found in the enterprise of this technology.
VoIP phone (VoIP with IP telephony)
When you buy an IP phone, you don’t need an ATA adapter to connect to the Internet. Simply plug your phone directly into a network-enabled Ethernet port, and it will communicate from the Internet to the VoIP service you’ve subscribed to.
VoIP with analog phones
Since voice transmission in Voip takes place over the Internet, a regular phone won’t respond. However, there is an adapter called the Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA), also known as the FSX gateway, that converts analog telephone signals into digital signals that can be transmitted over the Internet.
VoIP with analog to IP converter
Some hardware companies can plug into an Ethernet jack in the house to convert a standard phone into a phone that can use Voip. This hardware has a web portal that is used to view calls, check voicemail, and establish integration with other services.
The cheapest way to use VoIP is to connect a headset with a microphone to a computer, but requires Voip software to transmit your voice to the recipient using the same software. In addition, there are many VoIP applications that are capable of making standard phone calls. Some of the most popular Voip software applications: Skype, Jabber, Google Hangout, Google Voice.
The applications of VoIP
What is VoIP technology and concept, we have learned above. So how is this technology applied in practice? In fact, there are two most popular applications: OTT applications and VoIP PBX, softphone
OTT applications
OTT is known to stand for the phrase Over the Top App. This is a term to refer to applications and content containing audio and video that operate on the Internet and are not subject to interference from any agency or provider. What these applications have in common is that they both make voice calls and video calls based on VoIP technology.
Some social networking applications that use VoIP technology:
- Viber
- Skype
- Telegram
- Discord
- Facebook Messenger
👉 Read more: How to get Fake Phone Numbers for Facebook
VoIP PBX, VoIP phone, Softphone
Besides applications using VoIP software, there is also a built-in phone system. Wide range of terminals such as software softphone, IP phone, gateway, VoIP PBX, Softphone, VoIP phone.
VoIP technology operates on an internet connection, so it will have the same weaknesses as the problems of a computer connected to the network. Therefore, to effectively apply VoIP technology, businesses need to invest in security solutions and regularly check the system:
- Use and keep your anti-virus software up to date.
- Installing and activating a firewall can prevent many types of intrusions by blocking malicious traffic before it reaches your computer.
- Take full advantage of security options: many providers may offer services that allow encryption. If your work involves a lot of privacy or security issues, consider these available options as well.
- Continuously upgrade the system software: if the software company provides patches or updates for the operating system, they should be installed immediately. Because this will prevent attacks that are taking advantage of weaknesses in software vulnerabilities.
Advantages and disadvantages of VoIP technology
Like many other technologies, VoIP exists side by side with advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
Cost savings: VoIP services can be based on a direct IP connection to your phone service provider, simply over your existing internet connection, or a combination of both. As a result, it cuts the cost of internal calls within your organization to virtually none, significantly reduces the cost of external and international business calls, saves a significant investment in the purchase of traditional telephone lines, installation and ongoing maintenance. Suitable for companies with many branches, chain stores will save 100% of internal contact costs.
Easy to extend: When you need to expand the system, just buy more phone equipment and set up for the office, expanding on the PBX system is very easy.
Ease to setup: Compared to traditional phone systems, installing and configuring a VoIP system can be very easy. VoIP phone systems eliminate the need to install any physical phone lines. All you need to do is connect the IP phone to the corporate network via Ethernet.
High Voice Quality: With a powerful solution, advancements in broadband and voice over Internet protocols, and the right implementation, VoIP voice quality can be as good or even better than calls on landline phones. You may not even be able to tell the difference.
Outstanding features compared to old analog technology: Recording, call history management, auto answer, intelligent call distribution
Regardless of the user’s geographical location: Anywhere, as long as there is internet, you can use it
Disadvantages
VoIP voice transmission technology has certain disadvantages that we cannot deny. Specifically:
Complex engineering: Real-time signal transmission in packet-switched networks is very difficult to do because packet loss in the network is inevitable. The delay is not fixed in all packets when traveling on the network. The voice service is said to be good if it meets the following strict compression specifications: a large compression ratio (to reduce the bit rate), the ability to guess and reconstruct the information of the packets. If lost, the processing speed of the Codecs (Coder and decoder) must be fast, the new calls will not be interrupted, the network infrastructure needs to be updated with new technologies such as Frame-Relay, MPLS, QoS …
Required to have internet to use: Nowadays, there are many options to backup power sources such as using generators, UPS. Backup for the network, you can pull more lines to use as backup when 1 connection has problems.
Conclusions
It can be said that in the 4.0 era, VoIP technology has very high applicability and practicality. It gradually becomes an indispensable part of life, especially in the corporate environment.
Hopefully, the above article has helped you to have a certain understanding and knowledge about VoIP. From there, you can apply VoIP in work and life.
Visit the ViOTP website right away to log-in your account & get a virtual phone number for your business!
