Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) UK
Telephone systems and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) & Internet Protocol [IP] phone systems
Telephone Technology has moved on immensely over the years, from 1875 when Alexander Graham Bell constructed his first experimental telephone in Boston through to analogue and now the digital age with internet protocols.
Not so long ago you had a simple choice of British Telecom or British Telcom as the supplier of your phone system but BT were privatised in 1984. With ownership of the great majority of the UK's physical phone lines it took a further 20 years for the Telecoms regulator Ofcom to warn BT that it must demonstrate a willingness to provide its rivals with "real equality of access" to its phone lines. This undoubtedly was a big step in the opening of the UK phone market.
In truth choosing what system and what provider was much simpler, your toughest choices were limited to touch-tone or pulse dialing phones and what wacky design to choose.
With the advent of the internet there were promises that in the future the internet could handle voice communications at a lower cost [if not for free] than traditional phones.
Those early internet phones were a innovative but a novelty, allowing people to search for others with compatible systems to connect to online. The quality was poor and delays were long making conversations difficult and seem like amatuer radio conversations from the past.
But the explosive growth of broadband internet with a much higher speed transmission has changed that. Voice over Internet Protocol more commonly known as “VoIP” allows people to make telephone calls using a broadband internet connection instead of a regular analogue phone line - at a fraction of the cost.
A Multi billion £ industry is emerging, there is little doubt that the market is growng at a fast pace and this will be a multi billion £ business.
Businesses can benefit from the effeciencies and savings of a VoIP system, this new phone technology no longer needs the expensive cabling and elaborate switching equipment that was needed with a traditional analogue line.
Potential savings vary from business to business due to the many payment plans available from current phone providers and current infrastructures being used.
Businesses with multiple offices or current international calling costs have the most to benefit.
Cost Audit, we strongly recommend an audit of your current systems and costs to establish more accurately how you can benefit from this latest technology.
