VoIP telephony has been well adopted in the business world. Most people are familiar with VoIP phone system. VoIP is always in the news for some new technological advancement. VoIP is going to supersede the old Packet Switch Telephone Network (PSTN). Most telephone carriers have announced dates for when the older networks will disappear. It is safe to say that Voice over IP is going to be standard for the future. However, there is something which is not common knowledge.
1. When VoIP technology first arrived on the scene?
The first call with VoIP was made in 1974. However, the technology began to make headline comparatively recently. Even though VoIP is a big part of mainstream today, it took some time to get there. Hence, a lot of people think it’s quite new while it has been around for a while. The first VoIP version was launched in 1974 through the US military research network called ARPANET. That version of VoIP transmitted voice data through packets like the modern VoIP. It means that VoIP is only a few decades older then what people assume.
There are a lot of reasons why it took VoIP a long time to gain such attention. One thing is that high-speed internet wasn’t that common back then. The earliest VoIP phone call was riddled with bad quality audio, dropped connections and several other technical issues. The other reason is that international calls were not important to businesses over forty to fifty years ago. Nowadays, even small businesses sometimes work with customers or partners in different countries. Hence, the demand for cheap international phone calls was one of the reasons for VoIP’s fast adoption.
2. A phone is not a necessity
If you haven’t used VoIP telephony, you might not realise that you do not have a phone to make phone calls. VoIP phone technology does not rely on any specific device. You can receive and make phone calls with computers, tablets, smartphones and other devices. Still, we have a lot of VoIP desk phones around. There are different models available in the market that range from as low as £50 to almost thousands of pounds. The reason for this is simple. The different kinds of hardware are for different needs of businesses and customers.
For instance, a person using a VoIP phone at home can just use their smartphone for the job. They do not need more features. However, a freelancer or contractor working from home may like the capability to switch between calls, playing music on hold, putting calls on hold etc. few of these features are just easier to use with a desk phone with buttons. At the other end of the scale, there is conference calling which is meant for training sessions and meetings. They have multiple high-quality speakers and microphones which allows a large group of individual to communicate. Executives and CEOs might need bigger screens and better audio when communicating with important clients. While a phone costly or not, is not essential for VoIP but they do serve a significant purpose in a lot of circumstances.
3. VoIP calls in the UK used to have adverts
The earliest VoIP UK phone calls had adverts before the call got connected. That is how the users paid for the VoIP call back then. Fortunately, now that business model has fallen wayside ever since VoIP has become people and easily available. Since high-speed internet connections began appearing on the scene, a majority of VoIP phone calls became very cheap and even free in some instances. In turn, that meant the adverts were no longer required to monetise the VoIP calls.
Now adverts on VoIP phone calls are a bad idea for different reasons. One reason is that adverts can be interfering, particularly when people expect around calls. Also, they can increase the size of the data packets. It means you require extra bandwidth in order to transmit phone calls. There is no need to waste data on excessive overhead.
4. A VoIP phone system UK saves 95% of the costs of international calls
According to research, VoIP phone services can help save users 95% of the costs of long-distance phone calls. That number falls to 40% for local phone calls, however, who would pay more for any service if they don’t need to. VoIP phones also help save money in a lot of different ways and not just because of the cheap or free phone calls. Businesses do not have special hardware to make VoIP phone calls. They also do not need to buy a software license or run their own servers. Fortunately, all the hosted VoIP phone systems are delivered online, customers do not need to own, maintain and repair their own hardware. With VoIP UK, you can get started with business class services in less than a day.
Another reason for VoIP’s popularity is scalability and flexibility. A business can begin with only a few phone lines and numbers. Then you can add more resources as you need them. If you have seasonal demand, then you can add additional phone lines only for a few weeks or months. Even if you are expanding new markets you can add resources and hit the ground running with local phone numbers even if you don’t have an office place. VoIP allows businesses to adapt, change and grow to different circumstances. You are no longer limited by the availability of finance, resources or otherwise.
