VoIP is one of those technologies that has proven its resilience. Having evolved with the Internet since its inception, VoIP has only gotten better and more efficient with time, helping businesses to communicate more effectively and for a lot less money. Despite all the good stuff that comes with VoIP, many businesses and organizations are still not on board with VoIP adoption, perhaps because there are still a few misunderstandings about VoIP. Here are some misconceptions about the technology and why they are just that; misconceptions.
VoIP is woefully misunderstood for its voice quality in that too many are under the impression that it is inferior. This simply isn’t true. Broadband has improved over the years, so VoIP has improved as well. Today, packets are able to travel through the Internet extremely fast, delivering crisp, clear VoIP at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephony.
Also, some telecom decision makers feel that VoIP is insecure, but the truth of the matter is there are plenty of sophisticated defense measures like firewalls, redundancy and encryption to ensure solid, reliable security. VoIP is safe in the same way online banking is safe, as they share the same data lines.
There was a time when installing new communications systems came with complex equipment, too many wires and a lot of headaches, but VoIP today is easy to install. The connection it makes to a computer network means there is little upfront work. Moreover, now that we have cloud technology, businesses just have to plug in and go.
A hosted model means no worrying about scalability or upgrades due to capacity requirements. Managing line cards, trunk cards and physical space in your facility is not required. Instead, hosted VoIP providers handle capacity, performance and configuration of the total VoIP system.
Last but not least, VoIP is not at all a hefty investment. In fact, the technology pays for itself within a few months. The money saved within the first few months of use will be rather evident in the communication bills.
Given all of its features and how they can improve business functions, it’s no wonder VoIP has managed to stay relevant and current in a sea of dwindling legacy technologies. Despite the misconceptions, VoIP is a powerful technology that will only offer benefits to its users – and that’s no myth.
Edited by Blaise McNamee