VoIP Gateways Article

Digital transformation is a pretty daunting and intangible concept for many businesses, encompassing the intersection of communications and technology and impacting pretty much all aspects of business operations. Communications systems are at the heart of digital transformation, and as organizations of all sizes undertake the journey away from outdated, legacy systems and equipment to cloud migration, there are valuable lessons to be learned along the way.

One of the most important pieces of the communications puzzle is the PBX (News - Alert), traditionally serving as the communications hub of an organization. Classic and legacy PBX systems are steadily becoming antiquated, however, as communication systems move to the cloud and businesses adopt VoIP and packet-based networking solutions. And just as organizations are beginning to understand the benefits of moving from ISDN to software-defined WANs (SD-WANs) for networking and communications, they are also undertaking the journey from traditional PBXs to VoIP-based communication solutions.

The journey to VoIP is marked by benefits and a number of challenges, as outlined in a free whitepaper, “All-IP Transformation,” from beroNet, a company specializing in VoIP access technologies. Organizations must consider the compatibility of new VoIP providers and equipment with existing telephony solutions and must also evaluate the capacity of their Internet connection and services. They must then determine if it is worthwhile to take advantage of older devices and associated services.

When utilizing existing ISDN service for internal VoIP connectivity, a VoIP gateway is essential and invaluable. The gateway offers internal VoIP connectivity, and in the case of hybrid solutions, connectivity to external VoIP traffic. This ensures compatibility with a variety of VoIP providers using different networking protocols and equipment.

In traditional and hybrid systems, VoIP gateways configure the account information of phone service providers and do a trial connection to the ISDN system to ensure everything is functioning correctly. The VoIP gateway also defines rules for outgoing calls, including least cost routing through a VoIP provider.

Very simply, any organization interested in making the switch to VoIP away from traditional PBXs and legacy phone systems should consider a VoIP gateway as part of the migration process. Offering a host of benefits that enable a slow and steady, hybrid migration to IP and the cloud, VoIP gateways are an important part of the digital transformation.