Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is not a new technology, and there are thousands of articles written about it. Still, there are many myths surrounding VoIP. Is it the awkward acronym? Maybe it sounds super technical?
On a basic level, VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is simply an Internet-based replacement for traditional telephone systems, offering significant cost savings and advanced technologies that provide improved convenience and productivity.
In our humble opinion, myths should not detract from you using one of the industry’s leading and most affordable means of business communications that can provide businesses with a tremendous competitive advantage. Therefore, let us dispel some of the most common misconceptions and give you the truth about VoIP phone systems.
Myth #1: VoIP will cost more
Actually, VoIP is more economical than legacy phone and on-premises PBX systems. With a hosted VoIP or Cloud PBX, the costs are limited to service charges and not operating, hardware installation, or maintenance costs. In fact, VoIP is the most cost-efficient phone system. Companies can reduce communication costs by up to 65%. With both local and international phone calls costing just a few cents per minute, businesses can save huge sums of money.
Myth #2: VoIP is a hassle to set up
That was a few years ago. Back then, businesses needed telecommunications experts to install and configure their phone system. This often consisted of large on-premises PBX equipment and wires that connected the employees’ phone to their desk. With hosted systems, there is no PBX hardware. Setting up a cloud phone system is as easy as signing into your personal account. You can manage your phone numbers, call flows and users with very little technical knowledge.
Myth #3: VoIP has poor call quality
It is often misconstrued that Voice over IP calls are worse in quality than their landline alternatives. But what mainly affects the voice quality is your Internet connection. If your Internet connection is sufficient, the voice quality will actually be better than a traditional landline phone. VoIP is also dependent on your local area network equipment, routers and firewalls. If your network equipment does not support VoIP or is not properly configured, this will also have a negative effect on call quality.
Myth #4: VoIP is unreliable
In fact, the stability and reliability of the system predominantly depends, again, on your broadband connection. Over the years, VoIP technology has evolved rapidly and there are now more features to ensure that no calls are missed, such as voicemail, voicemail to email and call forwarding. To ensure peace-of-mind, the most reliable VoIP providers guarantee virtually no downtime on their services.
Myth #5: You will lose all your existing numbers
True, one of the biggest concerns that prevents many companies from investing in VoIP technology is the false impression that a new number is required when using such a system. However, when switching to VoIP, you can keep your current number. By porting your numbers to the cloud, you can easily take your existing number to a new service provider. If you decide that one day you want a new number, you can choose your own, most VoIP providers like DIDWW even offer gold numbers, so you can choose a number that suits your business and makes it unique in the market.
Myth #6: VoIP is just for large businesses
There are countless large companies that use VoIP, but tons of small and medium businesses also take advantage of this technology. VoIP provides small businesses with more mobility and flexibility that they need to gain competitive advantage in the market. VoIP helps small businesses stay competitive, allowing them to provide enriched customer service with lower operating costs, more flexibility and other features and functionality the organization might need.
Myth #7: VoIP is not secure
The truth is that VoIP is more secure than traditional systems. This modern telephone system has standardized encryption protocols, so your calls and data are secure. The most common VoIP encryptions are Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP). To enhance the security of VoIP calls even further, TLS should be used with SRTP in all VoIP systems. This ensures that SIP signaling and voice/video sessions are fully encrypted and safe from any malicious activity.
Conclusion
There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding VoIP, but this technology will definitely meet the needs of businesses of every size. By choosing VoIP technology as your main method of communication, you can make work easier for all the people in your team, ensuring great results and significant cost savings in the long run.
