What is VOIP?

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You might have heard this term over the last decade or so. You’ve probably heard it less in the last couple of years and that might have you thinking it’s an obsolete term. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s all VOIP

The first thing you need to know is, it’s all VOIP. VOIP means “voice over internet protocol” or more commonly, it’s just called “voice over IP.” It means, using the internet to make phone calls.

This doesn’t just mean things like Whatsapp. The truth is, pretty much all calls made today are over the internet at some point. In most cities and suburbs and even in many rural areas, fiber optics have replaced copper wires. Any time that happens, you’re using VOIP. Realistically, no one calls it VOIP when you’re using WhatsApp, though. VOIP is a term that most people associate with business.

Talking about the office

When we talk about VOIP, though, we’re usually talking about office phone systems, because they’re the things that actually need hardware to function. No one much talks about any of the apps that do VOIP, because basically you download them and they work. On the other hand office phone systems have always been complex and required a lot of programming. Today, that’s all done with VOIP.

Many offices transitioned from old-style phone systems to VOIP in the period between 2005 and 2015. That’s when the hardware started to get cheap and offices started getting high-speed internet anyway, so they could devote a portion of that to phone services. Most customers saw a much lower phone bill, and investment was lower in general once you finished paying for the phone hardware, programming and installation.

How VOIP works

VOIP systems don’t use traditional phone wiring. Instead they usually use network-style category 5 or category 6 cable and phone calls travel over the same network lines as e-mail, web browsing, and other network services.

If you can answer phones using a headset connected to your computer, if you can forward calls to a cell phone as if it were an extension, if you can connect a phone to any network port… these are all signs you have a VOIP system.

Software-based VOIP

The trend, especially since 2020, has been toward 100% software-based VOIP. In other words, there’s no physical phone at all. There’s no hardware in your office. It’s all done with an app. You use a headset, not a phone. All the hard work is done in the cloud. That doesn’t mean there’s no setup, though. App-based systems can be much more powerful. That means they can also be much harder to set up.

Is there a downside?

The downside to VOIP systems is that since they travel over the internet they are prone to some of the same problems as your other internet services. If your internet goes down, your phones go down. If your office comes under cyberattack (this happens to many different kinds of companies) your ability to take phone calls is compromised. But those are rare instances and for the most part VOIP is much, much better than regular phone service.

Choosing the best VOIP provider

If you have time, you can do all the research yourself. You can talk to reps from different companies. You can weigh the choice between hardware and software-based VOIP. But who has time? Call the experts at Signal Connect. They can help you choose the right VOIP system for you. They’ll get you completely taken care of. When you call 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours, you’ll get an expert on the line. You’ll get someone who wants to help. Even more importantly, you’ll get someone who will give you their direct line (it’s VOIP, of course) and contact info. You won’t have to play “CSR roulette.” Try us. 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.