Worried About Hosted VoIP? - 04/02/11
Posted by Cloudnet Telecommunications on Fri, Feb 04, 2011 @ 10:10 AM
Some people are worried about hosted VoIP. So should you be?
What Happens If My Broadband Fails?
The first question that people ask is what happens if my broadband
fails? The simple answer is that in that very unusual event we can usually divert the calls to your mobile. If it's our fault that the system failed we will not charge you for that service. However if that solution doesn't appeal then you can always take your phones somewhere else - such as your home and plug them in again and they will work.
What About Reliability?
The next question people are concerned about is reliability and it is true that like all systems made by human kind it can fail. However with up times in excess of 99.9% and rapid response times if things fail then we can usually fix things very quickly. All Cloudnet's server arrays are multiple redundant and fail over seamlessly. They are in secure data centres in the UK with both intruder and fire prevention systems. They are continuously monitored and maintained. We have never had a server hardware failure. It is worth comparing this with BT who will quote 10 days before even looking at the fault with our response in minutes. It is also worth mentioning that t he web on which a hosted system relies was designed originally to withstand a nuclear blast.
What About Sound Quality?
Some people think VoIP sound quality will be awful. The truth is that the sound quality is better than the old fashioned analogue lines. In fact whether you like it or not you will very soon being using VoIP over the BT network because the system which they have been deploying (21CN) over the past few years is a VoIP system.
Other people worry what will happen if the provider ceases to be able to provide the service. The point is that a hosted VoIP service is an open one which means that it uses a open protocol called SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) - so if your provider was to stop being able to provide, you could just port your numbers to another provider and plug your phones in to their network once they had been reprogrammed.
Emergency Services
A big cause for debate a few years back was accessing the emergency services if the power fails. It is true that old fashioned telephones didn't need power to work but the majority of new systems including PBX's do. So if the power fails and you need to phone the emergency services you can always use your mobile. If the power hasn't failed then you can dial 999 or 112 in the usual way - you may have to tell the operator where you are because with VoIP you could be anywhere.
It is true there are 2 situations that we know of where hosted VoIP is not appropriate
1) Where the analogue line which supports broadband also supports REDcare - the system will work but the technical requirements may conflict.
2) Where power failure is a critical problem - for example an essential phone in a lift.
So Hosted VoIP is a reliable cost effective solution. However if ultimate reliability is your goal then you should not rely on any one communication system but have redundancy in all your systems. So you could choose to back up a hosted VoIP solution with either an analogue solution or ISDN or a mobile solution. Similarly if you choose to continue to use a traditional system for whatever reason then you could use a hosted VoIP system as a backup.
So am I happy to use VoIP for everyday business communications - yes of course. It is cost effective, feature rich, great value and very reliable.
Written by David Hill, Chairman, Cloudnet
More About Cloudnet
Cloudnet is the friendly professional business phone systems company based in Walsall Our team has developed our hosted VoIP phone systems platform and the technology behind it. Cloudnet is the only company to concentrate purely on our Internet based phone systems solution – the switchboard in the sky.
The business phone benefits of VoIP lie behind the astronomical growth of the industry. In summary these are:
•Free calls within the network
•Free hardware including business phones - no capital cost ever
•Low subscription costs
•Amazing feature set
•Unified communications at a dramatically reduced price point.
Why not learn more about our commercial phone systems by following the link?