VoIP Reliability

VoipReview
August 08, 2004
VoipReview Staff Writer

VoIP Reliability

More and more companies and individuals are turning to VoIP technology and enjoying the tremendous savings that comes with that change. But, how reliable is VoIP? First, it is important to understand that VoIP technology is a different way of delivering voice calls using your Internet Provider. Voice is sent out in packets, which allows you to use less capacity compared to what you would use with the traditional circuit. The result is more flexibility, better options, and lower prices.

While we know VoIP technology is a wonderful solution for business owners and individuals, how reliable is VoIP? The answer is that the reliability of VoIP is just as reliable as your Internet Service Provider (ISP). When you make a phone call using the traditional method, your call will be just as reliable as the circuit switching and phone lines needed for that call. The same is true with VoIP technology in that it is just as reliable as your ISP.

Many people ask the question, “How reliable is VoIP?” This is important especially when running a business. The last thing you want is to lose customers because your phone calls could not go through. In addition to the reliability of VoIP, there are also questions about security. In this situation, calls made using VoIP are actually more secure than a traditional phone line because they are encrypted.

With VoIP, one question asked is what happens if the Internet connection required for the VoIP call goes down. Just as the old cliché goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, the same is true for your business. While you can use VoIP and enjoy the tremendous benefits and savings, if your ISP is not 99.99% reliable and your phone line is mission critical it would be a good idea to keep a traditional phone line in operation too. This will ensure that if you should ever experience down time with your ISP, you can continue running your business with customers being none the wiser. Some voip companies have features that detect when you internet connection fails and reroute calls to a number you specify, like your cell phone. This ensures that you still receive calls even though your broadband internet connection is down.

The answer to the reliability of VoIP is that it is very reliable and an excellent opportunity to run your business and replace your home phone line. You will enjoy the options of having access anywhere you go. If you need to travel on business, rather than leave your phone line back at the office, you have it with you at the hotel as soon as you dial into the Internet. Many service providers offer a convenient and user-friendly web interface that can actually support as many as eight voice and/or fax lines at once.

In addition to the reliability of VoIP it is also scalable and upgradeable. Many of the voip devices can just download a software upgrade with little or no intervention by the user. For the small business or individual voip is scalable in that all you have to do to add more voip phone lines is plug more voip devices into your internet connection. To do a search for Voip plans for your home or office [url=www.voipreview.org/area.all.aspx]click here.[/url]

For a corporation many of these advanced features include flash memory, management capabilities, and excellent scalability for future growth of your company. Other options include voice coders, fax algorithms, echo cancellation, and more. What it comes down to is that if you want to know how reliable VoIP is, you can be sure it is very reliable. The only consistent complaint has to do with voice quality. That, too, is being worked out, and the future is very promising.