Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a proven method of Internet-based voice communication technology. Traditional phone systems are quickly becoming a thing of the past as the modern flexibility and amazing cost savings offered by a VOIP phone system take over most business phone communications.
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If you are looking to host a VoIP phone system hosting, why not consider Atlantic.Net? We have various locations across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
What Are Cloud VoIP Services?
A Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service is a modern communications method that allows you to make phone calls anywhere in the world using an internet connection instead of traditional copper landlines. An IP telephony system works seamlessly with existing landline phone lines and telephony exchanges.
A VoIP phone system translates your voice into data packets that are securely transmitted across an internet connection from a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The voice quality is exceptionally clear, and the phone service enables many added features that are simply not available on traditional phone systems.
VoIP phone systems can be hosted on-premise or consumed as a cloud-managed service. IP telephony systems come with many added features, such as conference and international calling, video conferencing capabilities, business SMS options, and call center features.
Various cloud-based VoIP services are available from multiple providers in the United States. The types of services you get depend on the cost of the service, the licensing model you opt for, and the flexibility you need from the cloud VoIP platform.
Let’s take a look at the types of phone systems that are available:
On-Premise VoIP Phone Systems
On-prem is a conventional VoIP business phone system or service in which the business owns, manages, and operates its phone system on-premise. It is typically hosted on dedicated hardware in a computer room, usually on a small cluster of virtual machines. On-prem suits businesses that have employees capable of managing the telephone system in-house; perhaps the business has additional unique needs or poor cloud connectivity coverage.
Cloud-Based Phone Systems
If you don’t want to host your own VoIP phone system, you can opt for a completely cloud-based solution. You simply provide the physical VoIP phones and connect to the provider over the Internet. The service is provided on a pay-as-you-go model, and you configure the physical phones to connect to the third-party service. This type of service relies heavily on having a reliable internet connection, but it can work out to be a very affordable option – perfect for startups and new cloud phone system users.
Mobile VoIP Phone System
Most cloud telephony providers support mobile phone VoIP services, in which cloud-enabled systems use existing WiFI and Mobile Networks to provide cell telephony services. These services work with both voice and data services and are suitable for businesses with a remote workforce or teams that are constantly on the move.
SIP Trunking
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) enables the VoIP network to connect and interact with the public phone network (PSTN). This clever bit of tech seamlessly bridges both telecommunications networks and works great for high-volume lines such as call centers or helplines. Users can make external phone calls to any number using softphones, traditional phones, or wired phone sets.
Cloud PBX
A Cloud Private Branch Exchange (PBX) is software that allows the granular management of an in-house phone system. It’s sometimes referred to as a virtual PBX. Users can configure call routing, call forwarding, and auto-attendant features. Business-wide conference call features can be enabled for large-scale meetings.
Direct Device Communications
DDC is a fantastic cost-saving feature that allows any connected cloud-based phone systems inside the phone network to communicate with one another without incurring any costs. It’s a direct connection from one to one (or many) devices. In large businesses, this feature allows completely free inter-business communications
Dedicated VoIP Cloud Phone System
A more recent technology is direct-to-cloud VoIP services. The phone systems connect directly to a cloud phone service provider without the need for any internal phone hardware or software. Services like Vonage Business Communications, Zoom Phone, and RingCentral offer VoIP-enabled phones.
Benefits of Cloud VOIP
Video Conferencing
Many VoIP service providers integrate both video calls and conferencing capabilities into their phone service. Video conferencing is now a technology that many businesses rely upon. The tech proved its worth during the COVID-19 pandemic by bringing businesses together remotely during the lockdown.
Video conferencing helps improve engagement and communication between employees. Seeing the users’ facial expressions and emotions helps to improve communication and get the message across when compared with voice-only phone calls. Advanced features include document sharing, whiteboard, and recording options.
Businesses like video conferencing because it increases flexibility, helps employees build relationships, and reduces travel costs.
Voice Conferencing
Sometimes you just don’t feel like being on camera. Perhaps you are feeling under the weather, or your kids are running around causing chaos while you’re trying to listen in to an important all-hands call. Voice conferencing is readily available for those who just need to listen in.
Voice also brings a host of benefits; it helps remote employees feel included in conversations and increases participation in meetings. It also helps fit in with employees’ busy lifestyles; perhaps the user just needs to sit on mute in the car or listen on AirPods during a school run.
If you have employees based offshore, and perhaps English is not their first language, voice transcription tools are available to help with voice conferencing calls—again, this improves engagement, participation, and inclusion.
Voicemail
When cell phones became mainstream in the 1990s, Voicemail changed the way we communicated. Prior to digital voicemail, people relied on clunky answer phone devices or had to write messages down. VoIP phone systems have expanded modern voicemail services to the next level so we never have to miss an important call again.
VoIP Voicemail features standard message recording where callers can leave a voice message after the greeting you’ve recorded. You can also automate call diversion, perhaps to receive calls to your cell phone or a colleague if you are away. You can also access the voicemail from any source; it doesn’t have to be the device that has been called.
Voicemail transcription is available, and users can leave detailed and lengthy messages. This, in turn, improves productivity because it doesn’t always matter if you miss a call, and it results in greater flexibility.
Screen Sharing
Screen sharing is a feature that allows you to virtually transmit the contents of your computer screen to other participants during a call. This functionality is often integrated into VoIP services alongside voice and video conferencing capabilities.
Screen sharing is great for remote collaboration, video meetings, and presenting ideas to colleagues. It’s also widely used for technical support; IT engineers use it to remotely fix problems or offer guidance to employees. It promotes better customer support and is great for sales and demos and explaining complex topics to the wider business.
Screen sharing is a versatile tool that can enhance communication, collaboration, and problem-solving in various situations, both personal and professional. If you need to virtually share a visual experience or work together on something on a screen, screen sharing is a powerful tool to consider.
Remote Workforce Capabilities
It’s estimated that today, 26% of workers in the United States are remote workers; that is, they work at least 1 day a week from home. Across Europe, that figure is approximately 30%. These stats demonstrate the need to engage the remote workforce, and VoIP phone systems allow this to happen.
Most people have an internet connection at home, and most employers also provide laptops. Add a headset and you have a softphone that can connect to a VoIP telephony system. It’s that simple.
Even call center workers can work remotely with relative ease. It’s preferable to offer them dedicated VoIP telephones that can connect securely over a VPN to your Cloud PBX, but again, it’s relatively straightforward to set this up.
This approach to Telephony creates a professional image for your business. Virtual routing takes the customer directly to your home worker, so it’s unlikely the customer would ever know the difference. The result is improved scalability, increased employee satisfaction, and a reduction in your business costs.
Call Monitoring & Call Recording
There are two common forms of call monitoring. The first is call quality monitoring, which focuses on the technical aspects of your VoIP calls, such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. VoIP providers log these statistics to give you an overview of the experience your customers and employees are getting from the phone system.
Second is call recording and content monitoring. This is when the conversations are recorded. Most often this is for training and quality assurance reasons so businesses can ensure employees are offering a good experience. It can also be for compliance or for resolving disputes.
Overall, the purpose is to improve the call quality, reduce downtime, increase productivity, and provide the best possible customer service.
Call Forwarding
Call forwarding in VoIP is a feature that lets you direct incoming calls to a different phone number or device. There are several examples of when this is useful. If in a meeting, an employee can set a desk phone to automatically forward to a cell phone. Likewise, if you have a team of on-call engineers, call forwarding can be used to automate dialing out the correct on-call engineer.
How Much Does Cloud VOIP Cost?
Investing in a VoIP phone system does come with a cost, but it’s important to understand that affordable, cost-effective solutions are absolutely available.
Of course, you can spend a huge amount investing in an on-premise configuration with a dedicated state-of-the-art VoIP cloud-based phone system for every employee. But with cloud VoIP, it is much more affordable to get your VoIP phone system live, especially if you make some key decisions about how/where you are going to host the solution and what equipment you will be using.
You can expect to pay between $10 and $30 per user per month. This price range would typically cover the basic functionality of the VoIP system, such as making and receiving calls. The more users you have, the more you will have to pay.
Remember, the additional features increase the cost per user the most. Do your business communications require features like call recording, voicemail transcription, and video conferencing? Can they be cut to save expenditure?
Also, you need to budget for VoIP phones (the physical devices); these can be purchased or rented from the provider. There are three types of pricing plans. Here are the key points to consider:
Flat-Rate Pricing Plans:
- Ideal for businesses that need predictable budgeting.
- Often include unlimited calling within a specific geographical area.
- Suitable for companies with high call volumes.
- It may have a higher upfront cost but can lead to significant long-term savings.
Usage-Based Pricing Plans:
- Provide flexibility, ideal for smaller businesses or startups with variable call volumes.
- Businesses are charged based on actual usage, paying only for what they use.
- Economical for companies with lower or fluctuating call volumes.
Tiered Pricing Plans:
- Offer bundles of various features at different price points.
- Advanced features such as call analytics, video conferencing, and software integrations.
- It can increase costs but add value by enhancing productivity and streamlining workflows.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of the costs associated with VoIP phone systems. Remember that you are in control of the budget, and cost savings can be made if you make the right decisions.
What Are My Options When It Comes to Cloud VOIP Business Phone System Providers?
There are many cloud VoIP providers available within the United States. We are lucky to have a very competitive market with plenty of choices to suit your business needs and budget.
One of the biggest providers in the US is RingCentral, which is a very strong contender when it comes to picking a cloud VoIP provider. Prices range from $19.99 per user to about $34.99. Even the cheaper premiums offer a good set of features, including call forwarding, voicemail transcription, video conferencing, and integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Microsoft 365.
Another big player is a company called DialPad. They heavily focus on using AI to integrate the product with class-leading analytics and data-driven insights into call data with features like voice transcriptions and smart routing. Dialpad is known for its user-friendly interface and is a popular choice for non-technical users.
Nextiva is another very popular provider of VoIP phone systems that target the business sector. Their features include business test messaging, online faxing, and mobile phone integration. You can also port your existing number to them without being charged extra. Even the basic premium plans include video conferencing, call recording, auto attendant, and call queues.
Another popular choice is the Zoom Phone service. This budget-focused VoIP service provider starts at $10 per user per month. Despite the low cost, the feature set is very good. It integrates with Zoom Meetings and offers all the standard features, such as call routing and call recording.
Choose Atlantic.Net Hosting for VoIP Cloud Phone Systems
Atlantic.Net is celebrating 30 years in business, and we offer a wide range of hosting options for your next VoIP cloud server project. We have been heavily involved in VoIP technology throughout our history and customers choose our hosting capabilities to deploy and manage private VoIP solutions.
To get started, all you need is a workforce with access to a cell phone or laptop and an internet connection. Next, host your private branch exchange (PBX) on Atlantic.Net servers. Choose Windows or Linux as the host operating system to build out your Cloud VoIP gateways, Cloud SIP, and conference servers.
Then, onboard a licensed IP PBX system from one of the many providers and choose a cloud-hosted, dedicated, or colocation server option.
You can add on backups, offsite replication, and snapshots with the click of a mouse. Need to expand? No problem! Each cloud server plan can be upgraded within a few clicks.
Atlantic.Net has a selection of world-leading network carrier partners. Our high-speed, low-latency network throughput works seamlessly with a cloud phone systems softphone or physical VoIP phone, whether over a VPN or the Internet, adding greater flexibility and future-proofing options.
If you’re ready to revolutionize your business’ unified communications with Atlantic.Net’s robust and flexible VoIP services, don’t hesitate to take the next step.
Contact an advisor today at 888-618-DATA (3282) or email at [email protected].
