We get a large number of calls from people with questions such as "Why would I use VoIP?" or "What are the advantages of VoIP?" so I thought I'd make a short post answering some of these. I'll also cover another common one, "What is the quality of VoIP like?"

Firstly lets's talk about who can benefit from using VoIP technology. Pretty much everyone can in some capacity;

• If you have a home with teenagers who like to talk on the phone a lot you might like a second line (or third!) line to stop people hearing the busy tone when they call. It's better than call waiting as you'll actually know when someone calls and be able to talk to them there and then.
• If you're a SOHO (home office) or telecommute then you may benefit from having all your business calls separate to your home calls. This solves that old problem of people calling in expecting a business and getting one of the family answering the call.
• If you're a small or medium business then you will be able to increase the amount of incoming/outgoing lines to your office at a very reasonable price. You'll also likely save a substantial amount on calls.
• If you're a business with multiple locations around the country (or world) then you will be able to save a substantial amount off not only your normal calls but calls between offices will likely be free of charge.
• A contracting business such as building with mobile workers will be able to save money on calls to it's mobile workforce.

Let's mention VoIP providers briefly. These are the guys that offer you a phone service to go with your VoIP phone, much like Telecom offer you a traditional phone service. A couple of years ago there weren't many VoIP providers in New Zealand to choose from and the quality may have been less than ideal. These days there are a bunch to choose from and the quality is superb.

For an example we will pick on 2Talk (we use 2Talk for our calling here at nicegear). 2Talk has a range of plans on their website, from a no-monthly-cost plan up to larger business plans. Their entry level monthly plan (2Talk 500) offers two lines, two incoming numbers in your area (pretty much all areas of the country are covered these days), 500 included minutes to anywhere in New Zealand and most countries around the world, 5c per minute after that and 25c per minute calling to New Zealand mobiles. Along with that all their plans support a huge number of features; Voice mail (with emailed messages), call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, call transfer, locate me (rings multiple phones simultaneously), call recording, etc. etc.

2Talk is just one provider that you can choose from these days, I've discussed them here as we use them for our calls here and know their service a little.

This brings me to the quality issue; "What is the quality of VoIP like?". In a sentence, it's as good or better than your normal phone line. If one end of the call is a normal old style telephone connection then it's going to be the same quality as it always was. The reason I say it can be better is if you're calling a friend who is also on VoIP the connection could be digital all the way, in these cases the quality can actually be better than you're used to. If you'd like to test the quality feel free to give us a call (03 974 9011) and see for yourself.

For most people the cost savings and features that you get out of the box are the main interests of VoIP, although, there are many other advantages for advanced users too such as incoming numbers in multiple areas all coming to your phone, being able to answer your phone from anywhere there's an Internet connection etc.

Of course since we sell hardware I'll pop a couple of links here :) If you're interested in getting started with VoIP here's a couple of quick suggestions (I'll cover this more in depth in another post). The Linksys PAP2T analog telephone adapter allows you to connect up to a VoIP provider and plug your normal old phone in to make calls. The snom 300 or Linksys SPA922 will plug directly into your broadband router and allow you to make calls (they also have more advanced features like transfer buttons etc.).

Dealing with VoIP on a daily basis has the side effect of making me overlook some of the most obvious and useful features it offers so I'm sure I've missed something. If you think of something I've missed or have a question that isn't covered then by all means leave a comment below.

All the best - hads