%20(1).png)
Comparison of Telephone Services and Voice Over IP (VOIP) Services
Traditional telephone service or “plain old telephone service” uses physical wires to connect phone calls between locations. This technology hasn’t changed much in the past century which has created challenges for businesses.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) eliminates the limitations of a physical phone line by connecting calls over any internet connection. This offers greater flexibility and can substantially lower costs.
Plain old telephone service (POTS)
Advantages
Perhaps the greatest advantage of a “landline” or “plain old telephone service” is reliability particularly when your internet service is slow, faulty, or “goes down”. Plain old telephone service often functions despite power outages.
Disadvantages
One of the biggest reasons companies are steering away from traditional landlines is that landline services are significantly more expensive than VOIP services. Installation and ongoing costs are remarkably higher than VOIP.
Another disadvantage to landline services is the lack of features in comparison to VOIP. Landlines are limited to audio communication, so video conferencing is not an option nor is hold music, call recording, analytics, or SMS.
Voice over IP (VOIP)
Advantages
Perhaps the most appealing factor of VOIP is that it is very cost-effective and a cheaper solution when compared to regular telephone systems. The only additional cost to obtaining a VOIP service is internet installation; however, if you already have active internet service, then the cost of adding on a VOIP system is small.
Additionally, VOIP systems generally come with additional features at no added cost such as call waiting, call parking, call forwarding, conference calling, multimedia communications, auto-attendants, and voicemail to text or email messaging, not to mention integration with customer relationship management (CRM) tools, project management applications, and email marketing software
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of using VOIP is that you need to have a stable internet connection. Although the bandwidth requirement for VOIP calls is incredibly low (10-32 kbps), other resource-heavy applications can affect the overall quality of your VOIP calls. To offset this, many businesses and organizations institute quality of service (QoS) feature on their computer network to prioritize bandwidth resources.
In light of potential power outages, a disadvantage to VOIP is that unless calls are routed to a secondary device (oftentimes a mobile phone), it will not be possible to make or receive phone calls during a blackout.
The content of this page is restricted to active members.
If you are an active member please log in. If you have recently applied for membership, please allow staff 3-5 days to review your application. Otherwise, if you feel you are reaching this by mistake, email hello@dpcalliance.org for assistance.
Comparison of Telephone Services and Voice Over IP (VOIP) Services
Traditional telephone service or “plain old telephone service” uses physical wires to connect phone calls between locations. This technology hasn’t changed much in the past century which has created challenges for businesses.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) eliminates the limitations of a physical phone line by connecting calls over any internet connection. This offers greater flexibility and can substantially lower costs.
Plain old telephone service (POTS)
Advantages
Perhaps the greatest advantage of a “landline” or “plain old telephone service” is reliability particularly when your internet service is slow, faulty, or “goes down”. Plain old telephone service often functions despite power outages.
Disadvantages
One of the biggest reasons companies are steering away from traditional landlines is that landline services are significantly more expensive than VOIP services. Installation and ongoing costs are remarkably higher than VOIP.
Another disadvantage to landline services is the lack of features in comparison to VOIP. Landlines are limited to audio communication, so video conferencing is not an option nor is hold music, call recording, analytics, or SMS.
Voice over IP (VOIP)
Advantages
Perhaps the most appealing factor of VOIP is that it is very cost-effective and a cheaper solution when compared to regular telephone systems. The only additional cost to obtaining a VOIP service is internet installation; however, if you already have active internet service, then the cost of adding on a VOIP system is small.
Additionally, VOIP systems generally come with additional features at no added cost such as call waiting, call parking, call forwarding, conference calling, multimedia communications, auto-attendants, and voicemail to text or email messaging, not to mention integration with customer relationship management (CRM) tools, project management applications, and email marketing software
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of using VOIP is that you need to have a stable internet connection. Although the bandwidth requirement for VOIP calls is incredibly low (10-32 kbps), other resource-heavy applications can affect the overall quality of your VOIP calls. To offset this, many businesses and organizations institute quality of service (QoS) feature on their computer network to prioritize bandwidth resources.
In light of potential power outages, a disadvantage to VOIP is that unless calls are routed to a secondary device (oftentimes a mobile phone), it will not be possible to make or receive phone calls during a blackout.