Hosted VOIP - Telephony without the large hardware

Hosted VOIP Internet Telephony What is Hosted VOIP? Hosted VOIP is a way to have business telephony services without having your own PABX system. All that is onsite is VOIP telephony handsets or soft phones running from computers, Local Area Network and business grade broadband.

Advantages No capital cost in buying a PABX VOIP telephony can be deployed in multiple small branch offices or buildings easily Less local electrical costs in running a phone system VOIP can save in call rates compared to traditional carriers Less phone line rental costs with VOIP. Data and telephony can be on the same links. Branch to branch VOIP calls are often free VOIP telephony allows users to operate from any where with a broadband connection is present and a secure connection with work. E.g. Home, airport, hotel etc. VOIP can reduce office communication cabling by only needing 1 cable per desk for computing and telephony Extension numbers stay with the phone in moves and changes reducing programming requirements Top of Page Disadvantages Hosted VOIP works best for small to medium businesses Broadband data links may need to be updated to handle the new telephony traffic Monthly costs for using Hosted VOIP Handsets need a small amount of power from either Power On Ethernet or a small power pack per phone Network switches and routers require QOS quality of service to give VOIP telephony priority on the network VOIP may not have the battery backup operative life span in a blackout compared to traditional PABX's Analogue device like faxes and modems will require adapters to operate with VOIP Routers need careful programming to maintain security	Thin Client computing combining with VOIP telephony

Alternatives

Having 1 VOIP PABX at your main headquarters and VOIP telephony for branches using you own LAN and WAN network connections
Having small VOIP connections from multiple sites using the same provider. Routers can now provide small scale VOIP
Use traditional PABX's at sites and use VOIP for trunk activities such as site to site and external calls
Use a VOIP hybrid PABX to allow a mix of VOIP and traditional telephony technologies

Have VOIP Hosted and Virtual computers hosted. No local servers or PABX required. Use Thin Clients for VOIP telephony and Virtual Computing. Only 1 device needed per desk. No computer update cycles needed. Thin clients uses about 1/10 the power of a PC. Thin client software can work from existing desktop and laptop computers Extend VOIP capabilities with Wifi wireless VOIP handsets Use Wifi wireless networking for building to building links to extend telephony system coverage Some soft phones allow video conferencing, shared whiteboards and document sharing Fibre optic networks can extend site telephony further than traditional copper based telephony Extend telephony integration with Microsoft Office Communicator which operates telephony with Outlook

Telephony IP ports and Data ports require segmentation in router to improve security
Firewalls need to exist at strategic points in the network
Strong user name and password policies need to be in place
Regular patch management of computer systems connected to VOIP network can reduce risks
MAC address authentication with SIP ID secrecy of VOIP handsets assists in allowing only known handsets to connect to the VOIP system
VOIP related rules can be added to Firewalls
Wireless networking should use secuirity such as WPA Wifi Protected Access
SIP and VOIP communication is best encrypted by design

Hosted VOIP and Hosted Virtual Computing , Thin Client for VOIP and Virtual Computing ,

Is your telephony running at it most efficient level in terms of all costs?
telephony costs changing up and down