What is the Bandwidth Needed For VoIP?

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Bandwidth for a layman translates to the speed of the Internet connection but there is a broader definition as well as use of the term. Technically, bandwidth is the frequency range through which data transmission takes place. Bandwidth is not only restricted to the Internet and is used for all kinds of radio and wireless transmission. If we are talking about large bandwidth then it implies that at any point in time, a large amount of data can be transmitted. Once again I reiterate – Bandwidth does not mean Internet speed but you can use that meaning for your convenience.

How to measure bandwidth?

Hertz, Kilohertz, and Megahertz are the units used for measuring bandwidth.  When someone says 1 MegaHertz then they essentially mean one million Hertz.

This is different from an Internet connection speed which is is measured in Kbps (Kilo bits per second) or Mbps that refers to 1 million bits per second. This is a measurement of the number of bits transmitted in a second. Data Transmission speed is the correct way of describing Internet transmission speed. You will be able to decide whether your connection speed is good or not. This in turn will give you an idea whether it is feasible to use VoIP with the existing connection or upgrades are needed.

The Need to Check Your Connection Speeds

For all the organizations using Internet for both data and voice transmission, it becomes imperative to run a check on the bandwidth for ensuring good call quality. VoIP itself does not have any upfront fees but you will have to get the right bandwidth and this can be pretty costly. Bandwidth costs incurred by organizations are often high and if you are using the same Internet connection for data as well as voice then it is mandatory to use higher bandwidth. Voice signals are bulkier compared to the text signals and this is why it uses higher bandwidth during transmission. So when you have a connection with higher speed or higher bandwidth, you are going to experience better voice quality.

With the passage of time, bandwidth is getting less expensive, and now even the smaller companies can afford connections with higher bandwidth. Broadband in its latest avatar offers greater speed as compared to the old dial up connections.

Bandwidth Calculation

A normal voice call on VoIP has two components – an upstream and a downstream. In the upstream, your voice travels to the other party. In the downstream, the other party’s voice travels to you.

The lowest quality calls need roughly 15 kbps for each stream or a total of 30 kbps for each call. Mind you, I said each call. So if you have ten calls, you need 300 kbps. A good quality voice call would need 90 kbps for each call. So you now have a simple multiplication factor. Guess the number of simultaneous calls you have during peak times, and multiply that by 90.

There is small catch. This number you calculated is only for VoIP voice calls, and should be allocated for that task only. It cannot be mixed with your regular data usage.

If you are planning for video conferencing, each video call would need 1.2 mbps at a minimum.

Other Factors That Play

If you are calculating bandwidth then you should never assume that all the channels are used for every communication. For instance, when there is a normal conversation then there is a lot of silence, which implies that data packets are not at all sent during that period. Thus, full bandwidth is almost never used during VoIP calls. The usage of bandwidth depends on the datalink protocols and there are numerous factors that actually influence the bandwidth usage. Some of the factors that impact bandwidth are VPN headers, ATM cell headers, payload size, IAX2 Trunked and header compression.

You can use a bandwidth calculator like this to calculate your existing Internet connection speed.

About Universal ComOne

Universal ComOne offers award winning business telephone systems that are right for any business. We can design a solution to fit your needs.

Call 337-205-9364 for all your communication needs.

The Pros and Cons of Hosted PBX system

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Pros and Cons of Hosted PBX System

In case you are not able to come to a concrete decision about switching to a hosted PBX system, then its pros and cons might help to clear the fog and help you to choose the best phone system for your office. In this article, we delve deeper into the advantages and disadvantages that a cloud-based or hosted PBX system offers.

  • Cost – This is probably the most debated feature of every communication system, and a hosted PBX has to be measured in terms of its cost as well. The acquisition cost of a hosted PBX system is definitely lower than an on-premise system. However, when it comes to the long-term operational costs, it is a little bit speculative. But, hosted business phones should definitely cost less. Factors like equipment redundancy come into play because we are never sure how fast new technologies will make the equipment obsolete.

      Pros: Very low set up costs make it easier for small organizations to subscribe for these services. The maintenance costs are also       lower and more predictable. Businesses can expect to cut down their operational costs by a large margin.

      Cons: The running and subscription costs are dependent on the providers, and they may charge high fees.

  • Scalability – Both the on-premise and hosted PBX systems offer scalability and flexibility; however, the costs associated with an expansion are definitely lower when it comes to hosted PBX systems. You get the chance to expand the number of telephone lines as you need. The risks associated with scaling up the communication system are also eliminated when you have a hosted PBX system.

      Pros – It is the provider who will take care of all the risks and expansion-related workload. You will not have to worry about the             complexities involved in scaling up your communication system.

      Cons – At times the provider might not be able to make the changes quickly and this may lead to unwanted delays.

  • Control – This is something that varies with the IT policy of every company. There are companies that want to retain control and are not willing to give away the control of their communication systems to others. On the other hand, there are companies that are more than happy to let others take care of their business phone system and just enjoy the services. If you want to have a higher control over your system, then you will have to bear the cost of maintenance and other costs related to the internalizing the system. If you are willing to let your service provider take care of the hardware and seek to reduce your operation costs, the hosted PBX system might be just the right choice for you.

      Pros: By giving up the control, you will be able to get a better understanding of the performance of your system and concentrate         more on your core business processes.

      Cons: It is your service provider who has absolute liberty of running your system, and you will never be able to micro-manage the       operations.

  • Options and Features – if you own your phone system and have full control of it, then you will be able to add any number of features and options—at a cost. On the other hand, your service provider offers the same features and options to all their customers, so they can spread the cost across their customer base. This eventually brings down the amount you will spend for accessing every new feature or option.

      Pros – You have access to all the features you might need. The cost associated with each feature is determined up front before         activation. A cost-benefit analysis can be done to help you determine whether to pay for the specific features.

      Cons – Features are often included in different packages, which might not suit your needs exact business needs.

About Universal ComOne

Universal ComOne offers award winning business telephone systems that are right for any business. We can design a solution to fit your needs.

Call 337-205-9364 for all your communication needs.

Importance of VoIP Data Backup & Data Recovery

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Floods, fire, earthquakes and hurricanes are natural disasters that no one can control. The only thing we can control is the potential damages. Businesses have often lost fortunes due to natural disasters that wreaked havoc on their operations. Not only do companies suffer from monetary damages but also lost data. Thus, data backup and data recovery are two of the most important factors that every modern business needs to consider.

Data Digitization and Data Storage Systems

Digitization of data storage has led to a revolution wherein we recognize digital data storage to be the safest way to archive and protect our data. Businesses around the world use digital storage in the form of PC hard disks, CD ROMs, DVDs, Flash drives and even server storage. Cloud storage is the newest technology being used by companies because of the data security, backup, and recovery facilities offered.

Data Backup and Recovery System

Data Backup Centre

Disaster recovery

At the time of a natural disaster, offices might be affected wherein even PCs, laptops, and other electronic equipment used to store data might get damaged. Thus, conventional forms of data storage might take a hit even when we feel that a hard drive is the safest place to store all the digital files. Cloud-based systems have emerged as the savior in such situations. Both data storage and data backup are being provided in a very secure environment.

Cloud-based data storage

Disaster Recovery is a very important task in the aftermath of a crisis. A business can be up and running only when it is able to recover all its important business data. Cloud-based storage is a great new way for storing vital information, and it uses cloud computing technology. Not only does a business need to store digital files, they also have to store telephony data. The majority of businesses are using VoIP services, so they have a whole lot of valuable customer data, emails and other information stored on their VoIP server.

Data recovery

Now, as all the data for VoIP is stored in the cloud, data backup is pretty easy. Recovering the data is equally as simple. Natural disasters are not the only culprit of data loss problems; human error can also lead to accidental deletion of data. To restore the old data after a system failure, there must be backup system in place.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the latest technology that uses cloud servers and is considered to be the safest. The data is spread over numerous locations, so whenever there is a failure in a particular location, data can be recovered from the other locations. Remote backup of data is possible when one uses cloud servers. The cloud-based servers are updated on a regular basis, so data security is confirmed from the service provider’s end.

VoIP service provider

The only thing that businesses have to keep in mind is to opt for the right VoIP service provider. When choosing a VoIP service provider, companies should never forget to ask for the storage and backup options. Always choose the one that suits the data storage needs of your company and its budget.

About Universal ComOne

Universal ComOne offers award winning business telephone systems that are right for any business. We can design a solution to fit your needs.

Call 337-205-9364 for all your communication needs.

How Can SIP Leverage Your Real Time Communications?

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Every business depends on one or more communication channels for their regular business activities. For instance, one company might take to messaging frequently, while another might use video conferencing a lot. Unified Communications and cloud-based VoIP has offered a plethora of services for real-time communications, which facilitates smooth running business processes.

SIP for real time communications

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

If the communication technologies are not diverse and evolving on a regular basis then they will soon lose their relevance. SIP or Session Initiation Protocol is the most important technology that plays a vital role in IP telephony. SIP is the technology that facilitates one-to-one communication among callers by initiating many vital functions like call setup, authentication, routing and sending featured messages to the endpoints connected to the same IP domain.

Advantages of SIP

SIP is a protocol that helps the subscribers of different companies communicate seamlessly. It facilitates the leveraging of IP telephony by the users just like they would for other web applications. Integration of a variety of Internet services with IP telephony is also facilitated by SIP. Thus, this not only helps in establishing an integrated communication system, but it’s also the base for communications on a real time-basis.

Design of SIP platforms

SIP platforms are designed in a manner that they can be delivered both in the form of a hardware solution and/or a software system. This can then be integrated with VoIP so that the solutions can be leveraged to streamline communications and trigger quicker response time.

Mobility & SIP

Mobility is an area of concern for every company and all are trying to develop solutions that can support mobility. Cloud is thus the obvious choice for such businesses because it provides an infrastructure for both in-house as well as remote locations. SIP is the only protocol that helps companies migrate to a cloud-based VoIP system and extends the system to remote locations. Moreover, SIP also facilitates a variety of deployments so as to support all the enterprise communication activities and needs.

Changes in corporate communication

Corporate communication has undergone a sea change in the recent years and this has raised the expectations of users as well. Nowadays, everyone wants to remotely log in to the corporate server and keep an eye on their work. Thus, SIP trunking is the ideal choice for meeting such advanced communication demands as it not only supports mobility, but it also helps to integrate technologies that we frequently use for communicating on a real-time basis.

Rise of new communication technology

The demand for the SIP & SIP Trunking is going to rise because the space is fast being occupied by WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication). There is still a little time for this new technology to be formally adopted by the corporate world, but with its rapid development, it is just a matter of a few years.

About Universal ComOne

Universal ComOne offers award winning business telephone systems that are right for any business. We can design a solution to fit your needs.

Call 337-205-9364 for all your communication needs.

Is VoIP Right For Your Business?

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Why Should Businesses Adopt VoIP Phone Systems?

In order to grow, businesses have to tap into new markets to increase their customer base. It is imperative to maintain an impeccable communication system. An efficient communication system allows a business to not only maintain seamless connectivity with customers and employees, it also lowers their telephone bills. VoIP is a new technology that businesses across the world are banking upon to solve all their communication woes and, at the same time, bring down their monthly telephone expenses.

Small businesses in particular should consider the latest communication systems like a Hosted VoIP business phone system in order to stay ahead of competition. The Voice over Internet Protocol is perfect for small, medium and large businesses. Not only is it easy to subscribe to VoIP services, it is also easy to scale the packages up or down depending on your usage. VoIP uses the Internet to transmit voice signals in the form of data packets over a secured network. It is not only a secure form of communication for the companies but also a very reliable and efficient solution.

Let us understand why VoIP suits businesses and adopting VoIP phone systems is the logical way to building a robust communication system:

• VoIP helps to serve customers better:

Pleasing customers is vital for all businesses and is even more important for small businesses that want to survive stiff competition in the market. It not only helps businesses acquire new clients but also retain the old ones by providing better services. VoIP has several features like automated call routing, call holding, IVR etc., which helps companies attend to all customer calls and queries on a priority basis. No customer calls are missed and customers get a feeling that the company cares for them, so they are more likely to return with more business.

• VoIP helps to make business processes efficient:

Businesses have started to realize the importance of staying connected to customers as well as employees – this is easily achieved by implementing VoIP. VoIP lets the users log in from anywhere; even when they are not sitting at their desk. Thus important voicemails, messages and other communications are never missed. Important issues can be easily solved by getting in touch with the respective department or executive. All this eventually helps in better decision making.

• Bringing down costs:

This is probably the biggest advantage that businesses enjoy by migrating to VoIP. The telephone bills footed by many companies run up to thousands of dollars a month when they are using the old PSTN telephones. This is never the case with VoIP. The only costs that the customer bears is the charge for the Internet connection within a stipulated FUP. Since VoIP communications can be initiated with just an Internet connection and some basic hardware, the high installation costs are avoided too. Companies do not have to pay any upfront bills for installation and maintenance, so this translates into heavy savings.

Companies that need to make overseas calls on a frequent basis can take advantage of VoIP. If the other party is also on a digital circuit, there are no additional costs for international calls. If the other party is on mobile or land lines, you can use SIP trunking with fixed rates to call anyone, anywhere.

Thus, we get to see that VoIP is the most practical option available to business owners if they truly want to establish a seamless communication service for their company.

About Universal ComOne

Universal ComOne offers award winning business telephone systems that are right for any business. We can design a solution to fit your needs.

Call 337-205-9364 for all your communication needs.