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VoIP telephony: technology, equipment, programs. Telephony equipment

Communication networks are undergoing enormous changes: the segment of classic wired analog PBXs and analog telephones is being persistently replaced by new digital technologies and VoIP telephony caused by the development of the Internet and network technologies. Today it is difficult to imagine a company that would not use IP telephony in its work. Development computer telephony- IP telephony - with its rich functionality at a significantly lower cost of calls (up to tens of times cheaper), especially long-distance and international, with SKYPE capabilities And SIP telephony, with the introduction of mini-PBX for office workers - opens up new prospects and opportunities for the transition to unified communications.
IP telephony today is a broad concept that unites various equipment for transmitting voice data over digital communication channels.

Insotel has the best range of telephony equipment:

  • In the ATS sector Our offers cover all areas: IP PBX, Digital PBX, analogue PBX, PBX boards - from leading manufacturers: Avaya, LG-ERICSSON (LG-Nortel), Samsung, Grandstream, Otixtream, AddPac, Planet, Yealink, ZyXEL. From us you can choose and buy PBX for large and medium-sized enterprises, supporting DECT, VOIP, PRI EUROISDN technologies, PBX for small and growing businesses and mini-PBX for home offices.
  • VOIP gateways - base element for building VoIP networks. These devices convert analog and digital signals voice data into data transmission protocols over IP networks, including the Internet. Most often, these protocols include SIP and X.323. There are analog and digital VoIP gateways. In most cases today, small and large organizations use analog VOIP gateways that are compatible with existing equipment and lines. Insotel presents Analog (with FXS, FXO, PSTN) and Digital VoIP gateways with different amounts ports - in a wide range, for different levels of enterprises, in different price categories.
  • GSM gateways provide connection of a corporate VoIP network with the networks of cellular operators. Using special tariff options operators and SIM cards from several companies at once, GSM gateways can significantly reduce communication costs. The GSM gateway pays for itself within a couple of months and is the perfect way telephone installation of industrial premises. Insotel offers a truly extensive selection: VoIP GSM gateways, Analog GSM gateways, Digital GSM gateways from manufacturers 2N Telekomunikace, AddPac, KTS, Portech, Topex - everyone will find the best option for themselves.
  • Boards for IP telephony are designed to turn any modern computer into a powerful VoIP server with dozens of ports. There are analog, digital IP telephony boards, as well as data transmission boards. Insotel offers all types of IP telephony boards from Digium, OpenVox, Portech, Sangoma.
  • IP phones having an internal VoIP gateway connect to the network Ethernet port RJ45. It’s hard to imagine a better selection of IP phones than Insotel: Wired, Wireless IP phones,USB phones IP DECT telephone systems, Unified IP Phones, and Accessories for IP phones. Especially considering that our offers include IP phones from almost three dozen manufacturers.
  • IP Videophones- a special case of an IP phone, a device that allows you to see the subscriber during a conversation and organize video conferences. Modern IP video phones are of high quality, allow you to organize local video surveillance at workplaces, improve discipline and have many other advantages. Insotel offers IP Video phones from AddPac, Cisco, Fanvil, Grandstream, Planet, Tandberg - from super executive devices to low-budget ones.
  • Digital system phones and terminals designed specifically for use with telephone exchanges with full set functions and programmable keys, are used for programming automatic telephone exchanges, and can also be used simply as telephone set. At Insotel you can choose Digital system phones and terminals from Avaya, LG-ERICSSON, Nortel, Plantronics, Samsung
  • Telephone Headsets- allow you to free the operator’s hands when making calls. Headsets connected via USB have built-in digital converters, which improves the quality of communication on both sides. The use of headsets allows you to save time and increase productivity in a company; there are also non-professional headsets, including gaming headsets and many headsets for multimedia users. To Insotel telephone headsets from Avaya, Jabra, Plantronics, Snom in the widest range: Headsets for office, for call-center, Wired headsets, Headsets for PCs and laptops, Bluetooth headsets, DECT, as well as Speakerphones and many Accessories.

Every year new, more modern, high-quality technologies appear in our lives. The communications sector was no exception: until recently, in almost any office you could find a regular mini-PBX, and in apartments they used exclusively traditional analog phones. But everything is changing: IP telephony is rapidly displacing its “competitors,” bribing both private and corporate users favorable tariffs, ease of connection and unique capabilities.

How does Internet telephony work?

It's safe to say that the idea of ​​transmitting sound over the Internet was in the air at the dawn of the World Wide Web. The first hundreds of thousands of users were already actively using the capabilities of sharing audio data, posting and downloading audio clips. But full-fledged telephony via the Internet could not exist at that time: primarily due to the low data transfer speed. Agree, it is impossible to communicate with your interlocutor when his speech is heard with a delay of several tens of minutes or even hours.

VoIP technology ( Voice over IP - “voice over the Internet”) appeared more than two decades ago and consisted precisely in the transmission of speech in the form of compressed “packets” of information over the Network. Initially, transfer was only possible between Internet users. With the advent high speed connection managed to eliminate delays and interference. Then special gateways were created that connected telephone networks with Internet networks. Thanks to this breakthrough, today we can make calls to any device: mobile and analog phones, desktops, tablets and special SIP devices, which we will talk about later.

What equipment is required to organize SIP telephony in the office or at home? First of all, you need a device connected to the Internet, and the speed of the incoming and outgoing connection for IP telephony must be at least 512 Kbps. To receive and transmit calls you can use:

  • a regular telephone with an IP gateway connected to it;
  • smartphones, tablets and PCs with special software installed or a SIP phone;
  • There are also models that combine the functions of an IP gateway and a modem, which allows you to use such equipment to organize telephony in the office and connect to the Internet at the same time.

IP, VoIP and SIP: the difference is in the details

In order to understand the peculiarities of the functioning of Internet telephony, you need to familiarize yourself with the concept of a protocol. A protocol is a set of rules and actions according to which data is exchanged between different devices. For example, IP (Internet Protocol) is the same internetworking protocol that united individual computers in worldwide network Internet. The most famous set of protocols is called TCP/IP. There are many other varieties used on the Internet for different purposes. For example, HTTP protocol used to transmit hypertext, SMTP protocol- for sending mail.

With the advent of Internet telephony, specific protocols were developed that are used to carry out telephone conversations and other multimedia interactions via the Internet. VoIP is the general name for a group of protocols that define how audio data is transmitted over the Internet.

SIP is the most common IP telephony protocol, one of its underlying ones along with the popular H.323. It has low connection speed requirements and supports not only voice communication, but also video data transmission. Experts call SIP the most promising protocol for further development Internet telephony industry.

The term “analog communication”, used to refer to the classic wired telephone network, is not entirely correct: since the 60s of the last century, city telephone exchanges began to translate when transmitting sound signals"to digital". Thus, long before the advent of the public Internet, we began to exchange “packets” of information, making calls to different cities and countries.

Internet telephony for home and office: opportunities and advantages

The largest telecommunications companies are gradually abandoning outdated classical telephony, replacing it with Internet telephony. This is explained by several important advantages and opportunities that Internet telephony provides compared to traditional telephony. The sound quality of an IP connection does not depend on distance: there is no noise, echo or extraneous sounds, which cannot be said about an analog connection.

Virtual PBX easily and quickly adapts to the needs of both a private user and a large office: settings can be changed online in “ personal account", add additional lines as the number of calls increases. Moreover, the connection is not tied to the location of the company, which is a huge advantage of IP telephony for business. You no longer need to be afraid of losing clients when moving your office: the number stays with you as long as you need it. Even if the company has many branches or remote employees, they can all use a common phone number.

Another important advantage of a virtual PBX is the low cost of calls and connections compared to an analog PBX. There is no need for expensive equipment - you can get by with regular PCs with a headset or mobile devices. Even if you decide to use special IP phones, their price is quite comparable to the cost of analog devices, but connecting and setting up will cost significantly less and take much less time. Tariffs for intercity and international communications lower than analog networks by 10–60%, and intracorporate calls are free, regardless of the geographical location of employees or offices.

And finally, connecting telephony for your home or office via the Internet is fast. There is no need for lengthy coordination of connection with the operator company, or waiting for installation of telephone cables: just connect and configure the service on the operator’s website.

For business, Internet telephony provides special opportunities:

  • Integration. IP telephony can be integrated with other communication solutions, for example with the 1C program, with the company’s website, with various Internet services and software. A popular solution, for example, is the “call from website” service, which provides additional convenience for visitors and allows the company to determine effective pages portal.
  • Multichannel number , allowing you to process many calls at once. The number of virtual lines, as already mentioned, can be easily and quickly increased, turning your office into a real call center.
  • Voice menu, auto attendant (extension numbers) and smart forwarding. For example, when setting up a menu, the client immediately contacts the specialist of interest, and if all lines are busy, the call can be routed to the mobile phone of a backup operator.
  • Possibility of organization conference and video calls , conducting video presentations.
  • Recording conversations. Used to track employee performance and limit off-duty calls (very useful when servicing conflicting clients).
  • Constant access to connection statistics : allows you to track the effectiveness of marketing programs, the location of subscribers and adjust advertising campaigns taking into account the specific needs of clients.
  • Voice mail, email fax, blacklist and much more.

Organization and equipment for VoIP (SIP) telephony

Let's define the main stages in the process of connecting IP telephony for business. It all starts with choosing an operator offering a similar service. Experts recommend paying attention to the following factors:

  • Guaranteed security of transmitted data - full protection communication channels require highly qualified provider employees, so you should trust large operators with experienced security specialists on staff.
  • The provider has its own telecommunications network.
  • Competitive price. Of course, everyone wants to minimize communication costs, but you should still approach savings wisely: for businesses, it is not recommended to choose too cheap call rates, as there is a high probability of receiving services of reduced quality.
  • If you need to keep your existing company phone number, check to see if your operator can arrange for it to be transferred.

The next step should be to check the Internet connection in your office. In particular, for large call centers or when the quality of the existing connection is low, it is advisable to organize a dedicated Internet line for calls. This separation of voice traffic and regular data transmission will improve the quality of VoIP communications. Finally, at the final stage, a decision has to be made: what equipment will be used for Internet telephony. You can completely replace an analog PBX with a virtual one and use special SIP devices, PCs or smartphones, or upgrade existing phones using IP gateways. Experts recommend the option of replacing the PBX with a virtual one: in this case, you get the maximum functions and capabilities of modern communications, as well as flexibility of settings.

So, IP telephony is convenient and profitable. A virtual PBX, compared to an analogue one, provides the user with a completely different level of service and allows you to optimize costs, reducing the cost of calls by several times. According to subscriber reviews, minimizing communication costs is obvious already in the first month of use. Don’t forget about the cost of connection: organizing IP telephony will cost significantly less than installing classic telephone lines and will not require expensive equipment.

IP telephony for various enterprises is a new generation of telephone networks, the most dynamically developing modern technology communications.

The main advantage of IP technology is the low cost of network deployment, easy scalability, the ability to transmit large volumes of various information (audio, text and video signals) with a sharp increase in data transfer speed over the IP protocol. All this simplifies all work processes. Increases production efficiency.

In many ways, the transition to IP telephony is associated with the desire not to depend on the constant increase in prices for traditional analog communication services. Moreover, even the use of analog equipment allows you to take advantage of many of the advantages of IP technologies.

Types of equipment

Structurally, all IP PBXs are built on the basis of the following equipment:

  • Directly PBX (switch or processor)
  • Subscriber devices (telephones and DECT handsets)
  • Communication lines (telephone or fiber optic cables)

In addition, you can connect to the network additional devices: faxes, modems, routers, intercoms, printers, etc.

IP phones (SIP or VoIP) can be software or hardware. The first is a simpler option, which can also be called virtual phone. Calls here are made using a regular computer on which a softphone program is installed. In this case, no special telephone equipment is required, but you can use any available computer headset- headphones and microphone or built-in microphone, speakers and video cameras. In this case, it is convenient to make video calls, for example, if you need to conduct instructions, training or a webinar. But in industrial production conditions, it is better to use the computer for its intended purpose.

A hardware telephone is equipment specifically designed for making calls. Such a telephone can be analog or digital. You can also convert a simple analog telephone to digital using software for the transmission of voice packets and special IP equipment - voice gateways, which are also called VoIP gateways. Such devices are based on the use of VoIP voice transmission protocol.

There are IP phones specifically designed for video conferencing. The number of participants in them can reach ten people. Unlike traditional phones, such models are necessarily equipped with a large diagonal display on which the participant’s image is displayed. In addition, the advanced version of the software provides settings for the moderator (speaker), who can give the floor to speak or take away such right. The speaker is also given the ability to determine who can only listen and watch without the ability to talk.

If the organization has many mobile employees who need to move around the building and who are rarely at the workplace, it is rational to purchase radio equipment and subscriber devices DECT (microcellular) standard. These IP phones have a cordless handset that charges from a base station and can be taken with you. Unlike conventional mobile phones, within the microcellular network, all conversations will be free. The range of such handsets, depending on the model and power of the base station, can reach 600 meters per open space and 50 meters indoors.

For the proper functioning of such equipment, it is important to carry out radio planning of the entire territory of the organization for proper placement base stations in order to maximize communication coverage.

When introducing telephony, not a single modern production Currently, it cannot do without emergency warning devices and public address systems. This is important for preserving the life and health of employees in the event of emergencies or other dangerous situations for humans. In this case, using speakerphone can be quickly communicated to all staff important information about how to behave in difficult conditions. (see article “ Industrial systems alerts)

Where is IP telephony equipment in demand?

Special studies show that 70% of companies that actively use IP telephony sell goods, provide services, create websites and Internet marketing. The remaining 30% is distributed between the following areas: service, software development, education, integrators, construction, production, logistics, consulting, wholesale And information portals. They sell everything: from auto parts to rolled metal, from flower pots to dental equipment and medical equipment, from women's bags to water treatment plants. Services: realtors, Insurance companies, legal and accounting support, IT and sales outsourcing, equipment rental, debt collection, celebrations, etc. Depending on the purpose and scale among IP telephone stations, the following types can be distinguished:

  • Mini-PBX – several subscribers, 1-3 external lines
  • Office IP PBXs – wider functionality, larger number subscribers
  • UPATS (institutional-production automatic telephone exchange) - designed for installation in large organizations with an extensive network of branches. Often these branches may be located in other cities of the country or abroad. In this case, installing equipment when switching to IP telephony allows you to significantly save on the cost of long-distance calls, since the cost of the tariff practically does not depend on distances; data transfer occurs over Internet networks. This PBX is distinguished by a backup power supply, which helps ensure uninterrupted communication even in the event of an accident or short-term failure.

Due to the modular architecture of the IP-PBX, it is possible to gradually equip it with the equipment that is required at one time or another. At the initial stage, it is not even necessary to change old analog telephone sets; you will only need to buy special gateways (adapters) for them.

Even when saving analog equipment When switching to the IP format, the quality of communication improves significantly, and the cost of calls decreases significantly. But you need to take into account that such devices will not be able to perform some functions. For example, they will not be able to display caller information on the display if the display is not included in the design of a regular traditional telephone. (see article “IP phones”)

Main advantages and capabilities of IP telephony:

  • Ability to use internal lines with short number in corporate networks, which makes it easy to remember the numbers of colleagues and relieves access to external city lines
  • Simple and quick setup Software and technical support
  • If corporate users move, the numbers do not change; they will “move” with the company
  • In some cases, it is not necessary to buy a lot of additional equipment, especially if you use existing modern equipment computer equipment. In this case, the organization can use a soft (virtual) IP phone installed on the subscriber’s computer. You only have to pay for software, setup and maintenance
  • In case of transition from an analogue station form to digital telephony, you will not need to buy a full set of equipment, but only a router and an IP gateway
  • IP telephony allows you to reduce costs for international and long-distance calls
  • No additional cables are required - the connection occurs via the Internet
  • High functionality, including the ability to make video calls, transmit high-quality audio information, any images and videos, integration with CRM and other functions
  • Allows you to easily build a highly organized corporate network
  • Conference calls with the simultaneous participation of several people, both internal and external. This is important, for example, for negotiations involving partners located in another city or abroad. If the capabilities of the equipment allow, then you can organize a video conference and communicate with partners face to face, which significantly increases the level of business trust
  • You can get information about caller and prepare for the conversation before picking up the phone. If the information is entered into the database, it will be displayed on the display of telephone sets
  • Full reporting of calls, the ability to track at what time, from which device, which employee made the call, as well as obtain information about the number to which he called
  • Forwarding a call to another telephone line in case the employee does not answer the phone or the line is already busy. This can significantly reduce cases of inability to get through, sometimes by 50%. Ultimately, redirection leads to customer retention, increased orders and organizational profitability.
  • Possibility of gradual upgrade of IP station and capacity expansion telephone numbers. At any stage, due to the block architecture of the station, it is possible to add numbers and functions by purchasing additional equipment and installing special software. At the same time, it is not necessary to completely replace the old IP equipment
  • Ability to change in the settings the phone numbers to which calls from external lines should be received first
  • The ability to manage the entire IP PBX system remotely using a computer

Various equipment models from different manufacturers may differ in their characteristics, so only a specialist can figure out what equipment for IP telephony you need to purchase.

Now many IP telephony providers use technology cloud services and offer a virtual PBX service. Its difference from traditional telephony is that IP telephony servers are physically installed on the premises of the IP telephony service provider. Thus, corporate users there is no need to purchase expensive equipment and spend money on maintaining a system administrator. In this case, the user pays for server rental and maintenance.

The transition from analogue to IP telephony gives a sharp jump in the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. Installing IP equipment not only helps improve communications between employees and increases the transparency of the work process. It also allows you to provide high-quality communications, attract new clients and retain existing clients by repeatedly increasing the level of service.

Where to buy equipment for IP telephony

If your offices require telephony equipment, contact Intecom! Our company offers modern IP equipment of domestic and foreign production for creating telephony in organizations of any size. Among our solutions are UPBX “Gamma” and “Plugin”, multifunctional SIP phones, video conferencing devices, explosion-proof and all-weather communication devices that can remain operational even in extreme conditions, options for hands-free equipment, etc.

When connecting a telephone connection to an office, you need to select equipment. Variety of models, rare replacement and high price due to the fall of the ruble - all this forces you to choose more carefully. Our customer research will show you which equipment to purchase. Go to the sections “What to choose?” and “Where to buy” if you are looking for ready-made answers.

Initial data

We made a cross-section of users by user-agent and analyzed them. User-agent is a parameter that is sent to the PBX by each SIP phone or program. It usually contains the name and version, for example MicroSIP/3.1.11. This approach is limited: you won’t be able to find out the headset model.

The sample includes 3210 users. Only those users who turned on the SIP client on the day of data collection were included here. Those who were in a different time zone or were on a day off were not included in the analysis.

The assessment was carried out only by quantity. Duration of use was not taken into account. If one user worked in different SIP clients, then both were counted.

General conclusions

The devices are used O in greater demand than programs with a headset. Analog gateways occupy a small share; they are needed when connecting previously purchased simple phones. The “Other” category included FMC, software and hardware PBXs.

Two thirds of all devices are wired and only a third are wireless. Softphones - softphones - are almost never used on mobile phones: their share is only 4%, and from total number SIP clients - 1.5%.

Wired IP phones are twice as popular as cordless ones. If we look at SIP clients as a whole, their shares are 31.5% and 16.1%, respectively. Now let's look at the equipment in more detail.

IP phones

Let's find out which SIP equipment manufacturers customers prefer.

As expected for us, Cisco/Linksys/Sipura IP phones and gateways took first place. We have combined the companies into one brand because they are owned by Cisco. note: Cisco is developing its own line of equipment incompatible with SIP - take your pick specific models(more details below).

Next, with a gap of two percent, are Yealink, Panasonic and Gigaset (Siemens). Every tenth device is Grandstream, this is the fifth place. At the end of the list is D-Link, we basically have their devices. The “Other” group included Eltex, Escene, Fanvil, Flyingvoice and Greenlite - there are too few of them to draw conclusions.

Wired (landline) IP phones

Separately for wired phones the situation changes slightly. Landline phones from Cisco and Yealink are in demand - these are the best devices on the market. Behind them are Grandstream and D-Link, 10% each.

Cordless (DECT) phones

We recommend Panasonic more often, but Gigaset (Siemens) phones are used O In greater demand - their share is 49%. Gigaset has a larger selection, so it's easier to find the right option. The third and fourth places are occupied by Grandstream and Yealink, respectively.

Device models

We will also divide telephone models into wired and wireless. The most popular stationary was Cisco SPA 303. This great model: reliable and easy to use. It entered the market in 2011 and is still on sale. We have created a configurator for it - you can configure any phone in three clicks.

The second most popular model is Yealink SIP-T21P. After the price increase for Cisco phones, we began to actively recommend Yealink - this good replacement at half the price. If for some reason it does not suit you, look at the entire SIP-Txx line.

The leader among cordless phones was the Panasonic KX-TGP500. We have also been working with him for a long time and recommend him to our clients. Behind it are two Gigaset models - A510 and C610A. If you are a Yealink supporter, then check out the SIP-W52P model. So far, few clients use it, so statistics have not accumulated.

Softphones and headsets

The chosen research method does not allow us to find out which headsets customers prefer. Therefore, we will consider softphones (softphones), and offer recommendations on models based on our experience.

The absolute leader is PhonerLite. PhonerLite is used by 82.3% of our customers. The fact is that we offer to download ready-made program, which does not need to be configured. If you're looking for an alternative, check out the chart below.

Zoiper is implemented by our integrators, and sometimes we advise if PhonerLite is not suitable for some reason. Telephone is a very simple client for those running Mac OS X. There are practically no alternatives to it.

Those who use softphones need a headset. We will talk about them below, now we will look at SIP clients for smartphones.

Smartphones

Too few customers use SIP on smartphones - there will be no charts, tables or graphs. Let's just list the clients.

CSipSimple- the most popular softphone in Android. Immediately behind it is the SIP client, as it turned out it does not work in all mobile phones. Clients use iPhone Acrobits And Bria.

Other equipment

Gateways

Owners of analogue telephones prefer to save money and not change working devices. In this case, IP gateways are suitable. They connect to the Internet and are configured like IP phones, but have connectors for connecting regular phones. There are also disadvantages: IP gateways are limited in the number of connected lines, the organization of telephony becomes more complicated - the quality decreases.

The most popular gateways are manufactured by Cisco. Models: SPA8000, SPA112 and SPA2102. In second place is Grandstream and its four-port model GXW-4004. We do not touch upon GSM gateways in this study; we do not recommend their use or provide advice.

PBX

Some clients register existing hardware PBXs into the virtual PBX. Panasonic has the unconditional leadership here, but the reason for such popularity is not entirely pleasant. Panasonic uses incompatible equipment. Those who have already bought a Panasonic PBX and phones for it are forced to continue using it so as not to buy new equipment.

If you are thinking about purchasing a mini-PBX, think again so as not to find yourself in a similar situation.

What to choose?

Let's make a summary that will help you choose. We distinguish four categories of SIP equipment: headsets, gateways, landline and wireless IP phones. Each has its own purpose and the choice is yours.

Headsets

Use headsets when employees talk a lot on the phone: receive incoming calls or make calls themselves. In our understanding, “a lot” is 5-6 hours a day, that is, more than half of the working time. If they say less, then the headset is inconvenient - you will have to constantly take it off and put it on. The second advantage is the price. A USB headset is cheaper than any IP phone, but requires a computer. If you work in CRM, then you already have it.

Desktop IP phones

They're wired. It’s convenient when you don’t need to talk a lot, and the employee sits in one place. A reliable device will last for several years, will survive moving to another office, will not get lost, and if necessary, you can connect a headset. It is easier to assign such a phone to an employee.

Wireless IP phones

If employees talk a little and you need mobility within the office, they will do cordless phones(DECT). Also use cordless handsets when you do not need to assign an extension to an employee. For example, one phone for the entire department.

Gateways

Focus on gateways if you already have regular phones. But don’t try to save money on them - you’ll lose more in quality. Our recommendations depend on the number of telephone ports you need. For two - Cisco SPA112, for four - Grandstream GXW-4008, for eight - Cisco SPA8000.

What do we use?

Technical support talks a lot with clients, so they use USB headsets with a softphone. All Plantronics Audio series headsets, models 622 or 628.

The manager and head of technical support use Cisco SPA303 IP phones, however, the manager’s phone complements wireless headset Plantronics W730, Savi.

A common office phone is the Panasonic KX-TGP500 cordless handset. There is only one and is used as a duty phone to order pizza to the office, for example.

Where can I buy?

There is no supplier that suits all our clients. Therefore, we recommend buying equipment for IP telephony on Yandex.Market - this is a large storefront with which different stores work.

Select suitable model equipment, use the Yandex.Market search to find stores, find out the delivery date, terms of delivery/pickup and payment. Use filters by region, rating and other parameters.

Nikita Lyalin
Marketing Director onlinePBX

Tell us in the comments if we missed something or made a mistake. Ask if anything is unclear.

Telephony for business with integration into any CRM

In this article we will look at VoIP technology, analyze the main advantages and disadvantages of VoIP telephony, as well as the equipment and programs that are used in VoIP networks.

Over the course of more than a century of development, wired telephony, due to technical and economic obstacles, could not become the universal property of mankind. In developed countries, telephones were installed in all government agencies, commercial firms, in almost every city apartment and rural house, but here we have a landline telephone communications even at the end of the 20th century it remained inaccessible to many, not only in remote and sparsely populated areas, but also in large towns. But for people prompt solution many private and business issues you need to be able to voice communication"Here and now".

Mobile telephony, which began its expansion about forty years ago, has significantly increased the availability of voice communications, especially in areas not covered by landline communications, and in a short time has become a technology of mass application.

Wired and wireless technology settled into their niches and coexisted happily, undisturbed by competitors, just ten years ago, when suddenly a third “rival” appeared - VoIP technology. And this rival turned out to be dangerous, first of all, because it provided the opportunity to pay significantly less for the same minutes of voice communication that could have been spent in the networks of its predecessors. Moreover, it can easily “infiltrate” both landline and mobile zones, communicating with subscribers of both the first and second speech communication technologies. Not to mention “our own contingent on our own VoIP territory.”

VoIP technology: why is it cheaper?

To provide landline telephony services, it was necessary to create an infrastructure in the form cable lines connections of enormous extent. For mobile - build base stations for radio signal transmission. And the Internet became the physical environment for VoIP technology, that is, providers of the new telecommunications direction did not have to create their own infrastructure: there is the Internet - there is the possibility of offering VoIP services, which is reflected in the “name” of the technology - Voice over Internet Protocol - “voice over Internet Protocol” "

The costs of building base stations are returned to the operator in payment for calls on mobile phones. Providers of VoIP technology that were integrated into the “ready-made” Internet network did not incur such expenses for VoIP equipment, and, accordingly, they are not included in the tariffs for communication services.

True, the name VoIP does not fully characterize the technology that allows for the reception and transmission of not only speech (this segment is given the name “IP telephony”), but also video content and, in general, any data presented in digital form. However, since IP telephony is the most in demand today, using its example we will consider all the main technical and economic indicators of VoIP, noting at the same time that this technology, in addition to working on the Internet, can be implemented in any dedicated digital channels, supporting the Internet protocol and making up the IP network.

So, the first component of the cost-effectiveness of IP telephony (it would probably be more correct to say “deductible”) is the lack of investment in the creation of infrastructure, which for fixed and mobile operators must pay off, for which they are “invisibly present” in their tariffs.

The second circumstance that allowed IP telephony providers to set a minimum level of payment for their services is that in public telephone networks (PSTN, PSTN), payment for a call is determined by its duration and the length of the dedicated channel. And in IP telephony you only pay for the Internet connection and the volume of transmitted traffic.

The third cost item for landline communication providers, included in the tariffs, as paradoxical as it may sound, is payment for pauses in conversations. The fact is that in traditional circuit-switched networks, payment is calculated for the duration of the “rent” of the channel. And the billing system does not take into account the fact that pauses in a conversation are essentially a waste of time, but simply counts the minutes of “rental” channel and multiplies them by the tariff. And in IP telephony there is a mechanism for blocking the transmission of pauses (dialogue, syllabic, semantic, spent by the subscriber on searching the right words, distractions from the conversation, etc.), which can account for up to 40-50% of the time the transmission channel is occupied.

VoIP telephony: equipment and programs

VoIP telephony terminals: wired and cordless phones, fax machines, USB, WiFi, soft, IP and video IP phones.

VoIP telephony provides speech transmission and reception between computers (with connected microphones and headphones or speakers), a computer and a landline (analog and digital) telephone, mobile and IP telephones, as well as between any of the listed types of telephones in arbitrary combinations. Note that the analog telephone set we are used to can be converted into an IP telephone by connecting an analog telephone adapter (VoIP ATA) between its input and the Internet outlet.

Each IP phone (with wired and wireless input/output or built-in analog modem) connects to the Network by an Internet provider, then registers with an IP telephony service operator, receiving a login and password.

But to use this technology, it is not necessary to have a special device if you install a client program on your computer that simulates a phone and connect headphones and a microphone or a USB phone that performs the functions of headphones and a microphone to the PC. Such a computer-software complex is called a softphone (softphone). SoftPhone software can be downloaded for free on the website of your IP telephony provider, and then you can register your device there. Most Popular free program for VoIP telephony in the world is Skype.

Variety softphones are dual-mode GSM/WiFi (cellular/VoIP) mobile phones used in two “guises”: in the GSM network they behave like cellular telephone, and in the WiFi zone (with SoftPhone software installed on the phone) - in the IP network. Moreover, in the second mode, roaming on the mobile network is practically free.

Videophone - equipment operating using VoIP technology provides the effect of the presence in the office of a subscriber who is “on the other end of the line”, thereby increasing the effectiveness of business negotiations.

To organize voice communication between computers, IP phones and video phones, just connect them with a cable to an Internet outlet and log into the Internet. And to connect an IP network to the PSTN, you need to use analog VoIP gateways FXS or FXO. In the case of digital telephone networks ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) their connection with World Wide Web provided by digital VoIP gateways.

VoIP gateways allow you to connect to the networks of several operators to create several traffic routes with minimal tariffs, reserve them for use in case of overloads and failures in fixed and mobile networks. At the same time, thanks to the availability of alternative routes, companies can achieve a significant reduction in costs for communication services, while also increasing the availability of subscribers located in networks that support various voice transmission technologies.

In VoIP gateways, virtual objects can be created that determine the routing of telephone calls, which allows the company to “limitlessly” connect direct numbers in any country on the planet (this technology is called Direct Inward Dialing, DID).

VoIP gateways - internetworking VoIP equipment for transferring voice traffic between traditional telephony networks and data networks.

Another advantage of IP telephony: the ability to simply increase the number of numbers in the office (the so-called “number capacity”), which, as a rule, can be done with great difficulty in the PSTN (and only if the landline operator has the technical capability).

As noted at the beginning of the article, the attractiveness of IP telephony for mass user is to save payment for voice communications compared to payment for the same conversations in landline and mobile networks. This indicator, of course, is also important for the business segment, for which, it turns out, there is another “bonus” - low costs of creating corporate network IP telephony (hardware IP PBX, software PBX, virtual PBX) based on an existing PBX.

Pitfalls of VoIP technology

You have already heard about the advantages and benefits of IP telephony and have even repeatedly seen equipment and programs for VoIP in use by one of your friends. Liked. And so you decide to implement it yourself. But have you been told about a couple of “pitfalls” that can nullify all your expectations? But they exist.

vThe well-known saying that “disadvantages are a continuation of our advantages” can be applied to all technologies without exception. And, of course, to IP telephony. This technology lacks voice quality and security. But these defects can be eliminated if you understand their roots.

So, in PSTN the quality of speech did not cause any complaints because in this technology, based on switching communication channels, the “song flows” continuously in the same “pipe”. And VoIP technology transmits the same “song” in parts (in currently free channels) in accordance with the Internet protocol, switching data packets (as is customary in transmitting any information over the Internet). And if, for example, in the transmission of texts and photographs, this batch sequence can end “when it happens”, and we calmly wait for its completion and open the “finished work”, then Voice connection works in real time and does not wait for the next packet to arrive.

Therefore, if the delay time in receiving packages and their loss exceed the values ​​​​established by the standard, this inevitably affects the intelligibility, purity, volume level, the appearance of echoes, wheezing and other sounds that are uncomfortable for auditory perception. But, as the popular cartoon says, “we will survive this trouble.” Naturally, with the help of a system integrator who will be able to carry out all the work for intelligent processing of packet receipt delays, interpolation (partial recovery) of information contained in lost packets, echo cancellation and voice signal level control. And everything will be as good as your friend allowed you to see at his company.