VoIP servers are being implemented by many businesses as a way of cutting costs because moving away from analogue telephone systems to more modern digital systems will allow businesses to streamline their communications systems to provide better value for money. With many businesses dealing with hundreds or even thousands of phone calls every day both internally and externally, it is important for the IT departments of these businesses to guarantee that the right provisions are in place to ensure that all of these calls are connected and that the number of calls that are dropped is kept to a minimum.
VoIP Server Software
As a VoIP server hosting customer, you will have the opportunity to choose between two different applications that will be able to provide you with a satisfactory VoIP hosting experience. These two applications consist of:
- Asterisk – this is one of the oldest VoIP applications available and is often used by small-medium enterprises to create Private Branch Exchanges (PBX) so that employees are able to communicate between one another internally easily – as Asterisk is an open source application, it is highly cost effective because businesses won’t need to pay to use it which will allow them to keep their costs to a minimum – furthermore, when you consider that Asterisk is designed to run on open source Linux distributions you are able to come to the conclusion that by choosing Asterisk you will be saving yourself a lot of money over using a traditional analogue telephone system
- Trixbox – this is an management interface built on top of Asterisk and provides you with a complete suite of tools that will allow you to professionally manage your VoIP server – Trixbox has been developed using PHP and MySQL meaning that it can be hosted on any server, but most importantly the interface will work seamlessly on any Linux server that is running Asterisk as it has been optimized for use with the Apache web server – Trixbox includes a package manager that will allow you to install an array of other applications alongside the application.
Benefits of Using VoIP
Digital communications can provide businesses with a wide variety of benefits over analogue communications in this day and age, including:
- Clear communications – if you are talking to somebody over a digital connection then they’re likely to sound a lot clearer than they would over a standard analogue connection because the quality of the signal won’t degrade over distance as is the case with standard analogue connections, although the quality of the input and output will depend on the hardware that is being used
- Low-cost implementation – implementing VoIP systems for the first time can be fairly low cost because the applications required are all free to use whilst the cost of a decent dedicated server is fairly low meaning that you shouldn’t end up paying too much to use VoIP systems – if you have your own IT department then you can cut costs further by using your own staff to configure your VoIP dedicated server for you, although if you don’t have such resources then any good web hosting provider will be able to assist you
- Reduced long-term costs – if you are using analogue systems then the chances are that you need to pay continual line rental and then there’s also the high cost of replacing defective equipment – with a VoIP server hosting solution you won’t have many long term costs except what you are paying for your dedicated server and internet connection because you have the choice to either provide your staff with new telephones so that they are able to access the new system or alternatively you can train them to use software applications that will provide the same level of functionality, but will save your business money.
In conclusion, VoIP server hosting will provide you with an opportunity to make the most of what digital and internet communications have to offer. During a time where most businesses are looking to cut their costs, investing in technology such as VoIP hosting will allow businesses to cut their costs whilst improving the level of service that they are able to provide their employees with access to. If you are unsure of how VoIP hosting could fit into your business, it is recommended that you contact a web hosting company that will be able to provide you with a consultation on how VoIP hosting will benefit you.