IP Office - VoIP
 

Packetised voice and Voice over IP, or VoIP, is a relatively new technology in which voice communications are sent over a packet-based network (IP) instead of traditional circuit-switched systems. Essentially, voice is converted into data, transported across a data network, and then converted back into speech.
 

Whether your company has its own separate telephone network or not, the technology can help you reduce your call charges using your data network to carry your voice calls (a process often referred to as 'Toll bypass').

The benefits of VoIP include:

Less bandwidth required. Whereas telephony requires 64,000 bits per second (bps) to transport a single voice call, packet voice often needs less than 12,000 bps. Thus, for many companies, there is sufficient reserve capacity on data networks to transport considerable voice traffic, making voice essentially free.

Easier remote management. Remote management of the entire voice and data system becomes increasingly easy when using VoIP, since the increased standardisation of network equipment and protocols across the network reduces markedly the amount of networking equipment required.