Hosted VoIP
The term “hosted VoIP” has both broad and narrow definitions. In the broadest sense, hosted VoIP could apply to any type of VoIP phone service, from residential to business-class. In the business environment, a hosted VoIP service could be provided by a third party (externally hosted), or “hosted” on servers inside the company using it (on premise PBX).
Typically, however, hosted VoIP means a Voice over IP (VoIP) service for businesses that is provided by an outside company. The hosting is usually done in colocation (multiple companies using one facility) data centers. People using hosted VoIP phone services should make sure that the data centers have sufficient power, connectivity, and redundancy to provide high availability.
Hosted VoIP phone services for businesses usually include both the ability to make and receive calls over the internet and the ancillary telephony services that are needed for business use, such as voicemail, call routing, virtual attendant, etc. Administration for VoIP business phone systems is usually provided through web browsers.
Hosted VoIP from IMC includes all of the features Hosted companies have been developing for over 15 years since the first hosted PBX solution. For a custom hosted VoIP solution, choose IMC.
VoIP PBX Phones
A VoIP PBX phone is one that works with a VoIP PBX phone service to make calls over the internet. VoIP, or voice over IP, is a telephony technology that standardizes the way phone calls are broken into pieces (packets) and transmitted over networks that follows Internet Protocol (IP) rules.
Any VoIP PBX phone must have the built-in intelligence to identify itself on the network and be able to encode and decode calls per the VoIP standard. A VoIP phone may be a piece of equipment sitting on a desk (a hardware VoIP phone), it may be made up of software running on a computer that turns the computer speakers and microphone into a phone (software VoIP phone or softphones), or it may be an application running on a cellular phone that makes Wi-Fi calls.
A VoIP phone service is integral in using a VoIP phone. A VoIP phone must be registered with some VoIP PBX phone service provider in order to work. VoIP PBX phone service providers may specialize in basic phone service or they may provide full business-level PBX functionality, allowing multiple phones to work together to provide a VoIP systems solution. Some only do VoIP, others are mainly dedicated to traditional telephony using the copper-wire Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and others fully embrace both technologies.
At IMC, we believe in flexibility. The choice to use a VoIP phone or a traditional analog phone should be left up to the user. We support and endorse both technologies. We also believe in the power of open standards. Our clients can use a registered VoIP phone with various providers, analog phones on landlines, VoIP via cell phone, or any other type of phone. It’s the power of choice, and that choice is yours.