Technology changes constantly. For example, the Kindle was HOT when it first came out three years ago. It sold out in just over five hours and was then out of stock for five months! Now the iPad is out and Seth Godin has already suggested that to survive the Kindle needs to be, “… so cheap to buy and use it’s irresistible.” Telephony is yet another element breaking its way into a new age, and here’s how:
OLD: POTS (Plain Old Telephone System)
- An analog phone line is a conventional or traditional phone line, used for fax or credit card machines.
- Analog is low maintenance and easy to implement.
- Long distance service for POTS lines is provided by a long distance carrier such as AT&T, and can be rather costly for organizations that make a lot of long distance calls.
NEW: VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
- VoIP is more flexible, offers more control, and long distance calling generally costs less than analog phone systems. Service providers such as Vonage, Skype and Broadvox offer VOIP telephone service.
- VoIP call quality is as good or better than it is with analog systems. This is at least partially dependent upon the bandwidth available to the VOIP server.
- VoIP may require more attention from IT staff than analog. You must have a VOIP server or use an ITSP (Internet Telephone Service Provider) to obtain service. Should you choose to have your own server, the system must be setup on that server, and basic maintenance operations must be performed by staff.
- Many telephony software systems are now VoIP-capable, including InphoniteVoice allowing for greater communication capabilities.
- VoIP is gaining in popularity and gradually overtaking analog. It allows for ever-increasing integration with computer applications, and it is more cost-effective than POTS lines.
The most important difference to keep in mind here is that VoIP allows for the future, while Analog is still in the past. Although Analog is easy and comfortable for some, it may eventually hinder your potential for growth. Although VoIP is essentially the future of telephony, InphoniteVoice supports both OLD (analog) and NEW (VoIP). No matter what the system, Inphonite is ever ready to bring you into the future of telephony and beyond.
By Rick Clayton, Inphonite, a leading Tucson, AZ Telephony Company
