What is an IP Phone system and how does it work? An Extensive Review

Are you ready to level up your business communication and operationalize your business in a better way?

Reliability and cost-effectiveness in phone systems are key to competitiveness. One of the solutions that is really transforming business communications is an IP phone system.

Although the major role of an IP phone system is to enable making calls over the internet to lower costs, it also improves flexibility, scalability, and quality of calls.

In this blog, we will go into detail regarding what an IP phone system is and how it works. We will also look at the different types of IP phone systems, their benefits, and why they are rapidly becoming a first choice for businesses today.

Want to know how this technology can help in developing your communication and boosting productivity? Well, let’s begin!👍

What is an IP Phone System?

An IP phone system is also called a VoIP phone system or an IP PBX. It is a business phone system that operates on VoIP.

It enables subscribers to receive incoming telephone calls and initiate outgoing telephone calls with an internet connection. This is a popular alternative to the landline phone systems that usually dominate business communications.

Traditional phone systems operate on the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN). This is by means of copper phone lines, which will carry your voice onto the analog signals.

Such systems require on-premise hardware, such as desk phones, and a special office for the private branch exchange (PBX). They are also often referred to as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).

By contrast, traditional phone systems cannot offer the same level of flexibility and efficiency that an IP telephony system does. This sets up IP phone systems as the preferred choices businesses are making for voice-based communications.

How Does an IP Phone System Work?

All incoming calls are routed to the virtual server maintained by your provider. Your VoIP provider converts the call into an audio file and forwards the data to an IP phone.

Afterward, contact between the caller and you occurs as normal. Instead of the cell tower, the transmission is on the internet.

Here is the step-by-step breakdown of an IP phone system:

1. Virtual PBX

The Virtual PBX server, also known as a cloud PBX, documents incoming calls as audio files and handles telephone calls. To make and receive calls via the Internet, you’ll require a web server hosted in the cloud.

2. Voice Gatekeeper

A traditional workplace phone system makes use of a PSTN to make telephone calls using mobile cellular. However, your brand-new IP phone system utilizes voice gatekeepers to manage accessibility to your system.

3. Gateways

Your phone connections are managed by this component. One permits you to call a non-VoIP number using an IP phone.

Portals have the capability to run making use of least-call transmitting rules, which allow them to automatically figure out the fastest to connect your outbound telephone calls whether VoIP or landline to the number you’re dialing.

4. IP desk Phone

You can make an IP phone out of the equipment you currently possess by utilizing an analog telephone adapter (ATA).

These connect to the internet and plug into your traditional desk phone. They discover the IP address for your calling number and turn your voice right into an audio file.

This suggests that VoIP calls can be put on non-internet-connected equipment.

What are the Different Types of IP Phone Systems?

Depending upon the demands of your business, there are various types of IP phone systems available, each with special advantages. Choosing the best system for your business requires an understanding of these options:

1. On-Premise IP PBX System

An on-premise IP PBX system is generally a phone that has actually been installed and is focused on the premises where your service runs from. This is typically done to link all your inner phones to take care of VoIP calls, both inside and externally.

The good thing with this configuration is the reality that you have complete control over your phone system for security and flexibility to certain requirements of your business.

This setup requires a preliminary financial investment in hardware and ongoing maintenance by your IT personnel. It is suitable for big businesses that need or intend to have full control over their phone infrastructure.

2. Hosted IP Phone System

A hosted IP phone system and managed by a third party is a cloud-based solution. Instead of doing on-site system maintenance, your provider hosts all for equipment, software, and infrastructure in the cloud.

This reduce the tons of your IT division by removing the requirement for setup, maintenance, and upgrades. Due to their high scalability, hosted systems are an outstanding selection for increasing business.

They’re additionally valued because there are normally no large upfront costs involved—you simply pay a subscription cost that is figured out by the number of users.

3. Virtual Phone System

A mobile or remote workforce business is the target audience for virtual phone systems. No matter where they are, staff members can use their laptops, home computers, or mobile devices to attach to the business’s phone system. 

Virtual phone systems, which do not require hardware to be installed on-site, are excellent for businesses because they lower expenses, retain adaptability, and enable remote work.

4. Hybrid IP Phone System

VoIP and standard phone lines are incorporated to create a hybrid IP phone system. Businesses that are in the process of changing from an analog phone system to a completely IP-based phone system will certainly find this system perfect.

It allows you to gradually incorporate VoIP while keeping your existing phone facilities in place. This guarantees business connection and provides flexibility throughout the transitional period.

Businesses in places where net connectivity can periodically be erratic or those who are not yet all set for totally cloud-based solutions regularly choose hybrid systems.

What are the Benefits of IP Phone Systems?

Consider replacing that telephone system with an Internet-based IP phone system. Well, Here are six reasons why your company may substantially benefit from making the change:

1. Cost-Effective Setup and Maintenance

Any business’s budget is always its first priority, but small and medium-sized businesses are especially so.

An IP phone system excels in this situation because you don’t want to spend too much money just to keep up with basic communication.

An IP phone system is more economical than traditional landlines in various ways. First, you won’t require brand-new, expensive hardware to start.

Everything will function as it should, including computers, smartphones, and IP desk phones, as well as your current internet connection. 

Second, an in-house IT team is not necessary to manage the system. It’s as easy as keeping up with a software program, which your VoIP service provider will frequently take care of for you.

2. Greater Reliability

If you work with a wired phone system, you have probably faced bad call quality, lost connections, and broken hardware. All these problems can delay your process and frustrate your team.

With an IP phone system, all these issues virtually disappear. You only require a proper, reliable internet connection. An IP phone is also less vulnerable to interference with outside factors, such as bad weather or hardware failure.

It would be pretty easy to divert the calls to some other line or even to voicemail when the power in your office is lost or your internet service goes down.

3. Ideal for Remote Work

Businesses need communication solutions that will support their distributed teams as working from home becomes more common. For this, an IP phone system is more perfect.

Because it runs over the internet, employees can make and take business calls from any location, whether that’s a home office, travelling, or at the coffee shop.

They still use the same business phone number, and they can use call forwarding, video conferencing, and voicemail.

It ensures mobility that keeps your team members always connected and hence allows for smooth collaboration and undisrupted customer service.

An IP phone system has the potential to revolutionize operations for a company with a large number of remote employees.

4. Effortless Scalability

With a traditional phone system, expensive hardware, installing new lines, and hiring a technician to handle the setup.

Scaling an IP phone system is literally as easy as adding a new user to the network. Set up a new line and notify your VoIP provider, and that employee can take calls.

This feature is very helpful in many sectors, especially for call centers or customer support, where new agents are added on a regular basis.

By using an IP phone system, you will be assured that your team is able to communicate without necessarily having to invest in expensive upgrades that can be complex.

5. Improved Customer Experience

You may be frustrating your customers if your business still operates off a landline phone system. Customers could be experience with wait times, missed calls, and voicemail-only options.

The IP phone system solves these problems. Several calls at once can be received, without requiring different phone numbers for every caller.

Their experiences can be improved and frustration levels low by putting the calls on hold and connecting the callers to the next available agent.

Moreover, VoIP calls are normally free or much cheaper, especially in the case of international calls. This benefits both your customers and your business. There will be no charges due to long-distance calls if they are contacting you through IP telephony services like Zoom or Skype.

6. Advanced Communication Features

The key benefits of IP phone systems largely come down to the varied set of features available with them, as compared to traditional phone systems.

Advanced features such as voicemail-to-email and video conferencing, down to call forwarding and auto-attendants, make them highly more functional for managing your internal and external communications.

The value addition of such advanced solutions lies in the fact that these solutions offer more flexibility in managing employee collaboration, internal meetings, and customer inquiries.

Essential IP Phone Features for Efficient Business Operations

Numerous features provided by an IP phone system greatly improve business communication. To enhance customer service and smoothen the workflow these tools are designed. So, let’s look at a few key components in more detail and see how your company can profit from them:

1. Auto Attendant

This feature works like an Auto Attendant for every hour and minute of the year-a virtual receptionist. This feature answers the calls automatically to guide the caller through a menu in order for one to select the proper department or extension.

Customers will no longer be made to wait as a live receptionist directs them to the proper team on their behalf, therefore speeding up the process and making the customer experience so much better. 

The Auto Attendant can handle businesses receiving several inquiries simultaneously by reducing the wait time and increasing the efficiency of operation.

2. Call Forwarding

You will never have to think about a missed important call because of call forwarding. Due to this capability, an incoming call from any office line can be easily forwarded to any other device, such as a mobile phone or home office line. This will be quite helpful for employees when they work from home or have to spend a significant amount of time on the road.

The system automatically forwards the calls to any other number of your choice. This ensures continuity of access and undisrupted communication. You can even configure the service to forward the calls only at a certain period, adding further flexibility to your call management.

3. Voicemail-to-Email

One of the features of an IP phone system is Voicemail-to-Email. This takes voicemails and does speech-to-text, sending them directly to your email inbox so you will not have to dial into your voicemail system and listen to messages.

This feature will save you time because you can immediately scan through your emails and find out which one needs to be answered immediately.

It’s easier to manage and keep track because the voicemail messages are stored alongside other communications, making it easier to track these.

4. Conference Calling

Conference Calling is important for those businesses that have to communicate with multiple team members or clients all at once.

Such a conference call setup is integrated directly into the platform with an IP phone system, instead of additional equipment or added service as often holds true with traditional phone systems.

This will easily allow for better communication and collaboration while making audio or video conference calls with people at different locations. This will be useful in cases where a business operates more than one office or employs a remote team.

5. Call Analytics

Call Analytics is a tool for businesses to support a data-based decision-making process. This service provides insights into call activity, including customer satisfaction metrics, time duration, and missed calls.

With Call Analytics, you can track your team’s performance trends and optimize your call-handling processes. For example, you can unlock customer satisfaction to improve your service or the hours at which peak calls in so that you have enough staff.

How Much Do IP Phone Systems Cost?

When considering the cost of an IP phone system for your business, it’s important to select a plan that matches your communication needs.

Here at Dialaxy, we provide packages depending on your company’s size and needs so you choose what is most convenient for you. Here’s a breakdown of IP phone system cost:

1. Basic IP Phone System

The Basic plan charges $18 per month per user. It ensures that you can meet all your basic communication needs, including free number porting, a local or toll-free number, and unlimited domestic calling.

The basic plans have business features that really matter, such as call forwarding and auto-attendant, even to music on hold to keep your customers entertained while they are on hold.

The service also includes virtual faxing, by which you can send and receive faxes through your email without any traditional fax machine.

2. Professional IP Phone System

The Professional plan costs $30 per month per user. It includes all the features of the basic plan but is targeted toward teams that collaborate often, which also includes unlimited conference calls and text messaging.

Other advantages of the Professional plan with Dialaxy include enabling staff members to manage communications and respond to calls from any device while on-site.

The Professional greeting feature further includes customization so that your company may even sound more professional.

3. Enterprise IP Phone System

The enterprise IP phone system is best for larger businesses. The price is customized to the size of your business, but it carries all professional plan features, added with voicemail-to-text, call recording, and deep call analytics.

This will be a great option for big teams or call centers, as this setup supports advanced call routing options and multi-level auto-attendants that help manage high call volumes. Through Dialaxy, this set of features ensures seamless communication across your business.

Why is Dialaxy the Best Choice for IP Phone Systems?

Dialaxy is one of the best options for an IP phone system because of its extensive reach across more than 100 countries, and it has more than 100 features such as phone system features, call features, message features, etc.

The cloud-based system of Dialaxy ensures smooth communication for both small and large teams. 

Dialaxy offers low-cost advanced facilities such as voicemail to email, call analytics, and auto-attendant. Your business stays connected with reliable uptime and consistent call quality, plus you will get 24/7 customer support.

Final Words

It is very important to have an efficient and flexible communication system. One such advanced solution, the IP phone system, itself evolves with the changing demands of businesses by offering more mobile access, better scalability, and more cost savings. 

FAQs

1. How do I set up an IP phone system?

An IP phone requires a VoIP service provider, a proper network, and software that are necessary to establish a communication medium. Most of the providers with support and guided set-ups.

2. What do I need to use an IP phone?

First, you need an internet connection, a VoIP-compatible phone, and a VoIP service provider to use an IP phone.

3. How does an IP phone connect?

From the internet, IP phones connect, either by Wi-Fi Ethernet cables, and use VoIP to transmit calls.

4. What type of phone do I need for VoIP?

VoIP can be accessed using Mobile Applications, IP Desk Phones, and Soft Phones.

5. Can a VoIP phone be used as a regular phone?

VoIP phone is used in a similar as an ordinary telephone except that it operates over the internet. Unlike most mobile phones, you are able to make and receive call just like a standard telephone.

6. Do I need a landline if I have VoIP?

No, For this landline is not required. VoIP calls do not require traditional phone lines because they are transmitted over the internet.