What is VoIP (Voice Over IP)?

Voice Over IP (VoIP) has been around since the mid ‘90s. Over the past 15 years, some of the leading telephony companies have worked on improving the technology, adding increased call quality and improved features. Despite the fact that VoIP is used in almost 10% of U.S. households and countless businesses, many people are still unaware of VoIP’s many offerings.

Chicago Business VoIP is one of the area’s best VoIP providers. Our award winning VoIP service has been hailed by many experts in the telecommunications industry. Small businesses in Illinois are quickly learning to associate Chicago Business VoIP with unbeatable call quality and customer service. But before you compare our product to those offered by other Chicagoland phone companies, it is important that you understand exactly what separates VoIP from your average phone service.

What’s so Different About VoIP?

On a superficial level, VoIP is no different than the telephone we see in our kitchens, bedrooms and offices every day. You will often be provided with a hard phone that can be used to call landlines and cell phones at both local and long distance locations. The differences that you can’t see are what makes VoIP special.

Regular telephones require you to have a line installed specifically for their use. A single line of service is often overly expensive and prone to outages if a nearby phone line is damaged. If you run a business (even a small business), these issues are greatly multiplied by the number of employees you have that need their own phone line.

An affordable VoIP service is a great alternative to an analog phone line. VoIP uses your existing Internet connection to make and receive telephone calls without interrupting your computer’s internet connection. This system has many benefits, including lower setup and maintenance fees, improved reliability and a wide variety of software driven VoIP call features that would cost hundreds of dollars more through your existing telephone company.

Most VoIP companies offer you unlimited local and long distance calling and faxing for a flat, monthly rate. Most of the infrastructure for these services has already been laid out, meaning that providers have fewer costs to pass down to their clients. All that is needed is your modem, router and Internet connection. Most providers host the system’s necessary exchange hardware on their premises.

This overview should give you some sense of what VoIP is and why it is becoming so popular in homes and businesses around the world. For more specific information about the technology, please visit our VoIP resources page.