Sep 21 2011
Self-Installed VOIP for Small Business
- Application Choice. Skype is the single most popular application for VOIP communications. Skype to Skype calls are completely free. The number of Skype users has exceeded the number of Facebook users for a long time. Skype was recently sold to Microsoft for a whopping 8.9 billion dollars. The advantage of Skype is that it users peer-to-peer communication technologies. This means as the number of users has increased, the quality of calls has also greatly increased. Skype should be your base-line standard for any VOIP application. There are a number of solutions available with Skype, depending on your business size. Without trying to push Skype too much, it has to be said it is the world’s most popular application. The application is free, calling costs are incredibly cheap, and purchasing a telephone number is instantaneous. If you are looking for the most secure applications, you want to go beyond Skype and look for a provider that has dedicated servers to manage and control calls and communications. Installation is easy and per normal, and setup the features of the application you wish. Even the most simple and free applications have voice mail.
- Internet Connection. If your small business is not using an internet plan that gives you a large amount of data transfer, you will probably want to increase it. While VOIP communications do not use as much bandwidth as many other activities on the internet, such as downloading news and video, it is better to have a plan that gives you the most amount of data at the cheapest price. In my experience, VOIP always works better with land-based internet or satellite connections compared with 3G wifi, although call quality is improving. You will need your computer on, and your internet connected at all times once you are using VOIP.
- Phone Number Considerations. One of the biggest advantages of having a VOIP phone number is you can choose the location of the number. Again, Skype makes this very easy. If you have a lot of customers in HK, for example, you can purchase your number in HK while you are in Australia. This means those people calling your VOIP number will only pay a local call when calling from HK. You can have multiple numbers on the same account and application.
It is easy enough to use VOIP communications on your standard laptop with microphone, video camera and speakers. You can choose to a headset or other tools. There are even inexpensive handset devices that are very similar to a standard telephone for as little as a few dollars if you want.
Related articles
- Demo: Start a VoIP business fast & on the cheap with VoipSwitch (venturebeat.com)
- Microsoft and Skype – What is the Connection? (famousbloggers.net)
from Stephan Miller

















