How VoIP works
When you make a phone call through VoIP, the audio is sent over the internet as small data packets. Using real-time transport protocol, these data packets are routed through your VoIP service provider and delivered to the call recipient in less than a second.
Because you are now leveraging the power of the internet, VoIP also comes with advanced features like call recording, voicemail, and call routing. This allows you to have full control over your telecommunications. It also makes your team function more efficiently with fewer communication mishaps.
Let’s take a more detailed look at how VoIP works:
- Your phone/computer/device connects to your mobile data, switch, or router in your Local Area Network (LAN)
- When you dial a telephone number or click/tap a contact, you’re telling your VoIP provider to route the call
- The VoIP service provider establishes the call and compresses audio into data packets
- The data packets are converted back into sound that both parties can hear.
With VoIP, you can make a call from a device as long as it has:
- Internet connectivity
- A speaker
- A microphone
It really is as simple as that. When you use a traditional phone system, it requires you to have a physical desk phone that is connected to the PSTN. However, when you switch to VoIP, you can make calls from your:
- IP phone
- Traditional desk phone
- Computer
- Mobile device (including a tablet, cell phone, or similar device)