Introduction to VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has become an essential communication tool for businesses of all sizes. VoIP allows making phone calls over the internet rather than traditional analog telephone lines. This enables businesses to benefit from advanced calling features, flexibility, and significant cost savings compared to legacy phone services. Verizon is one of the top business VoIP providers, offering feature-rich plans that can support the needs of any size business.
VoIP converts voice into digital packets that can be transmitted over IP data networks. A VoIP system includes gateways, switches, and other hardware to route calls. VoIP providers manage the infrastructure, enabling businesses to use their internet connection to make and receive calls via desktop and mobile apps.
VoIP services provide substantial advantages for business communications. Calls made over VoIP networks have excellent call quality, equivalent to or better than traditional phone lines. VoIP systems are highly scalable, allowing businesses to easily add new phone lines and features as they grow. VoIP also enables unified communications by integrating voice calls, video conferencing, instant messaging, and other collaboration tools.
Most significantly, VoIP delivers substantial cost savings compared to conventional phone services. VoIP providers charge flat monthly rates per user rather than per phone line. There are no charges for long distance calls, and international calls have very low rates. VoIP systems do not require expensive PBX hardware purchases and maintenance. The analytics and management tools provided with VoIP services give businesses insights to optimize their communication workflows.
With its reliability, scalability, features, and cost effectiveness, VoIP has become the preferred business phone system. Leading providers like Verizon offer packages with unlimited domestic calling, advanced features, and global coverage. Verizon VoIP plans provide the capabilities and value businesses need for a complete hosted phone service.
Verizon Business VoIP Offerings
Verizon offers several VoIP packages tailored to the needs of different size businesses. Verizon’s main VoIP solution for enterprises and medium businesses is Business Digital Voice.
Business Digital Voice provides a feature-rich digital phone service delivered over Verizon’s reliable IP network. It eliminates the need for on-premises PBX systems yet offers enterprise-grade capabilities that can be configured for organizations of any size.
Key attributes of Business Digital Voice include:
- Flexible calling plans – Options range from pay per use calling to unlimited domestic and international calling plans. Verizon offers bundled minutes for 45+ countries to meet global business needs.
- Business phone features – Includes voicemail, auto attendants, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, 3-way calling, and more. An online management portal allows easy configuration.
- Mobility features – Seamlessly extends business phone system to mobile devices. Apps enable calling, texting, conferencing, and desk phone control from smartphones and tablets.
- Premium support – Access to technical experts 24/7 to manage VoIP system and resolve issues.
- Reliable network – Business Digital Voice leverages Verizon’s secure IP network with 99.9% uptime and dedicated voice traffic prioritization.
- Number porting – Existing phone numbers can be ported over to Verizon to maintain consistency.
- Integrations – Works seamlessly with popular CRM and business apps like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Zendesk.
- Unified communications – Optional Integrated Communications Package bundles voice services with video meetings, screen sharing, business messaging, and file sharing capabilities.
Business Digital Voice is a highly flexible cloud business phone system suitable for any size of enterprise across all major industry verticals. It eliminates the cost and complexity of managing a premises-based PBX while delivering sophisticated VoIP features.
For small businesses, Verizon offers VoIP packages through its Small Business Digital Voice plan. It provides unlimited local and long distance calling nationwide plus basic phone system features like auto attendant, call forwarding, conferencing, voicemail, and ring groups. International calling options are available as add-ons if needed. Small Business Digital Voice integrates with mobile devices for call control anywhere and is easy to administer through a web portal.
Verizon also offers low-cost pay per use VoIP calling plans for freelancers, home offices, and very small teams through its Home Digital Voice solution. Users pay per minute for calls in the U.S. and internationally with no monthly fees or contracts. Home Digital Voice includes a phone adapter plus features like voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and conference calling.
From limited personal usage to large enterprise deployments, Verizon has a business VoIP solution tailored to meet any company’s needs and budget. All plans deliver the cost efficiency, mobility, features, reliability, and ease of management that VoIP telephony provides.
Key Features of Verizon Business VoIP
Verizon Business VoIP plans come packed with features that enable organizations to communicate, collaborate, and service customers seamlessly. Key capabilities include:
Call Forwarding
Verizon VoIP systems support intelligent call forwarding options to route calls to any device. Calls can be forwarded always, only when busy, or only when not answered allowing full flexibility. Users can forward calls to desk phones, mobile phones, auto attendants, voicemail, or ring groups. Call forwarding ensures no incoming calls are ever missed and are routed to the ideal destination.
Voicemail to Email
All Verizon VoIP plans include advanced voicemail capabilities. A major benefit is voicemail to email, which instantly transmits voicemail messages to a user’s email inbox as an audio file attachment. Users can then play back messages on any device rather than dialing in to a voicemail system. Transcribed voicemail is also available, converting speech to text for quick reading.
Auto Attendants
VoIP auto attendants provide customizable interactive voice response menus to callers. Auto attendants can provide directions, dial extensions, transfer to mailboxes, and route calls based on caller input. Multilevel attendants can serve enterprises with different departments and offices. Auto attendants enable handling high call volumes efficiently and offer an automated receptionist capability.
Unified Messaging
Unified messaging collects all messages – voicemail, emails, faxes – into a single inbox. Users can view, listen, and respond to all communications in one place, boosting productivity. Unread messages can be highlighted and synchronized across devices.
Call Analytics
Verizon’s VoIP management portal provides call analytics to monitor usage and performance. Businesses can analyze volumes, traffic patterns, wait times, abandoned calls, agent productivity, and other metrics. Insights can be used for improving customer service and return on investment. Records made searchable for compliance.
Mobile Apps & Softphones
Verizon VoIP integrates seamlessly with Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Apps enable easy calling, texting, number management, and system control. Softphone apps allow making VoIP calls directly from laptops for flexibility when traveling or remote working.
Number Porting
Verizon makes it easy to transfer existing phone numbers when switching to VoIP. This maintains consistency for customers and avoids having to change stationery, websites, advertising and other materials with phone numbers. The number porting process is handled smoothly by Verizon when signing up for VoIP services.
Integrations
In addition to mobile apps, Verizon VoIP integrates with leading business applications. Key integrations include email, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), billing, help desk, and other popular productivity tools. APIs allow custom application integration as well. This boosts feature capabilities and streamlines workflows.
Security
Verizon leverages its extensive expertise in network security and operations to deliver highly secure, reliable VoIP services. Data is encrypted, and voice traffic is isolated on the network. Systems are monitored 24/7 to prevent cyber threats. Reliability exceeds 99.9%, even on public internet connections.
This robust set of features enables using VoIP as a complete Unified Communications solution to enhance productivity and customer service. Verizon’s management tools make it easy to configure features for a specific business’s needs and workflows.
VoIP Implementation and Network Requirements
Implementing a Verizon VoIP phone system is straightforward. The service is provisioned in the cloud, eliminating complex PBX setup and maintenance. However, businesses must ensure their network infrastructure meets the requirements to support high-quality VoIP services.
Key network considerations for a Verizon VoIP implementation include:
Broadband Connection
A high-speed, low-latency broadband internet connection is required to ensure VoIP call quality. Verizon recommends a dedicated, symmetrical connection if possible, as VoIP requires equivalent upstream and downstream bandwidth. Common options include:
- Fiber Optic – Preferred option with speeds up to 1 Gbps symmetrical. Highest reliability and call quality.
- Cable – Offers speeds up to 300 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up. Reliability varies by provider.
- DSL – Asymmetric connection with max speeds around 100 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. Lower reliability impacts call quality.
- Wireless – Can offer up to 1 Gbps speeds but reliability depends on signal strength. Use as backup only.
Verizon recommends a minimum of 100 kbps of bandwidth per active VoIP call. For 20 concurrent calls, a 2 Mbps or higher symmetrical connection is optimal. Fiber is best for larger organizations.