Other AlaData Services:

VoIP

Phone Systems

Detection Systems

Sound Systems

OnlyOne Number

Dial Tone Services

Conference Calling

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Telcom and Internet considerations when moving your offices

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Alabama Data, Inc.

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>> VoIP

 What is VoIP Service?

Actually, there are several different services that a provider may call "VoIP".  VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is simply using data lines that are similar to or the same as the Internet for voice services, such as your telephone service.

At AlaData Communications, we have named the three most common types of "VoIP",  Internet-based VoIP, Premise-based VoIP, & Hosted VoIP.  Many VoIP providers use the common internet for their "delivery vehicle of choice" of voice services.  We call this Internet-based VoIP.  It is cheap, but not very reliable.  They give you a box to put between your internet router and your telephone.  They cannot distinguish between a voice call or a data transmission.  Since your voice calls are not "prioritized", they are at the mercy of the congested internet.  This causes dropped calls, echos, "choppy" voice and sometimes, no dial tone at all.  This product works well in a residential application, but is not reliable enough for business use.

Another way is to use private "point-to-point" T1's between all of your offices and sell you VoIP Phones, such as Cisco, and connect all of your offices through this private collaboration of T1 lines.  Then, they can use a centralized phone service and "push" it to your other offices without the need for local phone lines at each location.  Every location would simply be an extension of the main office, just as the office down the hall is in your typical office phone system.  The quality of this "Premise-based VoIP" is high, but so is the cost.  Recent technology has lowered this cost and AlaData can assist you with this network configuration if this is the best solution for you.

The third way, which is becoming the most common for businesses because it provides all of the benefits of VoIP and a lower cost is the "Hosted VoIP" solution.  This is somewhat of a combination of the other two.  The Hosted VoIP provider connects your offices over data lines using either private IP lines or your existing Internet lines in some smaller cases.  The Hosted VoIP provider also "hosts" the telephone service and becomes your complete telephone company.  This Hosted VoIP balances the cost vs. quality aspects of using data lines for your voice service and is usually a great solution for many small to medium sized businesses.  

These are important differences that have different costs and degrees of reliability.

AlaData and Dial Tone Services will put you with the best provider for your situation and we can provide one part or all parts of your VoIP solution.  Please call one of our consultants for a free evaluation at 1-800-405-3110 or send an e-mail to:   Sales@AlaDataCo.com 

VoIP also provides many great features.  Some features, such as voicemail-to-email, are not available from a traditional phone company and many other features cost you extra with a traditional phone company.  These are all typically included (features such as call forwarding, CallerID, voicemail and others) with VoIP products.

>> Now that you know more about VoIP,

Your Next Move Should Be to Call
AlaData/Dial Tone Services at 800-405-3110.

If you're ready to get connected, give us a call. We'll make the process easy, affordable and hassle free. Just tell us your needs: voice lines, T1, DSL, point to point, long distance, VoIP, you name it, and we'll get it done. To order your service or talk to one of our agents, call 800 405-3110, or...