VOIP - Memo

Date : November xx , 2007

To

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From

Subject : VOIP - Voice over Internet Protocol

This memo will aim to explain the benefits and costs of the company 's implementation of VOIP - Voice over Internet Protocol - communications We hope that employees reading this memo will gain an understanding of what VOIP is and how it benefits our company as well as the benefits each employee will get from VOIP

Plain old telephone systems (POTS ) use a network of switches , cables and interconnections between networks to transmit signals between the two

callers . In VOIP , instead of sending the voice through a POTS network we will be sending the voice through the Internet . The voice data will be digitized and will travel through the web much like an email or webpage

The primary benefit of switching to VOIP from POTS is the lowered costs There are no long distance charges on the Internet - downloading a webpage from Switzerland costs the same as downloading a webpage from the adjacent county . On average , VOIP will lower the company 's communication costs by 30 -90 . Telephony features like caller ID , call forwarding and others that the company pays for in the old POTS system are also offered for free by VOIP providers

Another way that the company gets to lower costs is by being able to pick our own area code . Because we are not using a rigid POTS infrastructure , we can choose the area code that we will be located Thus we may choose to have some phones belong to the same area code as some of our most frequent contacts like satellite offices or major clients . Doing so would completely eliminate a significant portion of our long distance charges

Another benefit for VOIP is the increased mobility it gives our organization . Because VOIP uses the Internet , an employee may have access to his VOIP service anywhere in the world that has Internet access . Employees who have to travel overseas may be contacted using their home numbers . This reduces our downtime and improves the organization 's accessibility

VOIP will also allow us to change our communications paradigm . VOIP allows us to have much more communications avenues compared to the traditional POTS system . The use of the Internet allows VOIP to carry more data than mere voice . This means we can implement video calling or video conferencing systems with ease . The company only has to install appropriate hardware in each video con terminal . The limitations of the POTS infrastructure will not have allowed us to do this

Costs for implementing VOIP will be the installation of new hardware such as digital cabling and VOIP phones . The company will also have to improve its existing IT infrastructure . Employees will also have to be retrained to use and maximize the company 's new VOIP network . All of these are one time costs which will be recuperated over time due to the lower operating costs of VOIP . Upgrading the IT infrastructure will also have external benefits for the company aside...