VoIP telephone solutions are quite common in the enterprise world. Many people are familiar with these systems. With technology all set to supersede landline telephones, fax machines, and other devices that connect to the public telephone system over the next decade, phone carriers have already announced sunset dates for the older network in certain areas. It’s safe to say that VoIP is the standard for the future. But there are still a few things about VoIP that are not common knowledge. Read on for a few interesting facts about VoIP.

The first VoIP call was made in 1974

It took a while to get there… When do you think VoIP technology first arrived on the scene? VoIP started making headlines relatively recently. So many people think it is quite new when in fact, it’s been around for a while.

In 1974, the first-ever version of VoIP was launched using the US military research network ARPANET. That version transmitted voice data using packets, just like modern VoIP. It means VoIP is several decades older than what most people assume.

There are several reasons why it took so long for VoIP to gain traction. For one thing, high-speed internet connections were not common back then. The earliest VoIP calls were riddled with bad audio quality, dropped connections, and other issues.

Another reason is that long-distance calling was not essential to businesses up to 50 years ago. Today, even a small business might work with partners and customers in several countries. The demand for inexpensive international calls was one reason for the fast adoption of VoIP.

VoIP calls used to have adverts

Just imagine! Advertisements before the calls connected. That’s how users paid for VoIP calls back then. Fortunately for us, times have changed, and that business model fell by the wayside as VoIP became popular and available to more people.

As high-speed connections started appearing on the scene, most VoIP calls became very inexpensive or free. That, in turn, meant advertising was no longer needed to monetise VoIP calls.

Advertisements on VoIP calls are a bad idea for several reasons:

One is that they are very intrusive, especially when people expect privacy around phone calls.

They also increase the size of the data packets. It means you need additional bandwidth to transmit calls. Why waste data on unnecessary overhead?

Have you heard? ‘A phone is not a necessity’

If you have not used a VoIP phone service, you may not realize that you don’t need a phone to make calls. VoIP technology doesn’t depend on any particular device. You can make and receive calls with computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

Then why do we have so many VoIP desk phones? There are hundreds of models on the market. The reason is simple. Different types of hardware cater to the diverse needs of consumers and businesses.

For example, an individual using VoIP at home may just use their smartphone for the job. They don’t want or need more features. But a contractor or freelancer working from home might appreciate the ability to switch between callers, putting clients on hold, playing hold music, etc. Some of these features are simply easier to use with a desk phone that has buttons.

At the other end of the scale, there are conference audio systems that are meant for meetings and training sessions. They have multiple high-quality microphones and speakers that allow large groups of people to communicate. CEOs and other executives may need bigger screens and better audio when interacting with important clients.

While a phone – expensive or otherwise – isn’t necessary for VoIP, they do serve an important purpose in many circumstances.

VoIP contributed to the increase in overseas call centres

As VoIP systems became popular, they contributed to the rise of outsourcing. This happened mostly in the 1990s.

How are the two phenomena related? Outsourcing was possible largely because of two reasons:

  • VoIP
  • Low labour costs

VoIP made it possible for contact centres to move overseas. These calls are less expensive than traditional long-distance calls. VoIP was also more efficient at transmitting calls than analog. Businesses could buy local numbers in certain markets and customers would never know their office wasn’t in South Africa at all!

Businesses found that they could lower the cost of supporting customers by moving their call centres to other countries. Since labour and VoIP calls were cheap, it made sense from a financial perspective.

A VoIP phone service saves up to 90% of the costs of international calls

According to recent research, a VoIP phone system can save users 90% of the costs of international calls. That number falls to 40% for local calls but who wants to pay more for any service if they don’t have to?

VoIP can save you money in several ways and not just due to free/cheap calls. Businesses don’t need special equipment to make VoIP calls. They don’t have to purchase software licenses or run their own servers. Thanks to hosted VoIP services delivered online, clients don’t have to own, repair, and maintain their own equipment. You can get started with a business-class VoIP service in less than a day (at most!).

Another reason is that VoIP is flexible and scalable. A business can start small with just a few numbers and lines. You only pay for what you use. Then you can add more resources when you need them. Do you have seasonal demand? Add extra lines just for those few weeks or months. Expanding to new markets? Add resources and hit the ground running with a local number (even if you don’t have an office yet).

VoIP makes it possible for businesses to change, grow, and adapt to different situations, you’re no longer restricted by the availability of resources, financial or otherwise.

Most people can’t tell it’s VoIP

In the initial stages of VoIP, it was very easy to tell the difference from analog calls. Compared to landlines, VoIP calls were characterized by poor quality audio, choppy conversations, dropped calls and don’t forget, missing words. It wasn’t a good experience at all. Understandably businesses hesitated to adopt VoIP at all, let alone rely on it.

We have come a long way since those early days. VoIP technology improved and vendors found innovative solutions to long-standing problems. Today, you can hardly tell the difference between a landline and VoIP call. Very few people can detect if they’re talking using VoIP or if the person at the end of the line is using a landline. There is simply no way to easily distinguish between VoIP and other calls in most cases.

Most consumers don’t know that VoIP powers many popular services. Did you know Skype, Zoom and Teams is a form of VoIP? The service uses proprietary protocols to deploy their platform, but it is VoIP technology. You can also make VoIP calls from most smartphones. You may not even need a separate app for it. Most phone operators have switched to VoIP for their network infrastructure, even if their customers don’t know it.

VoIP is everywhere and you can’t always tell if it is!

If you haven’t made the move to VoIP yet, what are you waiting for?