Corporate VoIP services save on costs
As you must know by now, the data that travels all across the Internet is split into packets. Each of these packets has its own header that tells computers where it is supposed to be sent, how the packets should be ordered upon arrival, etc. Sending these packets of data actually costs us almost nothing -- and is why spam has become a huge problem for Internet users.
Three other things have also developed that let us talk with other Internet users over this packet-exchanging network.
First, long before the Internet era began, people were already able to convert voice successfully into digital data.
Second, people invented compression techniques that significantly reduced the bulk of data that was transmitted and converted again to reproduce audio, without losing much of its clarity.
Third, the Internet infrastructure has improved vastly, and the bandwidth -- or capacity to carry data -- has increased tremendously.
These three developments, combined with other new technologies as well as continuous improvements, are the basis of what we know as Voice-over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. Granted, if everybody could use VoIP, phone companies all over the world would have to close down.
Fortunately, this is not the case. Although new technologies may offer significant savings, the fact is, we still want the telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
In case you want some proof of our attachment to the telephone, just take a look at the short message service (SMS). Although it is much cheaper to send text messages, and a lot of people now have very agile thumbs that can enter text without even looking at the keypads, we still talk on the phone as much as we did before the SMS became available.
However, large corporations may need VoIP because they need to control their communication costs. They may have operations in different parts of the globe, and unless they do something to manage their costs, they will incur astronomical losses -- which may lead to lay offs. Luckily, telecommunications authorities have realized this, and so have come up with favorable policies that allow major telecom operators to offer VoIP services to corporate customers.
For example, Excelcom, one of Indonesia's private telecom operators, has bundled the service with its corporate XLnet service. Excelcom has an added advantage, as it owns and operates its own backbone infrastructure -- it thus has the capability to offer competitive international and long-distance rates. In comparison, other operators may have to lease lines from third- party infrastructure providers for their VoIP service.
Furthermore, to ensure that all users at the corporate customer's premises can take advantage of this service, Excelcom connects the lines directly to the customer's Private Branch Exchange, or PBX.
Currently, Excelcom offers a free one-week trial period to corporate XLnet customers to test the VoIP service and see whether it delivers the savings and quality service that Excelcom promises.
As the VoIP slowly emerges onto the telecom landscape, it may be perceived as a threat by existing telephone operators. However, with creativity and long-term vision, they should realize that there is no reason for their profitability to dwindle.
After all, how could we ever dream of abandoning our trusty little mobile phones -- or any telephone, for that matter? -- Zatni Arbi