This is part 1 of a 2 part blog. You can read part 2 here.
IP phones are becoming increasingly common these days.
Not only are they popular for residential use, but they’re showing up more and more at businesses as well. VoIP services offer a lot of options that businesses can use, allowing business owners to take advantage of more features for less money. Of course, if you really want to get the most out of your VoIP service then you’ll want to pair it with an IP phone.
What’s an IP Phone?
Glad you asked! An IP phone is a phone specially designed for use with VoIP services.
If you want to get an IP phone for your business, it’s important that you take the time to learn about how these phones work and what features they offer. This will help you choose the IP phone that’s best for you, your business and the VoIP service you use.
How IP Phones Work
IP Phones are similar to standard telephones, though they are designed to work specifically with VoIP services instead of traditional landlines.
The phone plugs in to an Ethernet port to access your network, and software installed on the phone connects it to your VoIP phone service. You then use the phone as you would any standard telephone.
If you’re used to using a smartphone, IP phone apps also exist. This allows you to connect to your VoIP service and place calls over WiFi or through your mobile Internet service using that account instead of dialing directly from your phone. If you are a business customer, this allows you access your business phone from anywhere you can connect and take advantage of any features that your VoIP account has.
Types of IP Phones
As mentioned, IP phones come in a variety of styles.
Most look like traditional landline phones, and come in both corded and cordless varieties. There are several models of IP phone that are business-focused, including menu screens for navigating features and all of the features you’d expect on a standard business phone. Most are even Bluetooth-compatible so you can connect your preferred device to your phone for easy conversations. They are great for law firms, such as criminal lawyers, divorce lawyers, who are always on the go.
There are other IP phone options available as well. In addition to the aforementioned smartphone apps and similar apps that let you use your VoIP service through your computer, you can also get conference phones that let you join conference calls using VoIP. There are even adapters available that let you connect standard landline phones to a VoIP network, with a single adapter letting you connect two different phones.
Handset Expansions
Depending on your business, you might benefit from being able to connect multiple handsets to a single phone line.
You’ve likely done this with your old phones, and you can do it with IP phones as well. They look and function just like any other wireless phone, and you can connect them to the appropriate base receivers just as easily as you would if you were still on landline. The number of additional handsets you can connect depends on the specific base model you’re using.
In addition to adding additional handsets, you can also expand some IP phone models with consoles that simplify a number of business features. The screens on these consoles give you easy access to your address book, making dialing and transferring calls easy. Depending on your needs you can even attack multiple consoles to a single phone to expand your options even further. As with the handsets, the number of consoles you can add depends on the base phone that you start with.
IP Phones and Your Business
If you’re considering a new phone service for your business, you should put serious thought into a VoIP service like Phone.com.
If you’re worried about how that would affect the phones your business has to use, you’re likely pleased to learn that there are so many options available. Take some time and explore our IP phone options and see which ones best fit your needs, and remember that you can always bring your old phones over to our service with an adapter if you don’t find a phone that’s right for your business.
