VoIP

How Does a VoIP Work?

Gone are those days when you have to worry about keeping your phone timeless to watch your bill. With VoIP services or Voice over Internet Protocol, you only need an internet connection to make free phone calls. When you use the internet for calls, you’re actually bypassing the phone company, and therefore, the call charges completely.

As businesses who’ve been paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in phone bills every month, this VoIP is a great option to explore. Many small business owners are still confused and unclear about how an internet connection is sufficient to make calls.

So, in this blog, let’s take a deep dive into how VoIP works and how small business owners can benefit from it.

What is VoIP and How Does it Work?

In VoIP, the basic principle is the conversion of analog audio signals into digital data that are transmitted over the internet. Fundamentally, the digital data of the calls is considered similar to the message data or email transmission data over an IP network. 

With VoIP technology, you can make and receive calls from landlines, smartphones, and computers. 

As a small business, all you need is a high-speed WiFi connection available for high-quality VoIP calls.

How Can I Make VoIP Calls?

voip services

There are three main ways by which you can make VoIP calls depending on the device you’re using it.

  • Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA)

When you want to use VoIP with your landline, you need a special adapter to send data over the IP network. The ATA is actually an analog to digital converter. It converts the phone signals from your landline into digital signals that can be transmitted over the internet. You can just plug in the ATA to the router or the wall socket and start making calls. You’ll need to configure VoIP software on the computer to make use of this feature.

  • IP Phones

The IP phones are different from the normal phones we use. They have an ethernet connection that connects with the router and transmits the data. You can also make calls through WiFi phones by using a WiFi network. 

  • Computer to Computer Calls

Making VoIP calls on a computer is very simple. You can use any of the applications available to make free calls over the internet. Some applications even allow VoIP calls to landlines and phone numbers.

How to Activate VoIP Calls for Your Business?

From these three options of using VoIP calls, you can choose anyone that’s most suited for your business. 

  • First of all, you require a reliable, high-speed internet connection. 
  • Make sure to have high bandwidth and large data capacity to make uninterrupted calls.
  • If you want to connect your computer or landline, then you need to get a router.
  • After making the required connections, you can simply download the software, connect with the WiFi, and start making calls. 

If you’re unsure about how to set up VoIP in your office, you can reach out to any of the top VoIP service providers in the market. They’ll help you with equipment, set you the VoIP network, and guide you to start making and receiving VoIP calls. 

You can further reach out to an IT consulting firm to find out how you can integrate VoIP calls with your existing business operations. There are two main ways to enable VoIP for your business:

  • 1. Hosted VoIP Network

This hosted network for VoIP is perfect for businesses to simplify the management of VoIP and improve operational efficiency. This network consists of IP phones, desktops, network switches, and routers. 

The employees can call using the IP phones similar to how they normally would. The network switch establishes the path to the VoIP provider and connects with the particular number, be it landline or smartphone. This is best for companies who want to implement VoIP over the entire network. 

  • 2. SIP Trunking

If you’re already running a business with traditional landlines and have since then progressed into a hybrid phone system, then it can be hard to break out of it. 

In that case, you can use the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to accept VoIP calls and also manage the traditional analog calls. Such a connection is most useful for companies who want to mix analog phone systems with the new VoIP technology. 

How Is VoIP Beneficial for Businesses?

voip services

Many businesses have adopted VoIP technology due to the immense advantages it has in terms of cost, efficiency, and productivity. 

  • You can call anywhere in the US and Canada for an unlimited number of times and hours.
  • You can create automated professionals attendants to redirect your phone calls without any receptionists.
  • You’ll save money on the call charges and pay only a minimum amount for the internet connection.
  • With the IP phones, your employees can call from anywhere, anytime with no additional calls or procedures.
  • You can have a central communication system with VoIP that lets your team use calls, videos, and messages to collaborate from any location.
  • You can make clear phone calls with HD voice quality. 
  • You can also integrate VoIP software with your CRM for quick access to contact numbers and a one-click calling feature.

Switch to VoIP Now!

At LayerOne Networks, we’ve helped many businesses in Texas to move to VoIP technology and enjoy great scalability at reduced rates. As a part of our managed IT services for Corpus Christi companies, we customize our VoIP services to suit your business scale, budget, and location requirements. If you want to opt for high clarity voice calls that aren’t tied down by wires, then call us at 361.653.6800.

Cloud Services

What is Cloud Monitoring? Benefits and Best Practices

Are you using any cloud computing services for storage and processing?

Then you should definitely be aware of cloud monitoring solutions.

Cloud monitoring is the process of monitoring and managing cloud computing resources to ensure seamless operations. Usually, cloud monitoring requires automated and manual tools to review, analyze, and report the performance of various servers, applications, software, and sites present on the cloud. 

Conducting regular cloud monitoring sessions helps in maintaining the various cloud infrastructure in its best health and avoid unnecessary expenditure and security issues. 

In this blog, we’ll take a detailed look at what cloud monitoring could practically mean for businesses using cloud platforms.

Why Cloud Monitoring is Necessary?

Cloud Monitoring

Many IT consulting firms stress the importance of cloud monitoring solutions due to its long-term benefits. Some use cloud monitoring as a part of a bigger cloud management strategy to get a complete view of the operations and performance of the cloud. And some others use standalone cloud monitoring tools solely for performance and security. 

Whatever is the case, cloud monitoring is a prime necessity for organizations due to a number of reasons:

Proactive Approach

With automated cloud monitoring tools, you can find out the anomalies and emerging issues in the cloud before they become bigger. Often, these cloud monitoring tools have the ability to detect these issues before they become full-blown into a serious one. This way, you can considerably cut down a lot of money required to fix a major issue instead of resolving them when it’s smaller.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is one of the top priorities of any business having an IT infrastructure. With a considerable portion of your IT system on the cloud, it’s crucial to have a strong cybersecurity system in place. 

The cloud monitoring tools double as a cybersecurity tool to recognize the breaches in the networks. With monitoring tools, you can keep a constant eye on your cloud’s security and take immediate action when vulnerabilities are detected.

You can identify the breaches and cyber attacks in the network as soon as possible and take action before the damage is immense.


Read More: Top 8 Cybersecurity Trends to Watch Out for in 2023


Quick Problem Resolution

One great advantage of using cloud monitoring solutions is the ease of figuring out the root cause of an issue. 

You may have several cloud infrastructure present and it can be hard to find out the specific point from where the problem arises. And as time passes, most IT issues become bigger and bigger. 

Since the cloud monitoring tools have an integrated control panel, it’s easy for the IT maintenance and support team to take one look at the dashboard and quickly trace the origin of an issue. This could save so much time, energy, resources and money when the problems can be analyzed and traced in a very short time.

Host-Maintained Tools

Both the hardware and software of the cloud monitoring tools entirely rests with a separate host. Therefore, even when there are issues in your local IT infrastructure, the cloud monitoring system doesn’t get impacted. 

Furthermore, you can scale up your cloud monitoring needs when your organization grows. You need to spend additional resources to procure hardware and install the software. Like the cloud service providers, you can seamlessly increase your cloud monitoring tools and continue using the platform without any interruptions.

Best Practices of Cloud Monitoring

Cloud Monitoring

If you’re planning to implement cloud monitoring in your organization, you need to be aware of a few best practices for efficient implementation.

  • Be clear on what needs to be monitored – Often, companies make the mistake of monitoring everything and anything they can get their hands-on. This could only complicate matters and steal focus from the crucial metrics that need attention. So prioritize those metrics that should be regularly monitored on the cloud computing platform.
  • Monitor the user experience metricsYou need to be aware of how user-friendly the platform is. So, when you decide on the few metrics to monitor, make sure to include response time, performance metrics and ease of access.
  • Collect the data to a single platformSpreading your data into different platforms can be the worst mistake you can ever make. Bring all the data to a single platform for easy and quick observation of the metrics.
  • Separate the monitoring dataWhen you store your cloud monitoring data with your local system, you cannot access it when there’s a local issue. So, keep your monitoring data separate from the other systems for maximum efficiency. 
  • Automate the monitoringSince the data rests on the cloud, you can script the cloud monitoring tool to run automatically and send you notifications when there’s any issue or anomaly. 
  • Keep an eye on the cloud service use and fees – Since cloud monitoring tools are flexible and scalable, your costs can increase when the usage scales up. The monitoring tool should calculate the usage on the platform and its appropriate costs to keep informed.

Wrapping Up

Since the infrastructure of the cloud service providers is already known, it’s easy to install, implement and customize the cloud monitoring tools. By providing central access to monitor the operations, functionalities and performance of the cloud, you can avoid issues that would otherwise become a major thorn in your IT system. 

At LayerOne Networks, we offer cloud computing services along with data security and network support to keep your applications, software, servers and other infrastructure on the cloud up and running in its best state. Reach out to us to get a free quote of our cloud monitoring solutions.