IP communications is the general term used to describe networks that use the IP protocol for voice and video traffic. Introduced in the late 90s, it has steadily replaced regular telephony services as the standard and principal means of communication. IP communications, over the years have vastly improved, with new technology being discovered almost at a daily basis, regular telephony services have gone from being the main choice for communications to being the fall back or backup on the off chance that the IP communications system in place fails or breaks down.
Today, vast majorities of businesses that deal with telecommunications, customer service, technical and helpdesk support rely heavily on IP communications to run daily operational functionality. Without IP communications, these types of businesses would be paying significantly more money for regular telephony services with fewer features and less reliability.
Here is a side by side comparison between IP communications and regular telephony services:
| IP Communications | Regular telephony services |
| IP communications systems are easily scalable and expandable without having to significantly increase resources. | Each dedicated telephone line that is added significantly increases expenditures. Additionally, the process of going through scaling or expanding a regular telephone system takes more time and is labour intensive. |
| Features such as call waiting, call recording, call forwarding, caller ID and many more are available to the client at no extra cost as they normally come free with an IP communications service. | Additional features cost additional payment. |
| Upgrading and updating an IP communications system takes very little time and more often than not only require bandwidth and software upgrades. | Any upgrades, updates or maintenance require laborious processes and manpower and takes sufficiently longer. |
| Long distance calls or calls to mobile are often included within the monthly IP communications service charge | Each time you make a long distance call or place a call to a mobile number you get charged per call – more so depending on the length of call |
| IP communications provide a robust interactive experience for customers, business partners and even within the company | Interactive features are still limited and often too costly to be implemented regularly. |
