Types of VoIP?

As a potential user of VoIP, you have two choices. You can purchase a system and have it installed in your office; or your can rent the service and facilities from an organisation that has the ability to support, implement and maintain the system on your behalf. A hosted alternative helps you reduce the internal overhead of support, implementation and potentially having to purchase new equipment.

Hosted VoIP is particular useful for smaller companies who do not have technical expertise to support a VoIP system.

Large scale enterprises tend to have the necessary technical facilities on site as they have the capability to support and maintain their systems, plus they often prefer to retain the element of control that a hosted system does not provide.

Terminals
There are only two types of VoIP terminals available, a Hardphone or a Softphone. A Hardphone looks what it sounds like and that’s like a normal telephone, mobile phone or keyphone and these generally connect, via cables or wirelessly. A Softphone on the other hand [no pun] is actually software that is loaded onto your computer, to which you attach speakers and a microphone.