Voice over IP (VOIP): Telephony in the digital age

The way companies communicate is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation. VOIP, or Voice over IP, has become an essential standard in the German telephone network, which Deutsche Telekom switched to several years ago. But what makes VOIP so special? What are the advantages of VOIP for companies? And what VOIP solutions does Deutsche Telekom offer? You can find out all this in this article.

Voice over IP (VOIP) is a technology that transmits voice communication over the Internet. Instead of traditional telephone lines, digital voice data is divided into small packets and sent via the Internet Protocol (IP). This makes it possible to make and receive calls over the Internet. Telephony has thus become detached from traditional end devices such as desk phones and is now available wherever an Internet-enabled device is available. What makes it special is that VOIP allows telephony to be seamlessly integrated into corresponding software and services – for example, in collaboration applications such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Swyx, TelekomNFON or PhoneZoom.

For companies that already use Microsoft Teams, Telekom offers an innovative telephony extension: Microsoft Teams Telephony, also known as Microsoft Teams X | powered by Telekom. By integrating VOIP into Microsoft Teams, you can make and receive calls directly from the application, making communication within your company seamless and efficient. Your employees can always be reached at one number, regardless of their location or device. And your IT department will be delighted with the reduced administrative workload.

In our Magenta Business Collaboration portfolio, you will find additional VOIP solutions that will take your business to the next level of digitalisation.

Integrating Voice over IP telephony into your company offers a number of advantages:

Cost savings: The native features of our collaboration solutions, such as Phone for Microsoft Teams, allow you to replace your existing PBX system. The end devices that are no longer needed and significantly reduced operating costs also lower your expenses.

Flexibility: The flexibility that VOIP telephony offers your company goes far beyond conventional telephone accessibility. With VoIP, your employees can make calls from virtually anywhere, whether from their desk at home, in a café or while on a business trip, without being tied to a desk phone. This location flexibility enables seamless integration into everyday mobile working life. VoIP also offers the option of choosing the means of communication that best suits your needs, whether it's a desk phone, smartphone, PC or tablet. The ease of managing user accounts and telephone numbers – adding or removing users and numbers is child's play – also contributes to a high degree of flexibility.

Advanced features: VOIP can cover a wide range of PBX features that help you increase the efficiency of your communications. Phone for Microsoft Teams goes one step further and offers the following impressive features:

• Automatic telephone exchanges with self-defined menu options, through which the caller is quickly transferred to a person or department
• Intelligent call control with waiting areas for callers, including notification of the estimated waiting time – and all in different languages if desired
• Easy administration via the Microsoft 365 admin portal, including professional reporting features on active users, sessions, client devices, and other activities

Scalability: VOIP systems are software-based or usually available as a cloud service and can therefore be easily scaled to meet the growing demands of your business. You can easily add new users or expand functions as your business grows.

Tip 1: Ensure you have a sufficient internet connection

Ensure that your bandwidth is sufficient to guarantee smooth VOIP communication. To be on the safe side, we recommend our fail-safe Internet tariff Business DSL. This ensures that you remain online and accessible even if your landline data connection fails.

Tip 2: Raise awareness among your employees

Telephony is an integral part of a PC workstation. The more employees use the new telephony solution – and are familiar with all the relevant functions – the higher your company's productivity will be. Therefore, don't just roll out the solution, but inform all users in advance, offer training and demonstrate the added value for everyday work.

Tip 3: Take a look at usage behaviour

Analyse whether and to what extent the solution you have implemented is being used by your employees. This may sound complicated, but it isn't: modern VOIP solutions offer simple evaluation options. If there are individuals/departments with low acceptance levels, engage in dialogue to identify potential obstacles and provide appropriate support.

Tip 4: Protect yourself against external threats

Your VOIP solution should be integrated into your company's cyber security architecture from day one. Microsoft Teams offers a major advantage here: all identities, permissions and security settings that you have already set up for the Windows/M365 workstation are directly transferred to telephony.

VOIP enables telephony in digital workplaces. In addition, the list of benefits for businesses is extensive, ranging from cost savings to improved communication and flexibility. By integrating VOIP into services such as Microsoft Teams, you can further increase the efficiency of your business communications and take your business to the next level.

Discover the new world of business communication – we will be happy to advise you!

You have general questions about Microsoft Teams telephony or want to learn more about the benefits for your company?
Our professionals are also happy to assist you with this.