Want to save money on your phone bill? Set Up VoIP Phones! Some hosted telephony service providers fix you into using their VoIP phone handsets, however many will allow you to use a third party SIP or VoIP phone handset on their service.
What Is A VoIP Phone?
One of the best new ways to get a business phone line and number is to use a VoIP phone with a Hosted Phone Service. This tech uses your existing internet connection to carry your business phone calls (voice traffic).
Using the clever tech that is in a VoIP phone (Voice over IP), the sound of your voice is converted into ones and zeros (binary) and sent in packets over the web. At the other end those packets are strung back together to recreate your voice, this is all done in the blink of an eye, so your call flows smoothly.
Set Up VoIP Phones On The Cloud
There are several manufacturers of SIP compatible phone handsets out there and that is what you will need to set up your own hosted phone line.
SIP is a universal telephony language that many business VoIP phone manufacturers have got on board with, providing firmware for their handsets to be used on SIP technology, enabling a more open hardware approach to VoIP telephony.
Cloud Hosted Phone Service
The first thing you will need to do when setting up a hosted phone line is to sign up for a service. The hosted telephony service provider will give you your necessary account details and their server details, these you will need to configure your VoIP phone (provisioning).
There is little difference between the hosted telecoms providers, as the majority work on the same basic routes and the quality of your call is largely down to your internet connection. Shop around and look for the best call rates, teamed with good customer support, user reviews and handset compatibility.
Connect VoIP Phone To Cloud Service
You will then need to connect your IP phone to your network, this is usually done by plugging the phone directly into your network router or switch using an RJ45 Patch Cable, the same type of cable you use to connect your computer. If you do not have an available socket on your router, you can in most cases remove your computer’s network cable, plug the router end into the SIP telephone and then connect the phone LAN Network socket to the router.
Powering Your VoIP Phone
VoIP phone handsets need power to run, this is provided in the form of electricity, either from an additional power supply for the telephone or via your network using PoE (Power over Ethernet). If you don’t know what this is then you probably don’t have it, if you do know what this is, then you will also know that if you have it you will not need the additional power supply.
“Provisioning” VoIP Phones
Once booted up, use the phone user manual to guide you through entering the details provided by your hosting service. As mentioned earlier every model of SIP phone has a different way of configuring for hosted services, so you would be best placed to gather as much information as possible, provided by both the VoIP phone manufacturer and your hosted phone service provider. Both should offer some form of support and/or documentation with provisioning your SIP phone for hosted telephony services.
Details You Need To Set Up VoIP Phone
Most IP phone handsets have different set up menus and techniques. In general you will need the following details from your hosted telephony provider to set up your SIP / IP phone handset to make and receive calls:
1. Proxy Server IP
The hosted server IP address for your VoIP service or SIP trunk
2. Proxy Port
Usually 5060 (check with your service provider)
3. Provisioning Server IP
Many service providers offer this for automatic configuration and updates
4. Authentication Name
User or login name for your hosted service
5. Authentication Password
The password associated to the Authentication Name above
Hosted Phone Service Providers
Below you will find some links to just a few of the many various hosted phone service providers. With guidance on how to Set Up VoIP Phones for their hosted phone service:
For more advanced requirements to Set Up VoIP Phones and further assistance with your business telephone needs; contact White Rabbit for business phones that grow with you.
Founder and strategic mind behind White Rabbit. Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, focused on serving clients with a creative and ethical business model. Digital philanthropist giving time to support charitable groups, projects and organisations; that revolve around the arts, wildlife conservation, local community and heritage crafts.
