Cart Total
$0.00
-
Your shopping cart is empty
So just what is VoIP, exactly? You may already know that VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol but do you know when it was first discovered? Test your knowledge with some of the fun facts below!
The foundation of Hosted VoIP phone systems
The early beginnings of VoIP lie in the first real-time voice sample, sent at 16 kb/s, between two computers in the Information Sciences Institute of the Lincoln Lab, USA, in August 1974 via the ARPANET. ARPANET was the precursor to the Internet as we know it today. The first two-way VoIP communication took place via ARPANET in December 1974.
VoIP is growing fast!
Between 1998 and 2002, VoIP only accounted for 1-3% of voice calls worldwide. By 2003, this had grown to around 25%. With Internet, Skype, and computers gaining greater access, this is when it began to gain in popularity. VoIP call minutes are now in the billions and with ageing PSTN/ISDN lines gradually being turned off around the world, VoIP use is growing at a rapid pace. In 2015 alone, fixed line business call minutes fell by 1.5 billion and mobile business call minutes fell by 0.7 billion as businesses leapfrogged traditional phone lines for VoIP. Given the lower call rates for voice calls when using a VoIP phone system versus a traditional phone line, and the improved call quality, this is no great surprise.
The mob and VoIP
It may seem unbelievable, but according to reports, there is evidence that VoIP games have been used by mob gangsters to launder money in the past! Some gangsters had even been known to try and finalise deals via chat functions in online VoIP multiplayer games like Second Life!
Better sound quality with Hosted VoIP
Traditional PSTN phone lines have a range of 300 Hz to 3400 Hz which can lack clarity and sound confusing to the human ear. VoIP can provide high definition audio with a range of 50 Hz to 7 kHz. These higher frequencies mean that it can be much easier to differentiate sounds, resulting in crisp, detailed phone conversations for you.
Take your phone number with you
As Crowded House almost sang, "Everywhere you go, always take your number with you". With a Hosted VoIP service, your number and business is independent of its location. So if you move offices, you can take your geographic phone number with you. Not only that, but your phone number can be forwarded to your mobile device or desktop computer. Extra useful if you're often travelling on business.
Check out our 5 fun VoIP facts infogram.
To find out more about what a VoIP service can do for you, check out some of the features of our VoIP phone system.
