Now that VoIP phone service has appeared on the market, more and more people are curious about just what it has to offer the consumer that other standard phone services don't. To start with it has much cheaper rates and this particularly holds true for long distance and overseas calling. If you have a standard residential phone plan then you really don't stand to gain as much as a business owner does that switches to VoIP.
If you are wondering what VIP stands for it stands for "voice over Internet protocol". For a business that is heavily reliant on long distance calls, the costs of these calls can run up quickly. Most VoIP phone service plans offer free nationwide long distance calling including Canada and Alaska, which is as cheap as one can get with their long distance calling. Overseas calling is where business owners and managers can really reap savings though, because international calling rates can start as low as two cents per minute and if the call is placed to a party that uses the same service provider the call is usually free of charge.
There are still more benefits for business owners, including complete compatibility with integrated systems and their ability to use the same phone number no matter where the business should relocate in the world. There are some mitigating factors to consider though if you are considering the switch, such as the fact that VoIP phone service is vulnerable to power outages unlike standard phone service, unless there is a backup power source installed. Also, with VoIP phone service your address isn't automatically displayed when a call is made to a 911 operator which can be a problem in some businesses. Also, alarm systems cant be ran through it unlike standard phone service.