Your phone system is only as good as your internal network and internet provider.

Broadband capacity

We’re all forever wanting the fasted broadband at the best price, and rightly so. However, when voice is involved, you can’t refresh the page, if it breaks up, it breaks up. Therefore, reliability is just as important as speed, if not, more so.

VoIP takes up very little bandwidth, however, if you have many other devices on your network uploading and downloading it can have an impact on call quality. It’s vital that you use common principles on your router to prioritise voice traffic. 

The best practice is to use fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) as a minimum, and sometimes two circuits with one dedicated to voice if you have many devices. Always ensure your telecoms reseller is using tier 1 carriers such as BT and Gamma. 

Cabling

As previously mentioned, having a VoIP device physically cabled to the network will provide superior reliability. You may have a lot of your cables already being used by desktop computers, so you are left with two options:

Daisy Chain: Most IP phones will allow you to plug your computer into the phone and the main cable will then power the phone. Essentially two devices can therefore share the cable. If you are using two separate broadband for voice and data you will need option 2.

Re-cable: This is the last case scenario, running new cables for your new phones. You will also have to take into consideration if there is enough space in the comms cabinet with patch panels and switches. At this point, it’s best to check with a professional.