Skype Vs. Business VoIP: How They Stack Up
27 February 2008
A head-to-head comparison of how the two approaches stack up in key areas, including scalability, reliability and cost.
It's a choice that many companies, particularly small businesses, ponder: deploy a business IP telephony system — either an IP PBX or a hosted VoIP service — or use Skype, the popular consumer VoIP service. Both approaches present distinct benefits and drawbacks, which can make choosing between them confusing and difficult. To determine which type of VoIP system will work best for your business, consider the following key points.
A head-to-head comparison of how the two approaches stack up in key areas, including scalability, reliability and cost.
It's a choice that many companies, particularly small businesses, ponder: deploy a business IP telephony system — either an IP PBX or a hosted VoIP service — or use Skype, the popular consumer VoIP service. Both approaches present distinct benefits and drawbacks, which can make choosing between them confusing and difficult. To determine which type of VoIP system will work best for your business, consider the following key points.
Installation
Skype: With Skype,
installation is pretty much a nonissue, since all that's required is to
install the host software on the user's computer and plug in a headset.
There are also many Skype-compatible phones that work independent of a
computer, including wifi phones and dual-mode phones that support both Skype and traditional phone connections.
Business VoIP:
With business VoIP, installation is very much an issue if the company
is planning to deploy an IP PBX. Selecting, deploying and testing an IP
PBX is a process that can take up to several months. Companies can
bypass much of this work by choosing a hosted business VoIP service,
although this comes at the expense of overall control and various other
benefits.
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