VoIP, the Dirty Acronym?

In positioning the types of services that BluArc offers I am often reluctant to use the word VoIP. BluArc offers hosted VoIP that actually works, we’ve been doing it successfully for 6 years. However, for those who have had poor experiences with other providers or have heard anecdotal horror stories, VoIP has become a dirty acronym. In fact, for most prospective customers, the acronym VoIP stands for Voice over the Internet – that wild west place where your phone calls may or may not work. If a call does connect, it can crackle, attenuate, and sound like you’re in an echo chamber…or sometimes, sound just fine.

But what if the word VoIP could actually evoke thoughts of high quality voice services with a rich feature set that is cost effective and robust? You probably wouldn’t believe me, would you? Well, you wouldn’t be alone. The single biggest challenge that BluArc faces in converting customers to the BluArc solution is the skepticism around Voice over Internet Protocol. So what do you need to know about BluArc VoIP to begin considering it as a solution for your business?

Let’s peel back the cover a bit on the dirty acronym. While most people think VoIP stands for Voice over the Internet, the last word, Protocol, is typically left off – this a critical difference. Protocol talks about the format in which voice is transmitted, not the medium. An analogy would be a vehicle driving along a road. Think of the road as the medium and the vehicle as the protocol. Now what if you were driving your vehicle on the 401 in Toronto during rush hour and 25cm of snow had just fallen? Pretty slow going – right? Well, now what if it was a clear day, two in the morning, and you were on the 407 ETR? Same vehicle (protocol) on a different road (medium) can yield a significantly different result!

In the voice world this makes all the difference. The vast majority of service providers expect their customers to use the internet as a medium to transmit their voice. They don’t care or consider that the internet may be experiencing high traffic volumes, is slow, or is not available at all. We’ve all had experiences where it seems like forever to have a file download or a web page refresh, in this scenario, the implications for voice traffic is palpable – voice simply cannot and does not work reliably over the Internet. So why would you let a VoIP provider transmit a mission critical business service over an unreliable and inadequate medium?

That’s the BluArc difference. Unlike other providers, at BluArc, we’ve designed a network that is purpose built to deliver voice services. In fact, BluArc doesn’t use the internet to transmit voice, but rather uses its own private network, allowing us to control the traffic…I like to think that every day is a sunny day on the BluArc voice fast lane!

If you’ve thought of giving VoIP a try, or have tried it and had a discouraging result, I invite you to contact a BluArc representative at sales@bluarc.ca. We understand voice, we understand how important voice services are to your business. We are the premiere hosted VoIP provider in Ottawa and Toronto. We’d like to make your move to VoIP a great experience!

Rick Koenders

VP Marketing and Business Development, BluArc Communications

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