How to Choose the Right IP Phones

IP phones are the endpoints of a telephone system using VoIP technology. IP phones are often referred to as VoIP or SIP phones.

Although everyday users look and act just like traditional phones, IP phones bring in a variety of extra features and functionalities.  IP phones offer the flexibility to be used in any location with an available internet connection.

This article will take a closer look at the types of IP phones – their features and the situations when they are the right choice to be used.

The IP phones you choose should depend particularly on your business needs.

A discussion with the VoIP provider on some compatibility issues is strongly recommended. The IP phones need to support the same protocols and codecs that the provider’s telephone system uses. The SIP protocol is a commonly used protocol by VoIP providers and most IP phones support it.

Types of IP phones:

IP phones come in a variety of types and appearances. They are also based on different operating systems.

Desk IP phones look and behave just like traditional analog office phones, although they use VoIP technology.

A softphone can be installed on multiple devices. In this way, one phone number can be set on more than one device. A softphone can also be integrated with third-party software, which broadens the range of extra features the softphone can offer. 

The conference phone has two or more microphones to serve more attendees in the conference room. It can connect participants situated in three or more different locations. 

Video calls are a feature of the advanced models of VoIP phones. Softphones usually possess video features as well, using the device’s camera. 

DESK PHONES: 

The desk IP phones, also called hard phones, are used as traditional office phones on a user’s desk. They are designed to be reliable and easy to use. They usually have a standard set of functionality buttons, similar to those of the analog desk phones. So the staff can adjust to using the VoIP technology is practically a very short time.

Desk phones are your best choice in case:

• your employees work permanently in the office
• the employees are not tech-savvy and prefer the well-known buttons interface
• your employees make multiple calls a day, for instance working in a call center.

CORDLESS PHONES: 

Cordless desk phones use the DECT system to allow moving around in the office while making a call.

DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology) consists of two components – a base station and the phones connected to it. The base station is connected both, to the network, and one or more phones. 

When choosing a cordless phone, consider features like range, battery life, charging time, additional feature sets. 

CONFERENCE PHONES

Conference phones are particularly designed for meetings in a conference room and are usually supplied with two or three microphones. Conference phones improve collaboration for both, small conference rooms, and executive offices.

Conference phones will improve telephone communication of companies:

• with offices in different locations
• with employees working remotely
• in cases when meetings with business partners are part of the daily routine.

Choosing the right conference phone typically depends on the employees’ needs and the conference room size. 

Speakerphones, compared to conference phones, are a more cost-effective and quite suitable solution for small meeting rooms of up to 5-6 participants. For further information visit the speakerphones section on our article about microphones.

Extra features together with higher audio quality make conference phones an integrated and more convenient solution compared to speakerphones.

To deliver a seamless conversation conference phones rely on two main features: 360-degrees sound pick-up and high audio quality.

What else to consider? Here is a list of the most important additional features when making a choice:

• Bluetooth connectivity – lets easily pairing another Bluetooth device to the conference phone
• call recording – can be beneficial to recall information mentioned during the conference, solving an argument with a customer, or training new employees
• active speaker – identifies the person who is talking and makes it visible on the phone’s interface
• noise-proof technology – makes calls clearer, without noise distractions
• number of microphones and microphones’ pickup range

The microphones’ pick-up range determines the usability of the conference phone according to the size of the conference room. Conference phones with several movable microphones are also called conference spiders. They can host a larger number of participants and are more flexible to be adjusted to different room sizes. For more information about microphones, check out our article about choosing conference microphones.

VIDEO PHONES

Videophones are advanced desk phones that have video displays and support video codecs.

Video calls contribute to better interoperability and intelligibility during a phone call. The employees working remotely or frequently changing location can better keep in touch with the rest of the colleagues and the company office atmosphere.

Some video phones support video calls but do not possess a camera. So the camera comes as an additional purchase.

If you are looking for an even lower-cost video phone, you can check the previous models of Yealink and Grandstream: 

• Grandstream GVX3370
• Yealink SIP-T58A + a camera

Bear in mind both of them have a smaller 7-inch screen and no HDMI port. 

The Yealink SIP-T58A runs on Android 5.1 and some applications may not be installed or operate properly.

The Grandstream runner-up GVX3370 has a lower resolution 1MP camera.

Video desk phones eliminate the need of having separate equipment for video conferencing. 

The telephone software system is used to set up and host the video conference call.

Softphones allow the opportunity for a video call using the camera of the device. The audio and video signals are distinguished, so the camera can be turned on and off. 

Some of the newest models of video conference solutions include conference phones with a 360-degrees view camera. They provide the opportunity of a view of all meeting attendees in the room on several screens.

SOFTPHONES:

Softphones are software applications with the features of a phone. They are an excellent choice for working remotely or in cases of constantly switching locations. They can be installed on more than one device, so employees can make and receive calls regardless of their location.

A softphone can be used in combination with a desk phone. This is very helpful in situations with a high number of phone calls. The softphone software also has the advantage to be integrated with third-party applications, so the employee has more channels of communication with the customer.

ACCESSORIES FOR IP PHONES

• headset
• ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter)

VOIP HEADSETS

The headset is the right solution for call centers and offices where employees need to keep their hands free or walk around while making a phone call. 

A headset is also the preferred accessory as it provides improved sound quality in comparison to using a microphone with a speaker. 

Some of the important features of headsets are: being wireless (connected to the phone using Bluetooth or DECT), stereo/mono sound, noise reduction feature, range, battery life, comfort, voice command, multiport pairing.

TELEPHONE ADAPTERS (ATA)

The ATA solves the problem of reusing the old analog phones when switching to VoIP. 

Some ATAs have available ports to support more than one phone, or a port to connect to a computer. When choosing an ATA, pay attention to supported VoIP protocols (so it is compatible with the protocols of the VoIP provider) and several analog telephone ports. Some ATAs have an FXO port. It is used to connect to the PSTN, as a backup solution.

Helpful features are also: call switching, standard service features (like caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, call forwarding), three-way conferencing, power failure tolerance.

Replacing all analog phones with new IP phones is a more commonly used practice compared to using ATAs. The reason is that VoIP phones support much more features than traditional phones, which the users could benefit from.

FEATURES OF IP PHONES:

The best choice of IP phone is not the one with the highest number of features, but the one that fits the users’ needs. For this reason, it is necessary to understand how every feature can help the users in their work and improve the flow of communication. 

Some features of the IP phones depend on the service provider to support them. Others are hardware specifications. 

Some of the most important features that a phone can support:

• automatic provisioning
• dual Ethernet ports
• PoE (Power over Ethernet)
• number of lines
• Bluetooth
• HD sound

In the context of IP telephony, automatic provisioning means the initial automatic configuring of the IP phone. This means the phone is automatically set up without using the IP phone interface or opening the box of the IP phone. 

Provisioning itself is the entire process of configuring the VoIP software to provide service. 

Dual Ethernet ports mean the IP phone can connect to the network and another device using a second ethernet port. The second port is usually used to connect the phone to a computer. In this way the computer and the phone use only one port on the network router to connect to the internet or the local network.

There are several advantages to using such an extra port. The user minimizes the number of used ports at the main network router. One port corresponds to one user. There is also a considerable reduction in the number of cable runs.

PoE (Power over Ethernet) allows using the ethernet cable for both, getting a network connection, and getting a power supply. Typically a device would use two cables for these purposes. 

PoE helps reduce wiring the office with redundant cables and expenses of installing electrical power cabling. It makes setting up a new phone quick and easy. Even more, once the phone is configured it can work in any office. Regardless of the location, it is necessary just to plug it in and it is ready for the next call.

To use the PoE functionality, the network switch must have PoE injection built-in and the VoIP phones are PoE-compatible.

In the context of landline phones the term “phone line” means the physical wire that connects each phone. Regarding IP phones “a phone line” is usually referred to as the number of calls a phone number can take at the same time. A single phone number set on a VoIP phone can usually take between six to eight concurrent calls.

Multiple calls can be handled in different ways – including putting calls on hold, transferring calls, parking calls, and more. A higher number of simultaneous calls also allows the flexibility of using fewer phone numbers that would further need to be paid for.

The Bluetooth allows connecting the phone with any other Bluetooth device. 

The headset is usually connected to the IP phone by a Bluetooth signal. In this way, the employee is free to walk around the office while speaking on the phone.

HD sound is a feature of all IP phones, compared to traditional landline phones.

Ip phones use codecs,  which are algorithms(programs) converting an audio analog signal to digitally encoded data.  The word codec is an abbreviation of “coder-decoder”. This means that the codec encodes the sound to digital data on the recipient’s phone and on the receiver’s device decodes it back from digital to analog, so the voice can be heard. 

The bandwidth of the codec determines the quality of the transmitted sound. The high-quality sound of IP phones is because the internet connection allows using wideband codecs. While landline phones use a narrowband codec, with a limit of 3.4 kHz, VoIP phones can use many different wideband codecs with a frequency range up to 7 kHz.

IP phones usually support several different audio codecs. When devices begin to “communicate”, they will use the codec they have in common.

HD wideband audio has been used for more than 15 years, since the start of using Skype. Now, most low-budget IP phones are HD compatible. But this does not mean that all IP phones have the same sound quality. Recognized companies, like Polycom, have patented their own acoustic sound technology to boost sound quality. So it is expected that the high-end phones would offer better sound quality compared to the simply HD-compatible ones.