{"id":2325,"date":"2020-02-06T10:26:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T15:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ip4b.ca\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2026-07-05T15:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:32:47","slug":"differences-between-ip-telephony-and-unified-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ip4b.ca\/en\/differences-between-ip-telephony-and-unified-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the differences between IP Telephony and Unified Communications Solutions?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a good number of years now, people have been talking about the advantages of IP Telephony for organizations. Indeed, when compared to traditional telephony systems, IP Telephony solutions bring several exciting business functions that traditional telephony systems cannot offer. Now, more and more, people are discussing the advantages of unified communications ad the next wave of things to come. Of course, we like to think of unified communications as the current wave \u2013 not just the next one. OK, but what are the differences between IP Telephony and Unified Communications Solutions (UC)?<\/p>\n

A quick recap of what IP telephony<\/h2>\n

Simply put, IP telephony or VoIP, for voice over Internet protocol, carries voice signals over the Internet via the IP protocol instead of over copper wires as developed by Alexander Graham Bell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Initially, IP telephony\u2019s value proposition<\/a> was all about bypassing long-distance rates. However, as with any business model solely based on price, it was unable to sustain that proposition. However, over the years, IP telephony found its way with some interesting advantages such as the ease of unifying multiple scattered locations and points of presence of a single organization. In this way, IP telephony was able to accomplish what was either impossible, arduous or expensive using traditional connectivity.<\/p>\n

Other benefits of IP telephony are its flexibility when the time comes to quickly add or reduce the number of subscribers as well as quickly moving locations all through a simple self-service web portal.<\/p>\n

Finally, some of the most powerful features of IP telephony bring increased productivity to business organizations. For example, the ability to automatically forward calls to a mobile phone in case of outages, or the ability to forward voice mail messages directly into one\u2019s email inbox or also the ability to have \u201csim ring\u201d enabling simultaneously ringing of a desk phone with a cell phone.<\/p>\n

What Are Unified Communications in 101 Words<\/h2>\n

Unified Communications solutions allow organizations to collaborate with their customers and reach out to colleagues and collaborators more efficiently. UC applications help make a powerful difference by empowering companies like yours to provide exceptional customer experience, to reduce costs and to increase productivity.<\/p>\n

With unified communications, you can take and make voice and video calls from your desk phone, your smartphone, your computer or your tablet based on the device most suited for the moment or the location.<\/p>\n

Unified communications empower stronger collaboration among colleagues and associates with business functions like instant messaging (also known as chat<\/em>) and presence. This later provides visibility on whether colleagues are on the phone, in a meeting or away from their desk.<\/p>\n

We invite you to view this short video to get a feeling of what unified communications solutions can do for your business.<\/p>\n