Home › Resources › What is VoIP? A guide for businesses
Guide · TelephonyWhat is VoIP? The guide for businesses
VoIP — voice over IP — carries telephone conversations over the internet rather than over the traditional switched network. The voice is broken into packets, transmitted, then reassembled. For the user, a VoIP call behaves like any other; what changes is that it needs neither a dedicated line nor a switchboard in your premises.
Published on 12 September 2026Team activity · Sales
Today, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
VoIP in one sentence
VoIP stands for Voice over IP — voice over the internet protocol. In practice, your calls are turned into digital data and travel over your internet connection instead of the traditional telephone network.
How voice over IP works
When you speak, your voice is digitised, split into packets, transmitted over the internet, then reassembled at the other end — all in a fraction of a second. You can call from a computer, a smartphone or an IP phone.
VoIP vs traditional telephony
Traditional telephony relies on physical lines and usually a switchboard (PBX) installed in your premises. VoIP removes that constraint: everything is managed online, which brings flexibility and lower costs.
The advantages for a business
- Lower call costs and per-user billing
- No physical switchboard to install or maintain
- Mobility: call from the office, from home or on the move
- Local numbers in several countries
- Advanced functions: IVR, queues, recording, statistics
What do you need?
A stable internet connection and a device — a computer or a smartphone. No heavy equipment is required to start with a cloud solution.
Going further: VoIP + CRM
VoIP comes into its own when it is connected to a CRM: every call is then attached to the right contact and logged automatically. See FinixPhone cloud telephony.
See FinixPhone on your own call setup.
A thirty-minute demonstration tailored to your team. No commitment.
No commitment · Reply within 24 working hours
Frequently asked questions
Is VoIP the same as cloud telephony?
No. VoIP is a technology for carrying voice; cloud telephony is a way of operating the switchboard. All cloud telephony uses VoIP, but not all VoIP is cloud — a company can run an IPBX in its own premises and still be doing VoIP.
Is call quality as good as a traditional line?
It depends entirely on your network. On a properly sized, stable connection the quality is professional; on a saturated network it degrades audibly. That is why the network check comes before the migration date.
Do we have to change our numbers?
Not necessarily. Porting lets you keep existing numbers; it is assessed case by case by operator, country and number type. Treat it first, because it sets the timetable.
What happens during an internet outage?
Telephony stops with the connection. That is the honest trade-off. It is handled with a second link, a mobile fallback or automatic forwarding to mobiles, designed in from the start.
Do we need special handsets?
No. A browser is enough; existing IP phones can often be kept depending on compatibility. The one purchase we do recommend systematically is a decent headset.