Does VoIP Require Internet?

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. Strange as it sounds, theoretically VoIP does not need the internet to work. If the VoIP is in a household and it tries to call other numbers, then no, VoIP will not work without the internet. However, large corporations with multiple phones connected to the same system can still have the phones talking to each other, as long as they share the same IP based network.

A way of doing it involves the use of a private circuit. Setting up a direct path to the VoIP provider from the network. That would be a cloud phone system. It is possible to connect the cloud to a telecom operator via dedicated IP lines that are not connected to the internet.

A typical situation where the user might want to use VoIP without internet service is a small office that does not want to move to VoIP straight away. The company would have to use an internal digital phone system with PBS features for incoming and outgoing calls. When the company decides to move to VoIP system, they can reconfigure the internal digital system.