Do I really need Voice Over IP ?
Phone service is crucial when it comes to run a business, a strong and reliable phone number where your customers can call you at any time is indispensable to keep your business open for new customer acquisition, customer service or just daily operation.
Nowadays there is a bunch of options to consider when it comes to define the kind of phone service that best work for your type of business.
One of the most popular and trending options business are considering is Voice Over Internet Protocol or Voice Over IP or VOIP. This is a phone line service that is working over an internet connection and the phone line performance depends of the Internet specifications.
The question many business owners have is: do I really need Voice Over IP? And there is no unique answer for that question. It all depends of your type of business, number of people, internet service, call functions, call volume and current phone system.
Type of business: There is two types of business: 1) The ones where core operation is over the phone and 2) The ones that use phone as an operational side of it or as a general communication need to run the business. For example: If you are a telemarketing sales auto insurance company you are part of group number 1, so in that case it would be better if you have an advance call software on the cloud with VoIP phones besides regular phone lines because those analog phone lines are expensive if you need multiple dials at the same time. If you are a normal small business like a barbershop or a law office then you may need phone to make appointments, coordinate workflow and other communication needs with probably noncomplex functions rather than voicemail and call waiting, in those cases could be POT lines (analog) or VoIP lines (digital) no matter, you should consider price and performance to make a decision.
Number of people: It is not only counting how many people work for your company but also how many people have a phone line interaction with your business (excluding wireless or cellphone). The lower the number the less relevance for the type of technology you may have to invest to have a good phone system operating. For example: many VoIP phones have a limited number of phone lines to support, normally variates between 3 to 7 depending the provider and sometimes include the multiline service, so if you have many phone numbers to guide the call traffic through your numerous department or people then probably you may need something else. Also number of people can be read as more extensions but normally there is no restriction on that because is more related with the kind of phone system.
Current Internet Service: This is probably one of the most important factors when consider a VoIP phone line. Basically the phone is functioning over the internet so the call performance is directly related with the internet specifications. The most important internet aspects that affect VoIP phone lines are: stability, speed and type of connection. If you have a really good (non fluctuating), high speed and dedicated connection then you probably have better chances to experience a clean an customer satisfactory phone calls over VoIP.
Call Functions: This is a huge topic some providers have more than 60 phone line features, here are some of the most relevant functions you may consider when choosing your VoIP provider: Address book, call anonymous, call blocking, busy call forwarding, call blocking, call forwarding, call transfer, call transfer-consultation, call waiting (advance), caller ID blocking, direct transfer to voicemail, do not disturb, international call blocking,, no answer call forwarding, message transcription (voicemail to text), three way calling and voice messaging management.
Call Volume: On average a medium business receive 40 calls a day. If you have on average less than 30 call a day you are considered a small volume call type of business, which means there is no need of an additional or separate internet connection just to support your VoIP line. But if you have on average more than 50 then probably it is a better idea to have a dedicated connection or a high speed and capacity internet to support that operation.
Phone system: Normally business have their own equipment and when it comes to VoIP most of providers offer to lease the equipment. There are big differences between analog and digital phone system but in both cases it is usual hat digital phone lines can work. In this topic there is 3 types of plans: hosted, on premise and managed. Hosted means the vendor owns the hardware and the business leases, on premise means the business owns the hardware and the provider is not in charge of any maintenance or upgrades required, and managed is when you hire some maintenance and update work from the vendor but the equipment is still yours.
The most important thing you should do when choosing a VoIP service is analyze at least this variables and understand how all of this affect your type of business. In U1 Internet we ask you all this questions before set up a service and we make sure you choose the best option. Options are relative and are always changing. We prioritize your priorities and compare all this variables with the most important one: the monthly cost.
We make easy your decision process, smoothie your transition and try to make as happy as possible your experience with installation and service with your provider.