A business owner looking for ways to cut costs by reducing local and long-distance phone charges could make the most of a VoIP investment for network-based IP voice services.
With VoIP offering a flexible, innovative, and cost-effective solution, it is no wonder why so many SMBs have adopted VoIP services running in-house or opted to find a VoIP provider that fits their business. The latter solution is apt for those that seek a complete hosted package; it is for those that do not want the up-front expense of buying the equipment and the ongoing operational costs associated with managing the equipment.
There are so many VoIP providers out there able to provide managed IP voice services, relieving companies of the burden of the costs and complexities of deploying business VoIP in house; they are able to offer system scalability with low overhead and are able to provide users great flexibility. Services, in fact, are accessible anywhere there’s an Internet connection.
Finding a reliable and efficient VoIP service provider may be, however, a challenging task. Businesses need to spend some time carefully choosing the right one; in fact, it is crucial for them to decide on a trusted provider that can provide low-cost, consumer-oriented, reliable VoIP services. This is, of course, on top of delivering a scalable, highly secure solution that suites the business’ telecommunication needs to increase productivity, access and flexibility, while maintaining or improving customer service.
A recent article on “How to find a VoIP provider that fits your business,” by Smart Business Network Inc., a multimedia company that is involved in content marketing, reported to readers on some of the advantages and limitations of certain service providers that affirm to be able to handle the needs of both small and large businesses. The article informed readers “about changes in the VoIP landscape, the differences between providers, and the importance of customer service and support.”
These three concepts were covered in detail in an interview between Smart Business and Alex Desberg, Sales and Marketing Director of Ohio.net—this is one of Ohio’s main companies in Internet-based technology offering Voice over IP Based Phone (News - Alert) Service.
The article concentrated mainly on the surprising trend that favored small VoIP companies over large establishments. According to Desberg, the market has changed in recent times for some of the big players that have offered VoIP services: large companies like AT&T (News - Alert), which is one of the early providers of voice over IP services with Residential, Small Business and Enterprise VoIP, for example, have yet to emerge as strong contenders nowadays. “The smaller, more flexible companies who are pioneering new technologies […] have been preferred for their locally-provided services and the ability to offer services more tailored on the needs of the individual local business.
Desberg mentions, in fact, that, often, the choice that a company is called to make is between “a big provider with pre-set packages or […] a small, innovative company that is willing to invent solutions from scratch.” It is left up to the customer to investigate what services are out there that might be most beneficial.
What makes one VoIP service provider better than another for a given company, really depends on a number of features: what service plans they provide, as plans should be comprehensive and flexible; how many value-added features they offer, as the offer varies and some providers might offer many more features at no extra costs in packages at surprisingly low rates; if setup costs are minimal, as setup fees do vary from provider to provider and could place a big dent in the business VoIP installation budget; and which features and services they offer, including, for example, the all-important VoIP monitoring for quality control and business continuity.
What makes VoIP providers stand out, according to Desberg, is whether or not they provide direct technical or customer support service, 24/7. A first-time user will likely need a little help to set up and run the VoIP phone system in house. Many businesses opt for providers with local support rather than those offering offshore customer service. Desberg emphasized how these are all important aspects to consider when looking and choosing the best VoIP service provider for one’s business.
When asked how a business should go about evaluating its telecommunication needs, Desberg responded pointing out how too often “businesses tend to shoehorn themselves into what they find at the last minute within the budget, rather than figuring out what makes the most sense from an operational perspective.”
It is important to realize that not all VoIP providers and their services are alike, so when making the transition to VoIP, it’s important to conduct a thorough assessment of business needs and shop around for providers by carefully reviewing their offers before making a decision. This is, in fact, the suggestion given by President and CEO Matt Haywood of the IT company Tazergy, which conducted such an assessment for the successful transition of Thrive Senior Living to implementing hosted PBX (News - Alert) VoIP and unified communications services tailored to their needs.
For SMBs that are turning to VoIP to improve their business communications, expand efficiency and service delivery, opting for a provider that has a hosted VoIP solution may be beneficial. Making and receiving telephone calls over a broadband Internet connection rather than over a traditional phone line offers more and better features as well as can make a business more agile (works anywhere, anytime) and cost-effective. Internet-based telephony systems can provide the means to handle organizations of virtually any size and be flexible enough to meet their growing demands, which is not always easy with a traditional service.