Must-ask questions when looking at VoIP service for business use.

If you’ve looked over the differences between landlines and VoIP services for business, you probably recognize that VoIP is a great fit for growing your business. The question moves from what type of service to get to how to choose a VoIP provider.

There’s a lot to consider. This guide can give you a great place to start.

How will the VoIP service you’re looking at save you money on telecom costs?

The average cost for a VoIP ranges from $15-$50 per month. The cost per minute for long-distance calls can range from unlimited minutes to as low as two cents or as high as four cents. There will also be a cost to get started too. Price-check everything and compare your top choices to see what kind of value they can offer you.

How can the VoIP service improve your daily workflow?

Some VoIP services for business provide features that can make your workday go by more smoothly. You can get calls from your office phone on your mobile device or home phone, for example. Your employees can have their own dedicated phone numbers that they can pick up wherever they are. This makes staying in touch and on top of collaborative projects easier and less time-consuming.

What kind of enterprise features do you need, and how much will they cost you?

VoIP services generally come with a lot of features that can make your business life so, so much easier. Is there call forwarding? Will you have the ability to set up local numbers or a toll-free number? How easily can you communicate with other parts of the world?

These types of features can impact your bottom line by increasing the amount of good customer service you’re able to provide. Some companies use VoIP features to provide customer service 24/7. Others use them to cut back on overhead by allowing workers to telecommute.

Take a good look at each feature that’s offered. Think about how you could use that to improve your business. Compare your top choices to see if they all have the features you need. If you have special concerns, ask if the VoIP service you’re interested in can configure the system to meet your demands.

Don’t forget to ask about the pricing for these features. Some VoIP services offer these features for free.

What will the quality of your calls be like?

Sometimes a high volume of calls can impact your internet speed, which can, in turn, impact the quality of your voice communications. Ask the VoIP service provider you’re looking at how they address demands for quality and speed. For example, can they prioritize voice communications and monitor bandwidth so that you get the best quality phone calls? Is there a difference between local calls and calls you make to the other side of the planet? Finding out how the VoIP companies you’re interested in work right now can help you make the best choice for your phone needs and save you a lot of headaches later.

Will the VoIP service fit your business as it grows?

How flexible is the VoIP service you’re looking at? Will you be able to add more features as you grow so you can scale your system to fit your needs? Many businesses today are trying to compete in a global economy with the hope that the products and services they sell will go viral. If that happens, will your VoIP service be able to keep up with your increasing demands?

Will the VoIP service for business work with your Internet Service Provider?

Signing up with a VoIP service and then finding out that it’s not compatible with your ISP could cause you a lot of grief. Save the trouble now by finding out whether the VoIP will integrate well with the ISP you have. Ask the VoIP to evaluate your current ISP to find out if they’ll be a good fit together. If not, you can make a choice to find a different internet provider or go with another VoIP service.

What kind of customer service will YOU have?

As you work through the VoIP features and try to implement them, having someone to support you can be a huge relief. Does the VoIP you’re looking at assign a personal support representative? If so, try to find out if there are any reviews or ratings on the quality of customer service the VoIP provides to its clients.

It’s also a good idea to check whether you’ll be speaking to an assigned representative directly, or if you’ll have to listen to menus and recorded messages and then wait for someone to get back to you. If you feel like you’ll be in good hands, you can move forward confidently.

Conclusion

Choosing the best VoIP service is all about asking the right questions. If you can find a VoIP service that has satisfactory answers for all seven of these essential questions, you may have found your VoIP match.