Is Hosted VoIP Right For Your Business?

Putting a communications system in place that’s right for your business can seem like a daunting task. VoIP for Business has become increasingly popular over the last several years and companies looking for an alternative to traditional analog and digital PBX systems now have a viable option.

Should you make the change to VoIP?

Before deciding whether you should jump into a Hosted VoIP solution or not, there are a couple questions you must answer first before weighing the benefits.

How old and functional is your current phone system?

Some companies see their phone system as just another piece of office equipment and don't look at it as a tool to better service their client base. If your phone system is aging and your mentality is "it still works" maybe you should take a look at some enhanced features of Hosted VoIP. There are a lot of application integrated with VoIP systems that can help you and your business better service your clients.

Does your existing system have enough capacity to add lines or additional phones if needed? 

Is your current phone system expandable. Can you add more lines from your local provider if you need additional call capacity?Can you add more phones to your system easily and cost effectively if you hire new employees. If the answer is no then you should look at a VoIP system. 

Does your company currently use SIP or Traditional Land line technology? 

Traditional land line systems do offer the benefit of being the most time-tested solution, which people are more familiar with, but does require on-premise PBX infrastructure to be put in place. That infrastructure is more costly up front and to maintain than Hosted VoIP solutions are. If your using SIP trunking you are getting some but not all of the benefits of Hosted VoIP. If you have a mix of land line and SIP technology, it may be time to look at hosted VoIP. 

VoIP Benefits

The benefits of Hosted VoIP for Business are:

• Ease of use
• Feature availability
• Affordability
• Scalability

If you choose a VoIP solution for your Business, will you have this VoIP system housed at your business location or have it reside entirely in the cloud?

A business can buy and deploy a VoIP system and have it installed at thier business location. Systems such as an Avaya IP Office can be installed in your telecom closet, connected to your existing PSTN provider and VoIP phones can be deployed internally on the same network as your data. On premise VoIP systems are quite popular but they also come with a larger up front and on going maintenance and upgrade expense. 

If your business chooses to utilize a cloud-based Hosted VoIP solution there are limited hardware costs to be concerned with, no maintenance fees, and you would not have to have a dedicated support person on site at all times to manage it. The service provider will typically manage the system for you, they will also do upgrades and provide maintenance and redundancy that an on premise system cannot compete with. 

Cloud-based Hosted VoIP solutions offer you the full scope and capabilities of a VoIP solution for your business at a fixed monthly rate, and you would only pay for what you need when you need it. 

Now that you have an idea of what questions you need to ask yourself before deciding if VoIP is right for your business, making a decision about your business’ communications needs is a little bit simpler now, VoIP is the way to go, which VoIP solution are you going to chose. 

If you would like to learn more about VoIP and VoIP solutions please take a look at our digital magazine and some of the Hosted VoIP functionality available. Votacall Digital Magazine