The 7 Things to Look for in a Hosted Business Phone Service Provider

When it comes to making a safe, smart and strategic hosted business phone system investment, there are two critically important pieces of the decision-making puzzle: choosing the right technology for your current and future needs, and picking the right provider so that you achieve the shortest path to ROI, and continue getting measurable and meaningful value year after year.

Naturally, choosing the right technology depends on your unique requirements and use cases. For example, you may operate a call center environment and want to empower your agents and reps to be more productive and efficient. Or you may have a roster of remote employees, consultants, reps and channels partners, and want a hosted business phone service solution that brings them all together -- even though they may be hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

However, picking the right hosted business service provider is not circumstantial: it is standardized. With this in mind, here are the 7 factors that you should expect – and demand – from a provider, so that you can be assured that the only surprises you experience will come from having your expectations exceeded; not missed.

1. World-Class Customer Experience

Your hosted business phone service provider must demonstrate that customer experience is a core part of their commitment, and not a hyped-up marketing term. It must be part of their DNA and the essence of what they do and who they are. In other words, if they are not MORE concerned about delivering world-class customer experience than you are about receiving it, then they are not worthy of your consideration.

2. Customized & Cost-Effective Solutions

Your business is not a one-size-fits-all enterprise. As such, your hosted business phone system provider must offer customized and cost-effective solutions that are uniquely designed for your current and future needs.  

3. Personalized Service & Support

There are aspects of your hosted business phone service system that you will need service and support with along the way. This is not a bad thing or a red flag. It is simply the nature of any comprehensive business platform (not unlike a CRM, HRIS, project management software, and so on). Your provider must be ready, willing and able to help when you need it 24/7/365.

4. State-of-the-Art Technology

If a prospective provider does not have in-house, state-of-the-art hosted business phone technology – then keep searching. Settle for nothing less than a provider that takes ownership of all technical issues (i.e. does not outsource them to a third party), and leverages multiple levels of redundancy along with a geographically dispersed cloud infrastructure to ensure business continuity, and 99.99% uptime. 

5. Continuous Innovation

A legitimate and customer-centric hosted business phone service provider should automatically give you access to the latest innovations and upgrades. You should not have to request these or pay extra for them. If a prospective provider suggests or states that innovations are only offered to new customers, then immediately walk (or better yet, run!) away. Why? Because before long, you will no longer be a new in their eyes – and will essentially be a second-class customer.

6. End-to-End Project Management

Ensure that your provider has the in-house expertise, resources and capacity to deliver end-to-end project management. This includes (but is not limited to) measuring and analyzing your network activity, testing the quality of your data connections, and consulting with your teams (e.g. end users, IT staff) to ensure that you build the optimal system at the lowest possible price.

7. Third Party References & Recommendations

Last but not least, while it matters what a provider says about their services, solutions and standards, look deeper to see what their customers and peers want you know. For example, a provider should be happy to provide you with testimonials and references, and they should also have an impressive list of awards from recognized industry experts and associations.  

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At Votacall, we are proud to offer our customers ALL of the above, regardless of whether the system we design and deploy is for dozens of users located in a single office, or tens of thousands spread across the world. We have the experience, expertise and demonstrated commitment to excellence that makes all the difference between an investment that is rewarding, and one that is regrettable.

To learn more, contact the Votacall team today. Your consultation with us is free. For more information on how to choose the right partner for your hosted VoIP phone system, download our FREE ebook: