Voice over IP services are taking the business world by storm. As Enterprise Networking Planet writes, using hosted VoIP providers, businesses across the world are reducing their technology costs, gaining access to unified, integrated communications technologies, and improving their businesses overall. While the best VoIP services can bring all of these advantages to your company, lower quality, disreputable firms will offer you very little service for your money. If you want to weed out the chaff from the best, follow these tips to hiring the best hosted VoIP service for your business.
Three Tips for Finding the Right Hosted VoIP Service for Your Business
- Take a Hard Look at the “Lock-In” Clause of the Contract
- Does the Company Offer Redundancies?
- What Sort of Clientele Do They Typically Serve?
As About.com writes, many hosted VoIP solutions come with so-called “lock-in” clauses in their contracts. This section of the contract generally stipulates a heavy financial penalty if you change providers within X amount of time. If you can find a service without this lock-in clause, do so. A company that doesn’t feel the need to bully its customers into staying with them likely has more confidence in their ability to deliver what you need.
As with anything that relies on the internet, hosted VoIP solutions can temporarily crash. Obviously, this means losing your ability to communicate with the outside world. However, if you look for a VoIP provider that offers redundancy systems, as Inc. suggests, you won’t have to worry about being isolated from the world.
As with any other type of business, certain VoIP providers work with exclusively large businesses, while others work with small businesses. As BizBrain.org points out, choosing a company that is familiar with the needs of businesses of your size means gaining access to a more knowledgeable, reliable service.
Do you work in the IT or VoIP industry? What recommendations would you give business owners on choosing hosted VoIP services? Let us know in the comment section below!