Posted by: TAZ Networks on November 17, 2017 at 12:00 pm
5 Questions to Ask Before Investing in a Small Business Telephone System
Time to upgrade your business telephone system? VoIP might be the solution you need.
You don’t ask much from your small business telephone system – you just want it to do everything.
It must be fully functional. It must be easy to use. It must provide access for and to remote staff.
And, hey, it would be great if it somehow saved money over what you’re using now.
A cloud-based VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system might be the solution you need. VoIP’s major benefit is the ability to tie together your entire staff – in-office, traveling, and remote workers – on a single system.
In addition, VoIP offers many of the same business features as standard business telephone systems, while providing advanced voicemail and softphone (PC-based) options.
Thirdly, VoIP scales as your business grows with flexible licensing that allows you to pay only for the number of users on the system.
Before investing in a VoIP telephone system for your business, however, you must know the answers to 5 questions.
The 5 Questions:
- How much bandwidth can your network handle? How much call time does your business handle in a day? What other internet usage do you have? It’s important to be sure your internet provider can handle the bandwidth traffic. Given the cost savings that often come with VoIP systems, it may make sense to upgrade to a faster internet connection.
- How much business growth are you expecting over the next 5 years? Cloud-based VoIP makes it easy to add new users. Basically, you buy new phones and plug them in. Growth higher than projections? VoIP is easy to scale up with flexible licensing.
- How much time do you have to use and maintain your phone system? Old-school business phone systems require complicated diagnosis and maintenance, whereas most cloud-based VoIP systems can be managed from a simple desktop interface. Or offload this responsibility to your local friendly IT partner who is experienced with small business VoIP systems.
- Do you plan on being in business for a while? As with many analog systems, the POTS (plain old telephone system) is disappearing. Very little system development is taking place, and even replacement hardware is harder to find. VoIP is definitely the phone system of choice for the near future.
- What will it cost? While some VoIP solutions incur up-front equipment costs, others include the equipment with the monthly fee. It’s important to be sure which model you’re paying for.
Are you considering VoIP as your small business telephone system? Whether you’re just starting to look into VoIP, or are already considering your provider options, TAZ Networks offers a free assessment of your existing phone system. Get started with your free phone system analysis by filling in the contact form on the right.
Click here to learn more about small business telephone systems through TAZ Networks.