Best VoIP Service Auburn

With so many VoIP service vendors competing for your business, you need a solid strategy to narrow down the field to the right one for your company. With that in mind, here is a quick guide to choosing the best VoIP service in Auburn.

Start by taking stock of what you have already

In addition to looking at how many landlines you have in regular use, take a look at your cell phones and any fax machines you have as well. You’re unlikely to be able to replace cell phones with VoIP but anything you can do to reduce their use can lead to major savings. Fax machines most certainly can be replaced as part of a VoIP implementation. It’s usually fairly easy to extend this to include Fax over IP and this can save both cost and space and also increase security.

Work out what equipment you’re going to need 

First of all, you’re going to need to decide whether you’re happy to manage the necessary network infrastructure in-house or if you want someone else to manage it for you. If the latter, then you need to choose between organizing your network hosting and your VoIP service separately or looking for a VoIP service vendor who can host and run your service. The first two options give you more control, but the third generally offers more convenience.

Secondly, and regardless of what option you choose for your network infrastructure, you’ll need to think about what equipment you need for your end-users. Your basic choice is between softphones and VoIP handsets (or a combination of both). Softphones can help to clear the clutter from desktops, but remember that people are going to need headsets to use them, so they’re not completely hardware-free.

Request VoIP

Be aware that softphone clients can vary widely with regards to their user-friendliness and this is particularly true of clients for mobile devices. It’s therefore recommended to test an app thoroughly before committing to it.

VoIP handsets take up space on physical desktops, but they save it on monitors. This can be much appreciated by people who already have screens full of apps and don’t particularly want to add any more. VoIP handsets can reduce the likelihood of people accidentally dialing numbers through misclicking and also can be easier to answer since you can easily see a handset, you don’t have to find it on a screen before you can accept a call.

If you opt for VoIP handsets, you’re going to need to decide whether you’re going to buy them yourself or whether you’d prefer them bundled as part of a VoIP service contract.

Think about what features you need and when you need them 

For most SMBs, the most pragmatic way to implement VoIP is to start with a basic feature set, which keeps the initial costs low and hence relatively easy to recoup through lower call-costs. This means that many SMBs are likely to be perfectly happy to start with a VoIP system that offers little more than basic calling/faxing.

Once this initial system has become established, however, they are very likely to want to add at least some level of enhanced functionality, even if only mainstream applications such as conference-calling, video-calling, and call-recording. Some SMBs might even be interested in pushing the capabilities of VoIP and looking at options such as Unified Communications and extensive integrations with other applications. This, however, will almost certainly come further down the line.

Deciding what features you need and when may influence your choice of VoIP service vendor. For example, initially, you might want to go for the VoIP service vendor which offers the lowest prices (without compromising on quality) but can only support a limited range of features. You would do this knowing that there was a good chance you would have to change to another VoIP service vendor further down the line.

Alternatively, if you’re sure you’re going to want to upgrade your initial system, you might want to think ahead and opt for a vendor who could support you all the way, even if they didn’t offer the lowest prices. That way you have time to build up a relationship with the VoIP service vendor and for them to get to know your business.

Shortlist vendors who meet your requirements and then confirm their standards 

It’s pointless to shortlist vendors who cannot meet your technical requirements, but it’s important to ensure that they can also meet your standards in terms of quality of service, security, and compliance, and customer service and support.

If you’d like to speak to one of the best VoIP service partners in Auburn, please click here now to contact Salient IT.