Is VoIP for my Small Business?

A simple, but complex question I get from a lot of small business owners and IT staff is, “is VoIP for my small business.”

Those of us in the industry might think that this question is a definitive, “Yes.” But for you – the small business – it’s not always that easy.

After all you’ve likely got a zillion other things to worry about.

Still VoIP is consistently in the media and millions of other businesses have made the switch making it a popular talking point.

In general, the interest in switching to VoIP for a small business is usually driven by one or more of these three factors:

• Your existing system is failing or about licensing is about to expire
• You are moving offices and are planning out the details of that move
• Or you are paying too much for your phone service and are looking to explore other options.

What this really means is that you are interested in upgrading to expand what your phone system can do for, saving money on your existing phone bill or both.

Upgraded features and functionality is great and so too is cost savings, but when it comes to upgrades and cost savings there are three primary aspects to consider:

• Phone system type – Both systems offer a different transition. Premise based systems tend to take a little longer to turn up because of the need to wire, provision the system, and provision the phones. Some hardware companies offer pre-configuration services that can minimize this initial down time but if you’re leaning in the direction of premise it is usually a good idea to plan for a few days or a weekend of setup time. Hosted systems on the other hand tend to be quicker to turn up as the phones purchased either come pre-configured with firmware or is easily attainable once the phone is in your possession.
• True cost savings – Saving money is largely determined by the amount and type of calls you’re doing. If you’re doing a lot of long distance or international long distance hosted providers offer a variety of plans that target cost savings per call. Premise systems can take SIP Trunks. Providers of sip trunking service also offer many options and plans for customers to take advantage of a lower cost per dial. See here (link to first article) for further information on VoIP and Cost savings.
• So based on this how do you decide if VoIP is for your small business? There’s five ways:
  • Your current phone system is out of service or not performing adequately
  • Based on your call habits you’ll see a true cost savings
  • There is appropriate budget and staff to purchase and maintain a new VoIP system (or you’re comfortable with a hosted VoIP system)
  • It’s true that you could dive deeper into this topic, but like I said above you’re a small business and have other things to worry about too.

    If you pay attention to the factors above and consider the statements you just read it should be easy for you to come up with an answer specific to your business. If not give me a call at 829-356-9089 or drop me an email at biteric.asterisk@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to help you make an informed decision.