Top Best VoIP Service West Sacramento

How To Choose Best VoIP service in West Sacramento?

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. At a basic level, it means using the internet instead of the traditional phone network. At a more advanced level, it means that voice communications are treated as data, which means that they can be managed as data. For example, with VoIP, your phone system can be integrated with your CRM system. VoIP offers all kinds of benefits to businesses and cost savings are only the start. With that in mind, here is a quick guide to what you need to know about choosing a VoIP service in West Sacramento.

Functions Of VoIP Service

1. Start by analyzing your current usage

The chances are that you’ll start by using your VoIP system is pretty much exactly the same way as you use your existing telephone system, so looking at your call data is a good place to start thinking about your baseline level of functionality. Then try asking your staff (at all levels) what they like and dislike in the current system. See what functionality they believe a new system must have and what they would like to have. Here are some particular points to check.

2. Do you actually need VoIP handsets or would softphones be fine?

For some SMBs, the ability to ditch phone handsets is in itself a compelling argument in favor of VoIP. When space is at a premium, anything you can do to reduce what people need to keep on their desks often counts as a win. On the other hand, some users may feel much more comfortable sticking with what they know and having a phone which looks like a phone, even if it acts differently.

3. What sort of mobile support do you need?

Most VoIP service providers will have some level of support for mobile devices but if this is important to you, it’s very advisable to test this on its own as the quality of mobile apps can vary widely.

4. What sort of support do you need for remote workers?

Even if you strongly prefer to have all your staff on-site all the time, you’re probably going to need to support remote working to some extent if only for business continuity/disaster recovery. One of the great benefits of VoIP is that it is location-independent, but you still need a functioning end-point to translate the data packets into audio.

In theory, your options are still VoIP handsets and softphones. In practice, however, handing out VoIP handsets for remote work is usually more hassle than it’s worth. This means that your real choice is between implementing a softphone on the employee’s computer or implementing it on their mobile device (or both). This raises further questions about who will provide the necessary equipment and who will install and support the VoIP service.

5. Investigate support and security before you look at costs

In the real world, the cost is a huge driver of VoIP adoption and that’s completely reasonable, especially for SMBs on tight budgets. It’s also completely reasonable to consider making some compromises to achieve cost savings. Support, however, is a compromise too far, as is security. This means that you need to do thorough due diligence on your potential vendors so that you’re confident you’ll be comfortable working with them before you start to think about which (if any) of their packages would be the right option for you.

6. Remember you can upgrade your packages incrementally

One of the biggest differences between the traditional telephone system and VoIP services is that the former tend to insist on lengthy contracts whereas the latter is much more flexible. This can make it a whole lot easier for SMBs to experiment with different calling plans to see which one suits their needs (and wants) best and even to use different calling plans at different times of year (or on an ad hoc basis for example when implementing an outbound marketing campaign).

In the beginning, however, getting too hung up on the minutiae of calling plans can just be a recipe for confusion and also, potentially, disappointment. The fact is that in the beginning, your users are probably going to use your VoIP service in much the same way as they use the existing telephone service. It will usually take time for them to start adopting any new functionality and in some cases, it may have to be pushed out to them, or at least facilitated, by your IT Service team.

Rather than fighting this and potentially overloading your users, it can be a lot easier and, ultimately more beneficial, just to roll with it. Start with a basic package, see how you get on, and then move up from there.

If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced VoIP service partner in West Sacramento, please click here now to contact Aperio.IT.