Making the Right Call: should your business switch to VoIP? - Part 4

In part 3 of our 4-part series looking at whether your business should make the switch to VoIP, we discussed whether a hosted or cloud server would suit your company, or a self-installed system.

The final part will ask whether you can really trust your service provider, and provide you with a collection of questions to ask, to help you better judge the advice and service your VoIP provider offers.

Part 4 - Do you have a high level of trust with your service provider, or potential service provider?

Unfortunately, some VoIP service providers will attempt to sell you their products with pitches based on untruths and exaggerations. If the pricing or promises of performance sound too good to be true, they probably are just that.

Nobody can tell you whether or not you can trust your own service provider, but learning something about VoIP for yourself before speaking to them will give you a far better chance of deciding whether they are being entirely truthful with you.

Take note of the following questions, and consider putting them to your own service provider to see how well they answer; their responses may suggest they are more interested in your money than your VoIP system.

How can VoIP help to increase productivity?

VoIP systems are able to forward voice mail and faxes to an email address, allowing a person the convenience of receiving all of their messages in one place.

Calls to VoIP numbers are also able to come through to multiple devices before going to voice mail. This can help eliminate ‘phone tag’, the situation where yourself and the person you intend to speak to repeatedly miss each other despite calling at the same time.

A recent Sage Research survey found that the increased productivity brought about by internet telephony can save as much as 3.9 hours in the working week of an employee.

How does VoIP technology help remote workers and their companies?

Unlike traditional business landlines, VoIP numbers are able to be accessed anywhere with an internet connection. This could be at home, in a hotel room, at a friend’s house, or in a coffee shop. The world becomes an office, allowing employees to work remotely and their employer to be in constant contact with them.

How does VoIP technology help to save money?

VoIP technology can dramatically lower the telecommunication costs of a company that is constantly making calls; especially long distance calls.

Aside from reducing monthly telephone bills, VoIP systems also include features that would have to be paid for separately when using traditional phone technology, such as real time high quality video conferencing, and dedicated call center applications.

How can VoIP technology help to open new markets?

Aside from the advantages of being able to cost-effectively employ remote workers in areas where new markets are looking to be opened up, VoIP technology can help to attract new customers in a certain area by mimicking the local dialing code.

As the information is being sent across the internet and not through telephone lines, dialing codes aren’t strictly necessary, which means dummy codes can be assigned to give customers in a region the impression they are dealing with a local business.

Is VoIP technology less secure than the traditional telephone?

Telephone hacking has been happening for decades, and if somebody wants to listen to your conversation, they will. Every day, millions of people send personal information in emails, log in to their online bank account, or input their credit card details when making purchases.

Most of these actions happen without incident. If your computer security measures are up to date, VoIP is no less secure than copper-wire communication.

Is VoIP suitable for emergency calls?

With emergency calls from older telephones being directed to their local service operator, some have expressed concern that VoIP technology won’t support this feature. The truth is, in North America, it is required to happen by law.

All of this information should be known by your service provider, and displaying it yourself will either push them to elaborate further or become less sure of their own sales pitch. Clearly, one of these reactions is more favorable than the other, and will give you an insight into how much faith you should be placing in them.

Do your homework, both in the finer details of VoIP and in your service provider too. 

You'll be glad you did.

If after reading our 4-part series on whether your business should make the switch to VoIP you still find yourself in a quandary, you may want to contact a consultant whom specializes in the field.

They can be expensive, and occasionally they may tend to offer advice which leads to a commonly recommended provider, but the process can leave you feeling far more comfortable in your decision. 

In the end, it will be these people who will be keeping you up and running. 

Choose them wisely, as you would choose any integral employee.