Dialing Up VoIP Could Connect Your Business to More Savings

Gifts for the holidays come in all different shapes and sizes.

So, what might be the best gift a small business owner can give him or herself as the buying season descends around the country?

For some small business owners, connecting with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for their communication needs is certainly not the worst call they will ever make.

If you are a small business owner that has not dialed-in to VoIP up to this point, take note of several items:

* Determine why you want VoIP in the first place - The first goal is to see why VoIP may work best for your company’s communication needs. Are you a growing company or have plans to grow in the next couple of years? Do you have employees who are regularly on the road, meaning communication with them is of major importance? Lastly, are you currently spending too much money when it comes to your communication needs? Review these issues and others to see if small business VoIP does in fact make sense for your operations;

* Determine what is needed should you say yes to VoIP - In the event you are leaning to going with VoIP for your company, get several quotes from providers so that you have choices available to you, even if the first provider you speak with sounds like the best. Check to see the cost each provider quotes you, what their customer service record looks like (best to find non-biased individuals and/or companies that have used them), and the financial stability of the provider. In the event the company has any track record of financial issues and/or customer service complaints, you are better served to look elsewhere;

* Determine your hosting needs - Whether you go with a hosted or non-hosted service will determine how simple or difficult installing VoIP will be. When you go with a hosted provider, much of the work is already done for you, meaning not much extra is needed other than the phones themselves. In turn, going with a self-hosted solution means more work on your end, including having an IP-centered PBX (private branch exchange) to direct your calls to the necessary network phones. You will also require a PSTN gateway, a device centered between the IP-PBX software and the analog signals for a public switched telephone network. This will convert the calls to and from digital signals as needed;

* Determine the necessary bandwith - Another item that needs your attention is how much bandwith you will need to implement VoIP for your company. Take note that VoIP does need a broadband connection to work properly, so more simultaneous users translates to added bandwith requirements. The key is to know whether or not your internal network can do the job with the load facing it;

* Determine the savings - Last but not least, many small business owners will want to know how going with VoIP can save them money over time. In many cases, VoIP systems will be cheaper than your standard phone line, mostly due to the fact that there is a smaller amount of infrastructure that calls must travel through to get from one end to the other. If you have an office call center, you can also seize upon the fact that you can provide faster and improved customer service to your clients. Finally, the savings can add up with your employees who travel regularly, as conferencing can be more efficient with VoIP.

Whether your small business is looking to grow, save money over time or provide better service to both clients and employees, you can dial up a number of reasons to give VoIP a look.