Are you looking to choose a business VoIP provider but not sure which one is right for your needs?
Once your business has decided to move away from traditional phone services, the search for the best VoIP provider becomes a critical step in modernizing the way your team communicates. VoIP is a term used for business phone service which allows you to use advanced call management features to make phone calls directly from your computer or mobile device.
Unlike the old school bulky phone setup, business VOIP is a perfect phone solution for small businesses. You can cut down traditional phone costs while getting a more powerful business phone system. In choosing the right partner, it’ll make it that much easier to scale the technology as the business grows and expands into new markets. Customer experiences will also improve because your team will be able to respond more quickly when someone needs help. And cost savings mean you can allocate more money toward other areas of the business.
However, in failing to choose a VOIP provider that suits you, you’ll not only miss out on the benefits but also might have to take on new challenges so it’s important to get a VoIP number right away. These could include troubleshooting quality of service issues, increased costs, and even security risks.
Here’s how to choose the best VoIP provider for your business.
Qualities to look for when choosing a great VoIP service
-
Features
When it comes to full-featured VoIP services, they usually offer a variety of collaboration tools employees can use to meet, interact, and work jointly online. Users can access these capabilities either through a single unified communications client or through separate apps offered either by the VoIP provider or via third-party integration. Basic options include SMS texting, video conferencing, and online meeting collaboration.
-
Pricing
What good is choosing a business VoIP service with all of the bells and whistles if you can’t afford it? Be vigilant when pursuing providers that have hefty fees, because you never know if they’ll stash hidden fees in there somewhere. Think about the features you need and tailor your premium plan accordingly. Growth-stage businesses should anticipate their current requirements but also be creative enough to map out what they will need in the future. Check that your VoiP provider can scale at will and consider the price implications down the road. Once you map features to the business processes that need voice, you’ll know what your bare minimum voice platform will need to support. From there, you can do comparison shopping.
-
Customer service
As with any product, the level of service you’ll receive is crucial to how well your service functions. If you run a global business with round-the-clock needs, you’re going to want to find a service provider that can guarantee your queries will be answered immediately (or at least in a timely fashion). If they can’t offer that, you might want to look elsewhere, especially if your phone system is the main method of communicating with clients.
-
Scalability
One of VoIP’s key draws is it’s software. Because it’s software, these systems often have a list of pre-built integrations with whatever apps the vendor believes their customers like. Using these extensions, customers can build custom workflows to help them work more efficiently. But as part of the integration, you might also store an automatic recording of the call as a .wav file that’s linked to both the ticket text file and the Desk.com ticket number, so whenever anyone calls up this ticket record, both those files appear as supporting documentation.
Some of the best VoIP Providers
-
VoIPstudio
VoIPstudio is a feature-rich and customizable VoIP phone service perfect for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a full suite of cloud PBX and collaboration features, including call routing, call logging, call recording, IVR, video calls and video conferencing, and is fully integrated for CRMs. Also a perfect fit for international use, they have virtual numbers available for more than 50 countries. One important thing to note is that all of these features are included at no additional cost in each plan.VoIPstudio is a powerful tool where you can configure and manage a complex VoIP system that encompasses all of the users in your business, with 24/7 omnichannel support . With prices beginning at $4.99, they offer a fully functional 30-day free trial with 200 minutes in calls – no credit card required, so you can test the whole system with no risk.
-
RingCentral
RingCentral is a consistent performer when it comes to quality of calls, ease of use, and range of pricing to satisfy most budgets. For small business owners, it’s convenient to prioritise real value beats cheapest price. RingCentral is both affordable and offers a high-quality VoIP phone system for businesses of all sizes, with toll-free minutes included at every pricing tier.
RingCentral also offers an omnichannel contact center that can take your customer service game to the next level. This additional service helps you handle and track all your customer contact—phone calls, emails, text messages, even social media comments—from one easy-to-use platform that’s built for collaboration
-
8×8
8×8 is another solid choice for small businesses in need of VoIP services, especially if the price is your be-all and end-all. Upfront, they’re cheaper than most platforms but offer competitive quotes, shorter contracts, and deep discounts.They still deliver good service and a user-friendly interface, and they rank well overall as a VoIP service provider. 8×8 might be the right choice if you need to get a basic VoIP service off the ground for your business at the lowest price. Just expect to pay more for additional features over time.
