How Should an Enterprise Select a VoIP Provider?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that has existed for over a decade now. It has created opportunities for people to communicate over distances via the internet saving them a fortune that would have been spent on telephone charges had they not opted for it. VoIP-based services are used extensively by business enterprises today as they look at more ways to cut costs and reduce infrastructure by making everything as virtual as possible. Using a VoIP-based communication system in your business has great advantages. Here are some of them: First, you do not have to change your local phone number as VoIP is not based on your normal telephone line. You can communicate with your customers or with your employees through an intra-enterprise VoIP system right from your desktop PC or Laptop or even from handheld smartphones and tablets. Today internet speeds have shot up to such a level that using it to convey audio as well as video signals is quite easy and very affordable as compared to normal telephone cable infrastructure. It offers the freedom to connect with your customers and employees from virtually anywhere on the planet through an internet connection thereby making it one of the most flexible communication systems for an enterprise. Automation within your customer contact system is made possible by VOIP systems. You can set up an automated response for a customer call directing him or her to the concerned department automatically thereby reducing service time and delay and providing better satisfaction for your clients. VoIP based employee communication systems are scalable. When a new employee joins the team, you do not have to assign a new telephone and a telephone number to him or her but you simply have to get an extension for them from your VoIP system from which they can operate a new line via their computers. So VoIP-based communication systems are in fact a big asset for enterprises as they can easily cut down on heavy infrastructure costs if they were to allot physical telephone lines to each and every employee and they were to implement call routing and scheduling physically each time a customer call is transferred to their service department. Automation largely reduces service time which would translate into great savings because the more number of satisfied customers, the better it will be for your brand’s image and the more will affinity of customers will be to return to you for any other services. However, it is not wise to choose any VoIP system without having to conduct a detailed study of both your business requirements as well as the service provided by the VoIP vendor. Let us examine the criteria that enterprises should follow while selecting a VoIP service provider: Flexible Service Plan: This is a vital norm as your business only needs what it requires - nothing more, nothing less. The provider should offer whatever services your business needs, whether it be international call management, intra organizational calls and much more. Choose a specific business plan that offers you with enough minutes of service and that which suits your organization's support infrastructure budget. Features: It is quite natural to overlook features that normally all VoIP providers provide such as call forwarding, voicemail, automated response, etc. because they are guaranteed to be in every basic VoIP system. What should you look for?  The service providers offer more utility features such as call queuing systems, mobile forwarding applications that direct the calls to your mobile if you are away from your office and unable to attend calls from your computer and several other specific call features. Usability: The VoIP system you choose should be easily integrated into your business environment and control of your VoIP network should be a piece of cake for whoever manages the process. Reliability of Network: Losing a live call due to network errors is something an enterprise cannot tolerate especially when they work on tight deadlines and hence, it is important to ascertain the network infrastructure of your VoIP service provider to ensure that it is fail proof and reliably. Support: Any issues or faults that may arise in your VoIP system should be rectified at the earliest possible time because any disruption of customer service for a longer period would seriously affect brand image as well as lead to escalating losses owing to lack of communication. Hence the service provider should provide reliable assistance and support for their VoIP products to ensure that enterprises using their systems are not left alone to fend off faults and failures. Hence when you select a VoIP provider, make sure you properly follow the abovementioned criteria because there is no room for mistakes as every minute of communication within the organization or with your customers is vital for your business’ prolonged existence.

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Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.   About the Guest Author: Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, I have experience meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.