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Small Business VoIP Service Providers Buyer's Guide
Compared to the residential market, in the business marketplace, the scrutiny and service demands get raised dramatically for Service Providers. Quality is a requirement and guarantees should be provided to customers. The complexity of the system required goes up exponentially as more lines get added. The range of features users want is very different.
There are two different kinds of small business VoIP services provided by companies. One is a hosted service and this is the commonest solution offered by small business VoIP Service Providers. In this case, all the equipment and management of the service is hosted externally to the company by the Service Provider.
The alternative is an on-premises service (also called customer premise equipment - CPE) where the equipment needed to run the service resides at the business and is managed directly by the business and the Service Provider only supplies the connection on an ongoing basis - this option is usually supplied by Internet Service Providers who are providing the network connection itself and for whom VoIP service is an add-on.
Any small business VoIP plan should have a clear explanation of equipment costs including costs for the telephones themselves. If it is a hosted service then the phones should be the only equipment cost - and many will lease the phone at a price included with the monthly service. If it is not hosted, then there may be a range of other equipment charges depending on the complexity of the solution offered. Equipment that may be required includes routers, switches and gateways as well as dedicated servers and phones and cabling.
Typical business services are very wide ranging. Basic services that all systems will support include providing extensions, call waiting, caller ID, three-way calling, voicemail, speed dial, caller-ID-based blocking, etc. Most offer a range of more advanced features and typical services include:
- Call hold with music on hold - this feature includes management of call holding such as time on hold and rollover to voicemail, reminder voice messages and the ability to move and transfer calls on hold.
- Conference calling - from simple three-way conference calls to heavy duty hundred person conference calls. More advanced options include hosted conference calls with unknown attendees.
- Click to call - the ability to initiate calls from a PC. More advanced versions can integrate VoIP calling into Outlook or other Office applications and even into CRM and web services.
- Call queuing - the ability to put calls into queues to be answered in turn by groups of operators or by designated extensions.
- Call center functions - functions to help a business operate a call center for incoming and outgoing telemarketing, sales and service.
- Attendant console - a control system - usually web-based - that allows the company to manage individual calls and the functions of its telephony system from a simple interface.
- Call grouping - grouping incoming calls, extensions, employees and more together into functional units that can send, receive and manage calls as a single unit.
- Find/follow features - features to automatically reroute calls to employees wherever they are located - including mobile numbers, telecommuting options, etc.
- Remote office features - features to support satellite offices and either have them operate as distinct entities or as if they are part of the main office
- Scheduling features - features to change the operation of the system at different times or to schedule other operations.
- Fax support - although it would seem like the most likely and needed feature, fax support is in practice a frequent area of failure for small business VoIP suppliers.
- E911 - just as in the residential VoIP market, this is a regulatory and service feature issue. Customers, whether individuals or businesses expect the emergency service numbers to work, but for that to happen, clear location information must be provided. Several initiatives are solving this issue, but not all Service Providers are ready to implement e911 services.
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