Best Small Business Phones For the Biggest Bang For the Buck
By Sam Langly
A VoIP-based small business phone system can save your company time and money, and spare you the hassle of having to manage yet one more aspect of your company's needs. But how exactly does a VoIP-based system work, and how can it help you? And what key features should you look for when choosing a small business VoIP phone system? Read on to find out more.
What Type of VoIP Service Should You Choose?
When searching for a VoIP service for your business, you have two options: hosted VoIP or IPPBX. In a hosted VoIP system, an outside company manages the telephony service and all that it entails. This eliminates the need to hire an IT person responsible for managing your phone system. Furthermore, a VoIP system relies on your existing local-area network (LAN), or widearea network (WAN.) As long as your business has an existing broadband connection, your setup can be quite straightforward.
A VoIP PBX system differs from hosted VoIP in that all hardware is purchased, managed and maintained by your business. Instead of an outside VoIP provider taking care of all call maintenance, that responsibility falls on your company. Given that a hosted VoIP setup is fairly simple, and most of the hard work of day-to-day maintenance is managed by the VoIP provider, it tends to be the type of service most favored by small businesses.
What Are the Advantages of Choosing VoIP?
A small business VoIP phone system can help your business in critical ways. Lower Costs: In a hosted VoIP system, there is no need to purchase any extra hardware aside from the phones that you will use. Even cell phones can work with a hosted VoIP system. The only up-front investment you will make is in the initial cost of setting up the service.
Simple Maintenance: With an outside provider managing your telephony service, there is no need for personnel to maintain your company's phone system. Furthermore, any changes can be made via a secure website that most hosted VoIP services provide. This adds further versatility when the time comes to add users, change phone numbers, access voicemail, change voice prompts, or alter any other feature as the need arises.
Ease of Communication: Most small business VoIP services host phone, video and data conferencing, which can allow your employees to collaborate with greater ease. A telephony phone system based on VoIP is also ideal for companies that have satellite offices, mainly because extensions are not location-based.
Easy Call Tracking: Most hosted VoIP providers offer an up-to-date call report that you can access via your web account. This enables you to see who calls were made to, how long the calls lasted, and the time at which the calls started and stopped. Faxes are also logged, and can be viewed in the same manner.
For a list of features you should look for in your small business phone system, and also the steps you must take to determine the best phone system provider for your business, check out our free small business phone systems guide.
The above content was created in collaboration with K.Ettenson for CompareBusinessProducts.com
Sam Langley is a Silicon Valley business process consultant, who works to implement phone systems, bandwidth, office technologies at leading Silicon Valley businesses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sam_Langly/377808