What Should You Look For in a Business VoIP Solution?

Firstly, why do you WANT to go VoIP? Is there a valid reason .... or because it's the 'next technological step'? VoIP is great when deployed for the RIGHT reasons.

Once you have established that you need it, and the ROI has been proved (this is often overlooked), then you need to go with a company who can:

1. provide you with the right technological solution

2. back this up with their support (that meets your specific environment).

The VOIP/UC space is highly competitive with clear market segmentation between SMB, enterprise and service provider. All should speak to features, multi-channel communications integration and ROI. I'm seeing real differentiation for those who can fully leverage the ROI across multiple use case scenarios and further integrate the platform into business processes. The latter has larger productivity impact long term, and honestly better value assuming the ROI fundamentals are roughly the same across providers.

The requirements usually vary depending on the implementation for the small business perspective but I think the top 4 most sought after factors for small business are:

1) Quality Service - How about a SLA (Service Level Agreement)?

2) Great Support - Real people that I can understand and are helpful.

3) Features - PBX features like RingCentral.com or Packet8 Virtual Office

4) Price - Competitive

Cost savings is generally the driving factor to switching to VoIP, but you need to make sure the system can grow with your business and the cost of that growth.

Additionally, support is a KEY point. It's too common for a company to wait an average of 4 days before service requests are answered .... and they can only be submitted via a web form. This is not good when your business is at a standstill, but it is often the one place where companies skimp to save money.

Companies covering multiple geographic areas most definitely need to take technical support into consideration. There is no problem finding an Avaya or Nortel tech to service a site as an example. I stongly suggest avoiding small VoIP equipment manufacturers.

Additionally, small companies should work closely with their network service provider to make sure of compatibility & optimal configurations. At a minimum a solid T1 circuit with a SLA must be required. Your bandwidth provider may also have discounts on the purchase and installation that they can bundle for a more cost effective package.

You need to ensure you have Quality of Service on your network (a min of Layer 3 switches) - otherwise forget it...and of course you need to consider how much bandwidth you will need, how many simultaneous calls are going between each of your locations (if site to site) or over your LAN. This all of course effects the overall cost and quality of the voice call.

But how about when your network flakes. One too many times on a daily basis VoIP clients are screaming lividly over their VoIP calls dropping, echo, one way audio .... you name it, they'll complain about it. Most of the times (think high 90% of it), its due to your network providers.

Companies have forgotten, or do not truly understand, how VoIP really works outside of "phone via networks .... Cheap!" - to understand the potential pitfalls from VoIP ?



So you have an internet connection, let's say a DS3 through Level3 and your VoIP is passing over this connection. They (Level3) decide they're going to de-peer again with Cogentco or some other NAP (Network Access Provider). Guess what? Their new routes might not be optimal and your calls can suffer. Do you point to Level3 for your phone sounding horrible. Nope, you call your VoIP provider to complain. But it's NOT their fault.

Other factors to consider in a solution for a small business are:

1. Ability to set an "after-hours" greeting or handler;

2. Ability to ring through to your cell phone during certain hours or when you're enable that feature;

3. Reliability;

4. Call quality;

5. Economy compared to a land-line;

6. Fax services.

Also, don't forget the importance of QoS router/switch equipment on your network if you are running Voice/Data over the same net.

More important than the VoIP platform (which is what most folks think of as the solution) is having a top-drawer service provider to handle the implementation and ongoing service/support. A bad implementation of a good platform is much worse for any business than an outstanding implementation of a lesser platform!

Generally it's hard to answer this question when you have no idea of what the business is trying to accomplish .... and whether any system in particular will meet all or a subset of those requirements. Frankly, it varies depending on the requirements

You could break any of the major players into segments: Cisco targets Medium to large businesses .... while it's Linksys Division targets small businesses. While Avaya has systems that run through all of the target groups (small, medium, large businesses).

As I stress to everyone whenever they are looking to implement new technology, it all comes down to what you want to accomplish today and down the road for your business. Then match up to the technology that will help you achieve those goals.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including Business VoIP Solution. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.
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