5 Things to Consider when buying a VOIP phone system

VoIP can be an excellent tool for communication and a great way of reducing phone costs for your business. But it's not right for every business, so you'll want to look carefully at whether it's something that you want to invest in now. Things you'll want to consider include the amount of money currently being spent on calls, the cost of setting up and maintaining your VoIP system, and the possible drawbacks of using VoIP. A closer look at these topics can assist you in making your decisions.

Here are some things to think about before you get invested in VoIP:

• Does your company regularly make internal long distance phone calls? If so, what is your current system for doing so and what is the approximate monthly cost of that system?
• Does your current ISP have a VoIP option? VoIP is relatively new and not all ISPs offer it yet. Those that are may or may not provide bundled service packages that make the change worth its cost.
• What is the cost of VoIP offered by your ISP, including any hidden costs such as equipment, networking, training and tech support?
• What kind of equipment will be necessary for VoIP set-up?
• Is your small or midsize business already on a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), which facilitates setting up VoIP and reduces initial set-up fees?

After weighing the pros and cons, you have to make the final decision about whether VoIP is right for your business at this time. If you decide that a VoIP purchase is a good idea, consider these final tips for the purchasing process:

• Shop around. This sounds obvious but many business buyers go straight to their own ISP and don't go any further. Explore all of your options before making a VoIP purchase. Consider using a licensed reseller for the purchase.
• Get and understand manufacturer support. Your VoIP system will eventually have problems; at the very least, it will require upgrades. Be sure that you know the details of how to obtain help and services.
• Ask in advance if you will have all of the admin passwords to make simple changes. You want a VoIP system that you can access yourself for things like changing users; you don't want your business to have to foot the bill for an IT person to do that.
• Be sure that your bandwidth capacity will be sufficient. The keywords to look for here are "low jitter," "low latency" and "low packet loss."
• Find out whether add-on services are available (for example, an 800 number for your business) that you may need or want to consider in the future and what the options are for adding-on after the start-up date.

VoIP is increasingly popular among businesses, especially as the potential for remote collaboration is being employed by more businesses. However, it comes with initial and ongoing costs. If the costs outweigh the benefits, don't be afraid to wait until VoIP is a little less of a newcomer technology before making the call for your business.