6 Considerations when Choosing a VoIP Phone Service Provider
The exit of Blueface from the Irish market means that many business customers will be looking for a new VoIP phone service provider. Here's what to consider.
With the PSTN switch off coming in 2025, many businesses are looking into upgrading their connectivity infrastructure. It’s also a good time to look at refreshing your VoIP phone solution, especially if you’re one of the businesses that will be affected by the exit of Blueface from the Irish market.
VoIP has been widely adopted by businesses for many reasons: it’s easy to set-up, facilitates remote working and mobile devices, and integrates seamlessly with many other services. It still has all the features of a PBX system – at a fraction of the cost.
But, there’s a lot to consider when choosing a VoIP phone service to ensure you get the best solution for your organisation, such as industry and the features you’ll need, along with price, support and security.
1. VoIP phone features that match your business
Every business is different in terms of niche and strategy. If you operate a contact centre, your needs will be more complex. A good VoIP provider will be able to advise on how you can generate more value and benefit from your voice solution based on the needs of the business. After all, there are a lot of advanced features available with VoIP phone systems that simply can’t be accessed through legacy systems. These include call routing, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), automated attendant, call analytics, softphone, SMS messaging and, of course, video-conferencing.
2. Third-party integration
That’s just the beginning, because one of the great advantages of digital VoIP systems is their ability to integrate with other systems. A growing range of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are available that allow disparate systems to exchange data and share functionality. CRM, payroll, Microsoft Teams and cloud storage are just a few examples.
3. Customer support
With any phone system, reliability is essential. If your phones go down, so do your business operations. That’s why back-up mechanisms and support are essential. While some companies operate within standard business hours, others need to be available 24/7. Make sure your provider offers the support you need to safeguard your operations when you need it.
The best providers will be transparent on average response and resolution times, offer omnichannel customer support, as well as self-service options, such as an online knowledge base and chatbots. Training on VoIP features will help your employees, and your business, derive the maximum benefit from a new VoIP phone system.
4. Cost-efficiencies
Price will always be a factor for most businesses, but if you’re upgrading from an older PBX system, remember that a VoIP phone system comes with cost savings built-in, as well as added features that could save the business money, or even generate revenue. Long-distance VoIP phone calls are much more affordable compared to traditional landlines.
Typically, companies pay per user, with additional fees for advanced features or functionality. You may need to fund new hardware, or add adaptors to connect a legacy phone system. But, typically, with a VoIP phone solution, you only pay for the services you need.
5. VoIP phone system security
Because they run over the Internet, VoIP phone systems can be vulnerable to interception or breach, so nuisance calls and cybercrime is a potential risk. Fortunately, there are already ways of mitigating this risk and more are being developed to provide real-time security that monitors, alerts, reports and mitigates against threats.
Look for companies that integrate end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication and SOC, as well as support for compliance standards such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. Vulnerability testing and network monitoring can be extremely useful for detecting and preventing issues before they happen.
6. Reliability and uptime
It can’t be underestimated how important reliability is when it comes to the connectivity needs of your business. While high speed broadband options such as cable, fibre and even 5G provide consistent bandwidth and lower latency than legacy technologies, providers should have multiple geographically diverse data centres connected by tier 1 fibre networks, so if one fails, another takes over maintaining optimal uptime. While no VoIP provider can guarantee 100% uptime, there can be a huge variation between one company and another.
Additionally, VoIP phone solutions can be configured with call forwarding to direct calls to employee devices during an emergency. The VoIP service provider you choose will impact reliability and quality. Evaluate providers based on infrastructure, service level agreements, customer support, redundancy measures and reputation.
Connect to the company that connects you
Most importantly of all, your VoIP phone service provider should come with a successful track record and provide the advice you need to develop a solution that best meets the needs of your organisation and its goals.
That’s why DigitalWell should be a serious consideration. Not only do we provide a full consultancy service, we also provide a range of other connectivity solutions, such as business broadband, SD-WAN and cloud services.
If your service is ending with Blueface, or you’re looking to upgrade your voice, or connectivity, infrastructure for the PSTN switch off, get in touch with an expert at DigitalWell today.
