How To Optimize VoIP for Your Business

There was a time when managers and administrators doubted the relevance of VoIP technology when it came to forging ahead with their business. It was relatively fresh back then; not a lot of people were aware of or had experienced its benefits.

Now, there's a huge shift. There is no longer any doubt that VoIP is good for business.

But, there is work to be done. You need to know how to leverage VoIP technology so you can make the most of it.

Spend Less on Telecommunications and Use Your Funds Elsewhere

VoIP calls cost drastically less than traditional telephony. You can expect to increase savings through cut phone bills, on top of other things that you can do to keep telecommunications expenditures low.

For instance, you can use softphones at the start. You can also retain the use of your old analog phones and just buy ATAs (analog telephone adapters) for them. This allows you to allot funds to more crucial projects, such as those in marketing, which is especially important for startups.

Another savings avenue through VoIP is mobile communications. Through VoIP apps, you can take your office extension everywhere. Talk is practically free as long as there's wi-fi.

VoIP lets you reapportion your budget to consider priorities and crucial business undertakings. Through this technology, you can infuse money where necessary and still have an optimally functioning communications system working for you.

Your Office Extension, Anywhere

With VoIP, you can take your office extension anywhere. Your office goes with you to where you need to be. This keeps you accessible to partners, clients and prospective customers. You are on call, wherever you are. You are on top of your business' day-to-day.

VoIP comes with features like “Find Me Anywhere,” the usual call forwarding and the like. These give you accessibility when you need it. For your partners and clients, it gives them the assurance that you will always be available to them.

Leverage VoIP Features

VoIP also comes with other features that you can use to give your business a boost.

Videoconferencing can be a great tool to establish connections across satellite offices and branches, as well as with partners and clients. It adds a level of trustworthiness to your business relationship.

Likewise, information is streamlined, and readily available across your business' different venues. This gives you many opportunities to make your processes and workflow more efficient and updated.

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To ensure that your VoIP service really does work 24/7 for your business, it should also be monitored 24/7. Through VoIP Spear, you can implement the best monitoring service for your communications systems. Your system is tested persistently, and you receive alerts when its performance falls below par. You can address issues right away, before it affects your bottom line.

Three Questions To Ask Before Your Switch to VoIP

Switching to VoIP is a major step and is something that you need to do when you want incomparable savings in your phone bill. This New Year is a great time to do this. Not only will you benefit from the leaps and bounds made by VoIP technology. You will enjoy low signup rates and phone bills.

If you want VoIP for your business, however, there are questions you need to answer first. These give you a good assessment of your organization’s readiness in making the big switch.

Will it improve your work efficiency and productivity?

One of the things you’d want to happen with a switch to VoIP is an increase in productivity and efficiency. After all, VoIP – through communications convergence – lets you do so many things with data in digital format. Plus, don’t forget the savings from VoIP. You can do a lot with that to improve your day-to-day performance.

However, VoIP can take its toll on your network. If you are not sure about the capacity of your network because all that you’ve been doing is browsing and file-sharing, then test it using the services of VoIP Spear. Being on a poor network can cost you. The data packet that run through your network will multiply by at least 4X because of voice packets. If your network cannot take this much traffic, then you are also compromising other tasks done within the network. This can affect the quality and quantity of work done within a day.

Can your network handle VoIP?

This is the logical ‘next question,’ of course. Your network directly affects your VoIP benefits. If you have limited bandwidth, you will need to upgrade your account. However, if your network is really bad, it is ideal to not switch to VoIP until you find a better one, a service provider with proven support for VoIP telecommunications.

An incapable network means that you are likely to suffer from bad voice call quality. You will experience delays/ pauses in calls, as well as jitter and packet delays.

Can you afford to equip your office for VoIP?

A typical office cannot use VoIP just via computer and headphones. This takes away from accessibility and convenience. SIP phones or ATA boxes are necessary for workstations with phone units. You will also need an IP PBX system or a gateway device for your old PBX. All this can cost. So, alongside your VoIP account fees, you will need to take care of this at the start.

When you do make a switch to VoIP, treat this as an investment. Install whatever’s necessary so that this investment lasts. Make sure that you have an account with VoIP Spear, and that you are monitoring all your endpoints. This tests your endpoints for performance lapses, which you or your support team can then address. 

An Easy Guide to Transition to VoIP

When you have finally decided to ditch traditional wireline telecommunication for VoIP, don’t worry about the transition. Switching to VoIP can be a simple task. You only have to pay attention to the details at the start, when you want to ensure that you get a near-perfect service. Getting all this done early saves you from VoIP problems (at least those that you can control from your end).

VoIP is a reliable alternative to traditional telecommunication. It is also cheaper and more accessible, as long as you have reliable internet connections. Likewise, you need to have done your transition properly:

1. Get the right service providers: This is probably the most basic thing to do when you want to ensure a successful transitioning to VoIP. It means that your internet connection should be fast enough for VoIP (at least DSL). The service should also be reliable, with little downtime. At the same time, you should go with a reputable VoIP service company, ideally through a paid account.

2. Get suitable gear: The right gear to use with your VoIP account depends on your circumstances. It could be that you work in front of the computer most of the time, and would like to process calls through it to keep things simple. If that’s the case, then you just need a good headset and microphone. However, if you want to install VoIP for your entire household, then it’s a good idea to invest in a SIP phone or an ATA unit for your analog phone. If you’re an office manager handling your company’s VoIP transition, you will need to choose between investing in a gateway for your old PBX or getting an IP PBX. The IP PBX is the better choice if you’re transitioning your entire communications platform to VoIP.

3. Transfer your public telephone number: VoIP companies refer to this as your DID number, which stands for Direct Inward Dialing number. Your service provide will transfer your DIDs for you for a limited number of DIDs. Companies or those with big offices should coordinate with their phone company regarding the transfer of their DIDs.

4. Install your VoIP Service: At this point, you can already move forward with installing your VoIP service. 

5. Install Backup Services: There are two necessary backup services for VoIP. These are your VoIP testing services and your backup power plan. The call monitoring service is a third party service, like VoIP Spear. It usually comes for free for single endpoint testing. The backup power can be a simple UPS or generator. It can also be a default setup wherein calls are transferred mobile or wireline numbers when VoIP is not accessible.