Internet Phone and Your Business
Ten things you need to know when looking for a top VoIP service
Are you considering Internet phone? Here are ten things you need to know when looking for a top voip service:
- Whereas many companies hire employees specifically to maintain their phone systems, since Internet phone is a data-based technology, companies can save themselves considerable HR costs by having their existing IT departments handle maintenance of their VoIP business systems. Learning to implement and use a VoIP business system requires little to no training, especially for a knowledgeable IT professional.
- When using Internet phone as your business’s primary method of telecommunicating, backup telephone lines are still recommended. Even top voip service business networks will not be available in cases of power outages. An alternative to backup phone lines is a battery backup for Internet phone equipment, allowing a business to maintain power to its business VoIP system even in the event of a power failure.
- A UPS system or a diesel backup generator are other practical and effective solutions to the same concern. Companies that already have a LAN network running typically already have such backup systems in place.
- As with any data network, network integrity and security is a definite consideration in a top voip service. However, it is no easier for a hacker to break into your VoIP business network than it is for them to do the same to your regular broadband Internet network. And it is significantly harder for a hacker or other malcontent to hack into your VoIP business telephone system than it is for them to cut into your regular, traditional telephone line. A network that supports encryption will automatically encrypt VoIP traffic as well.
- Recommended minimum business VoIP network security is a business network security standard of H.323 or higher, and business VoIP customers without this degree of protection should seriously consider upgrading accordingly. Fortunately, as VoIP business grows as an industry, more top voip service providers are providing their customers this security standard with their business VoIP service.
- E911 service, while available with business VoIP service, will only send to emergency personnel the address your Internet phone service provider has on record for the location from which you predominantly place and receive calls, unlike E911 service for cell phones with built-in GPS systems which identify the caller’s exact location at the time of the call. There are two ways to compensate for this discrepancy; one is to purchase and use a VoIP Internet phone with a GPS built in; the other is to contact your VoIP service provider to update your address on file should you be making and receiving calls from a different location. For spur of the moment emergencies taking place elsewhere, however, it is best to have a cell phone with built-in GPS as a backup for placing E911 calls.
- If your company uses a call center, Internet phone technology is a no-brainer for the easiest, most affordable, effective, and efficient option for running and maintaining it.
- Top voip service providers empower businesses with many great and useful features, not least of which is “Click and Call”, a function that allows customers to instantly access customer support by clicking a button on your company website. On the support representative’s end, another feature can be implemented that reveals the caller’s contact and account information in a pop-up window for quicker and more personal call handling.
- Having an Internet phone system allows for quicker credit card authorization as a dedicated line can be active 100% of the time, even when voice calls are also coming through. This makes many companies previously unable to do so capable of handling after-hours credit card transactions.
- Internet phone systems and their many convenient group chat, conference-calling, and other similar features make collaboration a breeze, even across the miles.
View our list of the best VoIP providers