Many businesses today are either thinking about or have already begun replacing their existing phone service with a voice over IP (VoIP) solution. In some markets, VoIP services and systems are well established with both small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprise customers. For example, VoIP penetration among US businesses was 42% at the end of 2009 and is expected to reach 79% by 2013.
Companies that have already adopted VoIP have a good understanding of the many benefits associated with it. If your company hasn't yet made the move to VoIP, or is just starting out with it, you probably have lots of questions. Some have to do with the benefits of VoIP or the costs of implementing it. Others are about selecting a VoIP service provider.
Following are the top 10 questions we get from the prospects we call on about moving to VoIP:
What are the benefits of VoIP?
In the early days of IP telephony, the initial appeal of VoIP was toll savings. For some businesses, especially those with high levels of international calls, VoIP rates can still be 50-70% lower than those charged by the local telephone company. Toll savings remain a good reason to switch to VoIP but there are others.
- Reduced costs: With VoIP, there are reduced telecom facilities costs. In traditional telephony, the phone company delivers services over a bundle of wires (i.e. trunk) that connects the company's PBX to the public-switched telephone network (PSTN). With VoIP, the physical wires in the trunk are replaced with an IP trunk in a converged voice and data network. In other words, a VoIP system can be installed using existing data network infrastructure. Instead of replacing everything, a company can take advantage of the investments they have already made. That can save thousands of dollars in monthly recurring costs for T1 and E1 trunks from the telephone company.
- Ease of management: Some IT managers believe the most important reason to switch to VoIP is ease of management. Because VoIP is an application that runs over the company's data network or Internet connection, the IT staff often can manage the VoIP phone system, including “moves”, “adds” and “changes.” They can add and delete users, set up voicemail boxes and activate other features. It is fairly common for a business to pay up to $350 per hour to an outside vendor to maintain their existing (legacy) phone system and perform these routine tasks, so doing it all in-house results in considerable savings.
- Mobility and portability: VoIP phone systems have features that enable employees to work remotely and still be able to access the advanced call handling and other features of the company's phone system at significantly reduced capital costs. For example, employees who work from home don't need space in a physical building maintained by the company. Also, because many people want to work from home, offering that as an option may result in a better candidate pool. Other benefits of VoIP include scalability, flexibility and reliability.
Can I implement VoIP and keep my existing PBX?
There are many factors that influence the answer to this question, but the short answer is probably. It primarily depends on whether your legacy TDM PBX can be interconnected to a VoIP gateway. If so, then a VoIP gateway must be installed on your premises. That is where outbound calls from the PBX are changed from analog to digital format so they can sent out over an IP trunk (i.e. Internet). For incoming traffic, voice calls must be changed back to analog so your legacy PBX can deliver them to the telephones that will most likely also provided by the same company that installed your PBX.
In this scenario, we can IP-enable your legacy PBX. That allows you to enjoy the savings from lower cost long distance and international calls while protecting your investment in your PBX and desktop telephones. When it's time to replace that PBX, you will likely want to replace it with an IP PBX and IP phones.
What charges should I expect for my VoIP services?
As with any wireline or wireless telephone company, you can expect one-time non-recurring charges and monthly recurring charges. The one-time charges generally include an administrative fee for setting up your account and an installation charge for setting up an IP channel or trunk between your site and the VoIP service provider. The monthly recurring charges are for your phone calls.
Some VoIP service providers offer fixed monthly prices for bundles of minutes (e.g 500, 1000, 2000, unlimited) then charge for calls that exceed the limits of your plan. This is no different than the way mobile phone companies charge their customers. Other VoIP providers have a recurring monthly charge for the channel or trunk then charge for each call at a rate based on call duration and destination. Service providers offer lower rates for higher call volumes.
Are there any other service charges I should plan for?
For every service you purchase from a VoIP service provider, there are usually one-time charges and monthly recurring charges. Those services often include: hosted PBX; hosted call center PBX and management applications; US and Canada toll-free numbers; international toll free numbers (ITFS); local numbers (DIDs / DDIs); conference call service. Just as the telephone company charges you each month for additional lines or for a T1 or E1 trunk, VoIP service providers also charge monthly by the channel (concurrent call), SIP trunk, or T1 an E1 capacity (23 and 30 concurrent calls, respectively.
What is hosted PBX and what are its advantages?
Hosted PBX is a business phone system located on the VoIP service provider's premises delivering features and functionality to customers over the Internet. As such, it is a business communications web service, similar to other SaaS (software as a service) applications. It provides customers with the same features and benefits of an on-premises PBX, but at a fraction of the cost. The features include auto attendant, caller ID, call queuing, call transfer, IVR, message waiting, music on-hold, voicemail and web voicemail.
Hosted PBX is a service so it requires no capital investment, offers a predictable monthly operating expense and has a lower total cost of ownership than premises-based PBXs. Also, it allows a company to quickly and cost-effectively add new users.
Is there any other special equipment required to move to VoIP?
There are a lot of factors that influence the answer to this question. For example, if you decide to continue using your legacy PBX, you will need a VoIP gateway to digitize the analog voice calls from your TDM PBX. If you are a small or mid-sized business that does not have a PBX, you will need a VoIP device (ATA or analog telephone adapter), router or VoIP gateway and may need IP phones for employees' desktops or softphone clients for their PCs. A critical factor is the design of your local area network (LAN) and the equipment components. In a VoIP environment, your LAN becomes part of your telecom infrastructure. You need to be sure your firewall, router or switch and any other equipment can handle VoIP and be set to deliver the Quality of Service (QoS) required for VoIP and give priority to voice traffic.
What faxing services are provided over VoIP?
Faxing over VoIP can be both challenging and temperamental. If you or your business are heavy fax users, you might consider keeping a PSTN line connected to your fax machine. For companies that occasionally fax up to a 4 page document, then your VoIP will work just fine if your VoIP service provider supports certain codecs that allow faxing.
Even then, some fax machines may be too fast for VoIP and may need to have BAUD rate and ECM setting adjustments to work. Some VoIP providers can accept a fax for you then send it on via email in a PDF format.
How is the quality of VoIP service?
Quality and reliability were the two darkest spots on VoIP's reputation in its early years. Today, in most cases, those days are gone. VoIP providers serving business customers rely primarily on highly-reliable Internet routes from Tier 1 (and some Tier 2) carriers to move their VoIP traffic. This is especially true for international calls. You want your VoIP traffic to move along routes that have the least number of “hops” and anything under 200ms for VoIP packets is considered acceptable. Companies that deliver business-class VoIP also have high-quality equipment in their networks and in the solutions they develop for customers. Here are some of the things that affect voice quality in VoIP and what can be done to maximize quality.
- Bandwidth always tops the list of factors affecting VoIP quality. For instance, if you have dial-up Internet connection, don’t expect great quality. A broadband connection will work right, as long as it is not spotty, and not shared with too many other communication applications.
- The VoIP hardware you use can greatly impact on your quality. Poor quality equipment are normally the cheapest ones (but not always!). It is therefore always good to have as much information as possible on an ATA, router or IP phone before investing on it and starting to use it. For an ATA, router and other equipment, you need to consider the compression technologies (codecs) supported; echo cancellation, a mechanism for decreasing echo and firewall and security support. The frequency of your IP phone may cause interference with other VoIP equipment.
- Location of your equipment is another consideration. Often, VoIP equipment can interfere with each other, producing noise and other problems. This is caused by electrical feedback.
VoIP transmits voice data packets in a compressed form so the load to be transmitted is lighter. The compression software used for this are called codec’s. Each codec is designed for a specific use. If a codec is used for a communication need other than that for which it is meant, quality will suffer.
That said, some providers are going to offer a better sounding, more stable voice services than others. In some cases, price may be indicative of this. One provider offers a service with a few good features for $10.00 per month while another may have a few more features and a monthly price of $30.00 month. The $20.00 savings may not be great after you experience their quality.
What kind of support can I expect?
Next to the initial decision on move to VoIP, the quality of the service you will get from your service provider is one of the most important items to consider - including customer support, training and assistance with technical issues.
Support can be critical when things aren't going well, so find out about the service provider's hours of support. Do they offer 24X7 tech support or 8X5 and what are the costs associated with each? Ask them whether they have target response and resolution times for different priority outages and what those times are. Do they offer on-site support? Under what circumstances do they dispatch a technician and what are the costs? In a VoIP environment, most service problems can be detected and resolved remotely. Still, if you have purchased a premises-based IP PBX and IP phones from your VoIP service provider, you will want them to be able to provide on-site service if or when that becomes necessary.
The attitude and capabilities of a provider's support staff can also make a big difference with your overall satisfaction with the provider. Ask them about the size of their technical team, their training and certification and the company's overall service philosophy. No provider is perfect. If they tell you they never have an outage or a network issue, they are not being upfront with you.
What other factors should be considered in selecting a VoIP service provider?
First, business customers should shy away from VoIP service providers who focus primarily on residential customers. They typically don't understand the requirements, expectations or the mission-critical nature of business communications. Nor do they use the same carriers or equipment as business VoIP providers. A VoIP service provider focused only on business customers will be more likely to truly understand and address your business’ needs.
Next, a business service provider will offer a portfolio of services and applications - ranging from unified messaging to IP-enabled contact centers - that will help you achieve your business objectives. These and other services and applications will help you reduce costs, increase productivity, improve customer service and quickly address new market opportunities.
Another important consideration is whether your business is national or international. If you are an international company, look for a service provider that has operational experience and a physical presence in overseas' markets. Consider whether or not you can work with them in several geographic markets.
Rely on the old saying: you are judged by the company you keep. Ask a prospective service provider about the companies they already serve and how long those companies have been customers.
Finally, ask how long they have been in business, whether or not they are profitable and the caliber of their management and technical team.
The VoIP service provider you select will be the key to whether and when your business realizes the cost, productivity and other benefits of VoIP services and solutions.
