Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP services are quickly replacing traditional telephone systems in the business community.  In addition to lower telephone bills and getting away from 1960s phone line technology, the benefits are wide and far ranging.  They include virtual local numbers, telecommuting, connecting multiple locations together through voice, Personal Telephone Numbers, Mobile PBX, Private Faxes, Unified Communications and many more.

With literally a thousand or more providers in the industry, selecting a Hosted VoIP provider can be a confusing and frustrating process.  This article is a detailed plan and structured process to selecting the right provider for your business.  You should follow the 6 steps and familiarize yourself with all of the linked articles that apply for your business.  Doing so increases the chances of selecting the ideal vendor so that you can enjoy the powerful benefits that Hosted PBX services have to offer.

1.  Determine Your Needs and Pick Providers That Solve These Needs

The first and most important step is to understand your company’s needs.  Your needs are the focal point of all questions and decisions throughout the process.  If you have some specific requirements that have brought you to this stage, now is the time to write them down.  In addition, here are some additional areas that should be considered:

a.  Does the company have multiple locations including employees working at home?  Combining multiple office locations and telecommuters into a seamless communications system can improve efficiency and customer service while saving the company thousands of dollars in overhead.  Read my article “How to Stop the Waste When Operating a Business in Multiple Locations” for more information.

b.  Where are the most costly places to call?  What areas get called most often?  Take this information into account when selecting a service and calling plan.

c.  Do any departments such as inside sales or customer service frequently have callers waiting on hold while other callers are assisted?  If the answer is “Yes,” then you may need Automatic Call Distribution.  Read “Pissed Off Callers Cost You Revenue:  Fix It with Automatic Call Distribution” for more information.

d.  Do any staff members roam the building who need to take calls?  One or more cordless phones can help these workers.

e.  Do any employees travel out of the office including sales people, managers and service personnel?  Mobile PBX may be the answer to handling their calls.

f.  Are there paging requirements either through the desk phone or external speakers?

g.  Do any staff members share a phone with a need for individual Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers?

All of these needs that are applicable should be written down along with any others that you listed.  Not all Hosted VoIP providers can deliver solutions to solve these issues.  Make sure you use them to find the most qualified services for your situation.

2.  Know the Quantities of Phones, Other Hardware and Services That Your Business Requires

In order to get an accurate quote and make sure there are no surprises on future invoices, survey your business and determine accurate quantities of:

a.  Desk Phones

b.  Fax machines that will connect through provider’s network and Virtual Private Inbound Fax Numbers

c.  Analog ports for cordless phones or other analog devices

d.  Virtual Published Numbers and Unpublished Numbers

e.  Automated Attendant Greetings (day-time & night-time)

f.  Voicemail boxes in addition to those associated with phones

As a side note, VoIP telephones plug into your LAN outlets.  Check for an available LAN connection at each phone location.  If LAN outlets will be shared with other devices such as computers, choose a VoIP phone that has an integrated Ethernet switch.  If no LAN outlet exists in one or more phone location, new cabling will need to be run.

3.  Understand Available Calling Plans

Calling plans for Hosted VoIP services can be confusing.  Unfortunately, sometimes that is intentional.  In order to avoid some nasty surprises on your bill and to make the most informed decision, it is necessary to understand the available calling plan and how the charges will affect you.

You should avoid services that charge by the minute for local and domestic long distance calls that are not on their network.  Although the cheap prices that these services offer may be very attractive, their bills can be impossible to predict and shocking.  The simplest calling plans are always the best.  Select a service that offers unlimited local and domestic long distance calling to any telephone number.

In determining the right calling plan, know what the calling areas include and compare to the information you gathered in step one.  If you are evaluating a variable pay per minute plan, 750 minutes can be used as the average business desk phones use per month for local and domestic long distance calls.

4.  Compare Potential Vendors’ Pricing Plan Using the Same Quantities of Hardware, Services and Minutes for Each

Although this may seem like an obvious step, it is rarely done correctly.  Comparing potential vendors using quantities that are the same for each proposal can be challenging.  Do not consider a proposal that does not match up with the others.  Modify each vendor’s proposal until they all are equivalent.  Get the proposal with correct quantities in written form.  Do not accept verbal information.  Once the proposals match, they can be accurately compared.

5.  Avoid the Top Mistakes Made When Selecting a Hosted VoIP Provider

At this point, probably one or two potential Hosted VoIP providers are standing out among all the rest.  Now it is time to read my article, “The Top Mistakes Made When Selecting a Hosted VoIP Provider.”  Read the article and avoid these mistakes.

6.  Select a Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP Provider

The homework has been done and the chances of success are very high.  Confidently select the service that meets your needs the best.  Soon you will be enjoying the many powerful benefits that Hosted PBX services have to offer.