VoIP Providers – How to Choose the Best One?

VoIP now covers a wide range of technologies, so there are many things to consider when choosing the right VoIP provider. Providers can range from small resellers to giant telecom blue chips, and while the size of the business generally isn’t important, determining what the company specialises in and whether it is an expert is important.

VoIP phone technology now covers basic landlines, unified communications, call centres and remote solutions.

Defining Your Communication Needs

VoIP Phone Lines

Although traditional phone lines’ exact end-of-life is unknown, we expect PRA, FRA, and BRA lines to be switched off by 2025. Businesses still using these technologies should consider upgrading to VoIP phone lines or a VoIP phone system.

VoIP requires a particular broadband speed to carry a clear signal. For businesses that do not have this, it’s best to speak to a provider to plan and ensure that your business will remain connected when the switch-off takes place.

Choosing the best solution depends on several factors, such as the volume of calls you receive, how many users answer calls, and whether users work remotely.

The right VoIP provider should listen to your requirements and provide the solution that achieves your goals, not theirs.

Unified Communications

VoIP phones enable so much more than just calling. The next step up from VoIP is Unified Communications, Which provides countless productivity gains through telephony and non-telephony features.

If your discussions revolve around non-telephony features, your focus should narrow to a unified communications provider rather than just VoIP.

Call Centre Software

A call centre solution may be suitable for businesses with high volumes of inbound or outbound calls. Call Centre solutions still use VoIP phone lines, but users handle calls through the software’s interface.

Call centre solutions provide tools that manage calls when their numbers are higher than the number of agents. This may be through queues, callbacks, IVRs and other features. The goal is to keep customer satisfaction high, even when calls cannot be answered immediately.

If you operate a call centre or could benefit from wallboards and call recording services, check whether your VoIP provider offers VoIP and contact centre services via the same platform. Ensuring the same platform handles cross-platform charges and generally provides a higher availability rate.

Support

Support is essential for all businesses. Make sure your VoIP provider can offer you support when you need it, whether it’s during the night, on bank holidays, or 24/7/365.

Ticketing systems make following up on support queries much more accessible. Check the provider’s support and ticketing process and ensure it meets your needs.

Check their website and support pages and make sure it’s clear how you and your staff can contact them. You want to see listed phone lines, email addresses, and clear links to a ticketing service.

Reliability and Call Quality

There’s no point in having cheap calls if the service isn’t available or if the service engineer considers your office home. When choosing a VoIP provider, enquire about downtime and the number of incidents in the last 12 months.

No VoIP provider is exempt from faults. You should look for built-in redundancy to ensure your service will run if the worst happens.

Service-level Agreements (SLAs)

When things do go wrong, you want some guarantees that they’ll be fixed. Service level agreements are signed agreements that state that you can be reimbursed if the provider cannot achieve the agreed-upon level of service.

When problems hit the network, the owner can provide SLAs for investigation time, critical faults and downtime. While some SLAs can be free, some are only for premium service packages or additional costs. You’ll have to weigh the cost vs. necessity for your business.

Protection and Security

Like all Internet-based products, VoIP is no different regarding security. It would be best if you had it. Fraud is widespread in the telecom industry, and while you take steps to protect yourself from this, it’s essential to know that your provider has your back.

Check to see if your provider offers fraud protection. Providers can block specific high-charging numbers and country ranges where you know no calls should be going. Providers can also add spending limitations on accounts so that no more calls can be made once a limit has been hit.

in2tel offers free fraud protection on all customer accounts.

Phone Number Porting

When you move provider, you don’t want a new set of phone numbers. Changing phone numbers means informing customers, updating content and increasing confusion. All these things can be avoided if your new provider brings your existing phone numbers to their network. This is known as “porting”.

There are different types of business numbers out there, and to port a number, an agreement has to be in place between the two providers. You want to ensure the provider has porting contracts with your existing provider.

Talk to the VoIP provider before starting the service, and be sure you are confident in their capability to handle your phone number.

Make the Best Decision for Your Business

No matter how much reading you do, becoming a VoIP expert in a short space of time is impossible. That’s where in2tel can help. We won’t bombard you with sales pressure; we’ll provide you with the advice you need and give you an honest answer.

in2tel offers a wide range of VoIP services, including landlines, call centre software, and unified communications. It’s been in business for over 19 years, and most directors have 25+ years of telecom industry experience.

If you would like some free advice from one of our agents, feel free to start a live chat conversation, drop us a message on the live chat or contact form, or call us for free on 1800 91 1800. Even if we can’t offer you what you’re looking for, we’re always happy to help.

About in2tel

in2tel is a telecoms carrier and solution provider operating in Ireland and the UK for 19 years. It provides organisations with an affordable, bespoke design often found in large-scale enterprises. in2tel’s services offer communication channels for contact centres, sales and marketing teams and internal departments for various businesses and SMEs.