Under 12 employees? Then Choose Business VoIP, Cloud Based Phone Service

Small companies with under twelve employees should look at business VoIP as their first option. Hosted business VoIP or a cloud based phone service offers fast easy setup, quick number portability, if required and/or the ability to choose new local numbers. As well as virtual numbers and toll free numbers. Virtual numbers offered by VoIP providers bring a "local" presence and can expand a businesses' footprint quickly. Business VoIP is the best way to have a complete advanced communications service up and running in just a day. Most small companies today are choosing Internet packages that offer plenty of bandwidth that is capable to handle numerous lines. Certainly enough for a small office. Instead of installing an on-premise phone solution (PBX) which requires more time on installation and configuration, a hosted VoIP service is designed to allow a business to be taking calls in hours.

Offering plans designed to only pay for the features you need and not more, RingCentral has been the top choice for a cloud based business communication system.

Open source Asterisk on Linux is what hosted VoIP providers typically use for their PBX software.

A good VoIP provider should have number porting completed for a new customer in a matter of days or sooner.

Top 5 Reasons for Small Business VoIP

Cost Savings- Save money over traditional services with cheaper local, long distance and International rates.
Feature Sets- Plenty of advanced features built-in at no extra cost.
Mobility - Connect, make calls and manage the system from anywhere. Connect to mobile devices. Overwhelmingly, businesses have said their mobile devices make them more efficient. Work from home is easy.
Service and Support- Providers make sure their services have the best features, latest updates and ensure any issues receive immediate attention.
Control & Scalability- Add or reduce services easily. If you need to add an extension or other service it can be done with the click of a mouse.

These Types of Businesses are Made for VoIP

A new small business or start up. Use the savings to invest in other essentials.
Businesses that have one or more remote or home working employees.
Companies which need quick flexibility to increase or decrease services or other communication essentials.
Companies with multiple locations that want to link communications.
Professional firms like real estate, doctor's offices, attorneys, wealth managers, construction firms, project managers, home inspectors and surveyors.
Companies that might need to relocate soon or move locations on a regular basis.
Companies that call other countries and have a significant amount of International calls.

However some particular small businesses need to examine costs when considering VoIP service and compare specific extra add-on features that could drive up the expense. Two, in particular, are call centers and companies that require a hybrid solution of both digital and IP phones. These companies often include offices with warehouse facilities where re-cabling costs can be a can expensive. Individual scenarios often have specific demands that need to be addressed. In some cases an on-premise IP-PBX may end up costing less over time, but will require professional management.

Additional related articles:

Explanations of Business Phone Service Benefits of a Premise Based Phone System

The number of Phone Lines to consider

One question that seems to come up more than any other is; How many lines will my business need? The answer depends on what a line is considered. Most people think of a line as the number of concurrent calls, although there are different ways to define a line. Chiefly when dealing with VoIP rather than traditional copper phone lines. So for ease, let's say a line is a call in progress.

Typical business offices have a phone on a desk per employee. Some providers refer to this as the number of seats in your office. Staying with this approach, each user or seat has a phone, a unique extension and the option of additional features like a voicemail box and call forwarding. In today's business environment, almost everyone has a cell phone. Their cell phone has become indispensable, especially in sales, marketing or a job that requires important customers to have immediate access. So this needs to be factored in. Some small offices can actually see scenarios where almost everyone in the office might be on the phone at the same time. Typically, excepting call centers, ten employees should be OK with six lines.

Some business VoIP providers offer as part of their normal service charge the ability to utilize multiple registered devices on one extension at no additional cost. Pay for the extension and you can use up to three different phones on the same extension. Such as, your desk phone at work, one at home and a softphone on your smartphone or laptop. Vonage Business offers this service and it can be a big advantage for any small business.

When Hosted VoIP is Best

For most businesses hosted VoIP service is an excellent choice, especially for small offices. Not only will the average business save money and reduce their costs, in many cases the advanced feature sets and flexibility allow for more creative ways to contact and manage customers. Good communication solutions increase business productivity. Today businesses at present are using many cloud based services. Voice or phone service is now part of a cloud based solution. Internet pipes are bigger with less latency. They maintain stability and are lower in cost now. Coupling phone services with well-known CRM packages is a way to instantly improve profitability. Many VoIP providers offer integration. A service that pulls up a customer's information instantly allows even the smallest of businesses to save time and compete on higher levels.

Service providers typically retain several standard service plans or tiers. Each include a list of included features. Before deciding on any particular provider it is prudent to make sure that any specific requirement is included. Some features may require a separate fee. The features that should be checked are:

Call Recording
Call Queues
Call Reporting
Voicemail to Text
Audio or Video Conferencing