VoIP or “Voice over Internet Protocol” is becoming very popular for doing long-distance communications. It is an internet telephone which acts as a cheaper alternative to phone calls. Using VoIP service can cut your regular monthly phone bills by 80%. This cost-saving is actually much more than the initial amount that you have to pay as a one-time installation cost. There are lots of VoIP service providers available in the market and choosing the right one is the main thing of discussion. As there are so many options available to choose from that it can be the possibility of choosing the wrong one and end up paying for the wrong product.
Following are some of the tips to help you of selecting the right one.
Analysis of Requirement – Firstly, you need to find out your exact requirement means you should make sure that you really need the VoIP service or not. This can be confirmed by analyzing the actual requirement of long-distance calls. If you need to make so many long-distance calls on a daily basis then definitely you need to make a VoIP phone service. But if you don’t need to make global calls so frequently then opting for a VoIP phone will not be the right decision.
VoIP phone service is a good choice for those who have many cross border contacts and often need to contact them. You can decide this selection by attentively checking your monthly phone bills. If your traditional phone bills have international calls of more than 50% then definitely VoIP will cut this cost. You can also compare the local call rates and the VoIP call rates for satisfaction.
Customer Service – Don’t jump suddenly for the lowest prize VoIP service. This might cost you much more later on because sometimes the service providers who sell low-cost products are often unable to provide service after-sale. Those service providers often attract lots of business even so much that they can’t handle it also and in the end customers suffer. So make sure to contact a reputed VoIP service provider. It will be better if you take counseling from your friends or clients before taking it.
Customization – While going for choosing VoIP service, there will be so several packages in front of you. Some of them might be very cheap and some may be exorbitant. But don’t make this only the selection criterion. Check out all the services they are offering and also the packages, and select the one you really need. For example; decide whether you need to have a call-waiting option in your plan or you would like fax facility or a 3-way calling system to include in your package. So your package value will be according to the features you have incorporated. So pick wisely, only those features that you really need, and also make sure that you are not missing any important one.
Phone Number – If you wish to keep your old number, so before selecting any VoIP service plan, you should make sure that the company will permit you to continue with your old number. Many companies allow you to keep the old phone numbers, and many companies don’t have this feature.
So it’s better to clarify before deciding anything as it can create trouble for those who have already spread their contact numbers to many clients and cannot afford to change their numbers. Especially for those businesses that are fully dependant on phones. One can’t take the risk of losing their clients for VoIP. So make sure about this change first.
Emergency Services – You should also make sure that whether the current VoIP service provider will agree to provide you emergency services or not. Only a few VoIP service providers provide this emergency service, many don’t provide it. So let this confirm also before selecting your VoIP service provider.
