VoIP telephony can help your business achieve a fully unified communications system that puts all your voice, video, messaging and data in one place.

Like any technology you introduce into your business, it’s important you understand how you’ll bring the technology into your business.

In this quick guide we’ll look at the key things to think about when it comes to integrating a VoIP telephone system into your business.

1 – What level of VoIP system do you need?

Not all VoIP systems are the same and the complexity and variety of the communication options you get will depend on the type of system you get.

For example, do you just need voice and messaging?

Or do you need a more complex system that includes video conferencing and screen sharing too?

Review your business’ current communication system and decide how complex you need your VoIP system to be.

2 – How much VoIP telephony do you need?

Some VoIP telephone systems work on a per user basis, with some additional costs depending on the type of calls or communications you make.

Others work on a usage basis on the number of calls you make.

You should have a look through your business and decide if every employee needs access to their own VoIP connection or if some employees (or teams) could share one.

3 – Find a reliable network supplier

Your VoIP system works over the internet, which means you’ll need a reliable internet connection in order to ensure you have a good system set up.

So it’s important you find a reliable network supplier who can give you the infrastructure you need to support your VoIP telephone system.

A strong, reliable network like the O2, Virgin Media network Volt could be the ideal network as it provides a robust business broadband network along with a double data 4G backup to ensure you always have the connectivity you need.

4 – Do you want a private or ‘open’ cloud based system

With VoIP you can either run your system over your regular business broadband connection, or you can invest in a private network that only you have access to.

Which you choose will be dependent on your security needs and budget.

You should also factor in potentially higher maintenance costs if you invest in a closed system.

5 – What smart devices are you going to use?

VoIP gives you much more variety when it comes to the devices you can use in your business, and you won’t need to invest in fixed handsets like you would with a traditional phone system.

But you should spend some time investigating whether you want to invest in dedicated business phones or devices, or whether you want to use a BYOD policy.

From our experience businesses which invest in dedicated devices tend to make more of a success out of VoIP systems.

6 – Set your budget

It can be easy to get carried away with a tech investment, but you need to have a budget in mind to ensure you can get a return on your investment.

Get an idea from a few providers what a VoIP system will cost and then use this as a benchmark.

7 – Get employee buy-in

This one often gets forgotten, but one of the biggest reasons tech investments fail is because businesses don’t get employees bought into the technology first, so it never gets used properly.

When bringing in a VoIP telephone system, ensure you explain clearly (and demonstrate) the benefits to your team and you’ll be sure to have a smoother integration.

8 – Install your VoIP system

Once you’ve chosen your system, sorted your budget and got your employee buy-in, you can install your VoIP system into your business.

Once you’ve got the system installed you can bring in your existing numbers and configure your VoIP network around your business – including integrating all your mobile devices and confirming your users.

You should continue to monitor the usage and performance of your VoIP system after the integration to ensure it continues to perform as you want.

Bring VoIP into your business successfully with Communications Plus

If you want to improve your business’ communication network and create a more adaptable, cost effective and scalable phone system, then you should definitely consider a VoIP telephone system.

At Communications Plus we’ve worked with thousands of businesses to help them upgrade to VoIP and successfully install the technology into their company.

If you want to know more about the benefits of using VoIP telephony for business, get in touch.