{"id":8099,"date":"2014-12-19T17:14:57","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T17:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aerocominc.com\/?p=8099"},"modified":"2017-05-30T13:45:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T20:45:59","slug":"how-to-break-down-hosted-voip-providers-like-run-dmc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/how-to-break-down-hosted-voip-providers-like-run-dmc\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Break Down Hosted VoIP Providers Like Run DMC"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve noticed that you IT Directors and Systems Admins need a little help before going into combat with Hosted VoIP<\/a><\/span> Providers. So I\u2019m going to start giving you tips every now and then to help you prepare.\u00a0 Sooner or later, I know you\u2019ll experience enlightenment and just call us, but until then, here are some freebies.<\/p>\n

Here was a conversation I recently had with a client:<\/p>\n

Client:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cHi Mike, Our PBX<\/a><\/span> is dying and we\u2019d like for you to get us some quotes for different providers for hosted VoIP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Me:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cNo problem.\u00a0 Tell me a little about what you need?\u201d<\/p>\n

Client:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cWe have about 100 users and we need an auto attendant and voicemail. I think that\u2019s all you need to know, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

We represent approximately 70 of the top hosted VoIP providers (plug plug), and that narrowed the field to around\u2026 \u2026 70.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t alone\"facepalm\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2026 not to judge that client.\u00a0 He\u2019s a brilliant systems admin and actually way smarter than I am. And he\u2019s not saying anything different than what I hear nearly every single time we work with a client on quoting this stuff.<\/p>\n

In fact, what makes him even more brilliant is that he knew he was a fish out of water and he was doing a smart thing by throwing in the towel having us lead the charge.\u00a0 I proceeded to ask him around 50 more questions and by the end of the conversation, I knew which 3-5 providers to approach first.\u00a0 BUT, if you don\u2019t use our company to help you on quoting hosted VoIP\u2026<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re a masochist for not taking our free help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You need some love so I\u2019m going to give you a few tips to get you
\ncloser to having a halfway chance of finding the best providers.<\/p>\n

Here are the first 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It helps to know which questions to ask yourself about your company in order to start narrowing the field.\u00a0 Here are the first three that will at least cut the field to maybe 20-30 providers.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 How many employees do you have on-site or at each site?<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have 10+ employees onsite at any of your sites a\"Employeesnd you feel that your employees (i.e. salespeople, management, etc), will not tolerate occasional voice quality issues, I highly advise that you only speak with providers that can offer you a dedicated circuit and guarantee voice quality.\u00a0 The more employees onsite, the higher the likelihood that this will even be a daily complaint and the more adamant\u00a0my advice.\u00a0 Otherwise, as the head of IT, your department will take a beating with angry people, consistently telling you \u201cThis new phone system stinks!\u00a0 I got static on another call today!\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a select amount of providers offer this so this is a big one to get a straight answer on, right away!\u00a0 Be careful, the providers that do not offer it will try to play \u201cwho\u2019s on first\u201d with you and other Jedi mind tricks to never answer the question directly.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Do you need any type of call center-ish features?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have a lot of people calling into or out of your company? Will you benefit from real-time reporting?\u00a0 Do you want your inbound calls to sometimes go into a \u201cqueue\u201d where the call is distributed to a select group of people and the client here\u2019s hold music while they wait?\u00a0 Or do you have a legit call center?<\/p>\n

If so, only some providers offer these call-center-like features and you need to figure this out on conversation #1.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Do you want to rent your handsets and switch, or own them?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Does your company have zero budget for upfront costs on this purchase?\u00a0 If so, no big\u00a0deal – because there are definitely a lot of providers that will offer free equipment and zero installation charges.\u00a0 BUT there are also providers that do not offer this option and they have large upfront equipment costs that cannot be eliminated.\"Money_Cash\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Provider representatives are not going to want to talk pricing on the first appointment, but this is an aspect of pricing that is a MUST KNOW, right away if you have budget limitations and you do not want to waste hours of your precious time hearing the boring demo of a provider that should have been axed within 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

Those were just a few good tips to get you started.\u00a0 Of course, I won\u2019t leave you hangin\u2019 since you\u2019ve taken the time to follow my stuff\u2026 I\u2019ll write more blogs soon and get you one step closer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Did you know that it costs you nothing to have an AeroCom expert tell you which 3 hosted VoIP systems are the best fit for your company? Click below!<\/span><\/h5>\n