{"id":8458,"date":"2015-03-19T18:18:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T01:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/?p=8458"},"modified":"2018-03-21T08:13:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T15:13:33","slug":"8-shopping-hacks-for-enterprise-voip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/8-shopping-hacks-for-enterprise-voip\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Shopping Hacks for Enterprise VoIP [White Paper]"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong>Less Researching VoIP Providers\u2026 \u00a0 And\u00a0Better Results.<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8459 size-medium alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Confused-by-too-many-choices-roadsign-297x300.jpg\" alt=\"Confused by Too Many Choices Arrow Street Signs\" width=\"297\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Confused-by-too-many-choices-roadsign-297x300.jpg 297w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Confused-by-too-many-choices-roadsign-198x200.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Confused-by-too-many-choices-roadsign-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Confused-by-too-many-choices-roadsign.jpg 345w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 297px) 100vw, 297px\" \/><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Yes, YOU\u2026 IT Directors, Sys Admins, CIOs. It\u2019s possible. Your company\u2019s phone system is End of Life, outdated or just died or maybe your current <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" title=\"VoIP\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/cloud\/communications-and-collaboration\/cloud-phone-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">hosted VoIP<\/a><\/span>\/hosted PBX service contract is coming to an end. Your management has decided the new system will be hosted.\u00a0 Now, which of the <strong>500+ hosted VoIP providers<\/strong> should you choose?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This short whitepaper will help you create a solid plan that will result in your IT Department doing less work on research and making a better-educated decision. How did we come up with these 8 hacks? It\u2019s all we&#8217;ve been doing at AeroCom, since 2003.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Learn 8 of our tricks and then learn more about us today at <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/\">www.aerocominc.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #1:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Make a List of Features<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Man-Writing.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8462 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Man-Writing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"347\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Man-Writing.jpg 426w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Man-Writing-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Man-Writing-250x167.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" title=\"Cloud Phone Systems\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/cloud\/communications-and-collaboration\/cloud-phone-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hosted Phone Systems<\/a><\/span> have the capability of having all of the features of even the most sophisticated on-premise phone systems. But the availability of those features is going to affect your pricing and not all providers offer every hosted PBX feature.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you are getting a quote from a hosted VoIP provider that includes every feature (as standard), their pricing is obviously going to be higher than the provider that has a bare-bones offering.\u00a0 You also want to avoid getting quotes with providers that do not offer (or have issues with deploying), features that you need.<\/p>\n<p>Every phone system feature sounds great, but which features are absolutely critical to your company and therefore, non-negotiable?\u00a0 Before you send your agent out searching for the first-round of hosted PBX service provider quotes, make sure you both are on the same page, in terms of which PBX features are non-negotiable and which are negotiable.\u00a0 Your sales agent should be able to give you a list of potential features you can choose from but here are some of the basics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Voicemail<\/strong>: Does everyone need a voicemail box?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unified Messaging<\/strong>: Do you need your hosted phone system to email a wave file (of voicemails), to the user?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Voicemail Transcription<\/strong>: Do you need voicemails transcribed?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Call reporting<\/strong>: Do you need real-time call reporting of calls going in and out of your hosted PBX?\u00a0 If so, what exact details do you need?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Auto Attendant<\/strong>: How in-depth is your auto attendant? Is it a simple auto-attendant or do you need it to be an IVR (i.e. your auto attendant interacts with a live database and allows customers to get real-time account information without ever talking to a person).<\/li>\n<li><strong>ACD<\/strong> (Automatic Call Distribution) Groups: Do you want to route incoming calls to a specific group of people (i.e. a sales team or customer service team)?\u00a0 If so, how advanced do you need this routing to be?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Call Recording<\/strong>: Do you need calls recorded for training or other purposes? How many calls do you record per day and how long do you need to keep the recordings?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Whisper Mode<\/strong>: Do you need to listen in on calls (with or without anyone knowing you are listening), for training purposes, then talk to your employee, without the customer hearing you? Want to do the same via IM?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Software Integration<\/strong>: Do you want your hosted phone system to integrate with software? For instance, do you need the PBX to pop-up account information on your computer screen when a current client calls your customer service department? Do you need the ability to click-to-dial off a phone number in your CRM or Outlook? Want a phone call to automatically get logged as an &#8220;activity&#8221; in your account management software?<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8463 size-medium alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mobile-app-179x300.jpg\" alt=\"mobile app\" width=\"179\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mobile-app-179x300.jpg 179w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mobile-app-119x200.jpg 119w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mobile-app-239x400.jpg 239w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mobile-app.jpg 286w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px\" \/><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobile Phone Integration<\/strong>: How much do you need your users\u2019 mobile phones to integrate with your hosted phone system?\u00a0 Do you need them to have find-me-follow-me or do you want full integration, where the users\u2019 cell phones can have nearly the same functionality as their desk phone (i.e. can transfer calls, etc.)?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reception Side-Car<\/strong>: Can your reception person use a soft console on their computer or do they need a hardware-based sidecar for extensions?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Common-Area (Low Usage) Phones<\/strong>: Does your company have several phones that are in common areas like lobbies, conference rooms and kitchens, that are barely used?\u00a0 If so, you want to make sure your chosen provide has an option for a lower monthly charge for low-usage phones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Virtual Fax<\/strong>: Do you want the ability for each user to have their own virtual fax number?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Analog Devices<\/strong>: Do you have conference room (starfish), phones or hard faxes or overhead paging systems?\u00a0 These devices will require ATA devices to convert the digital VoIP SIP trunks into an analog signal.\u00a0 Some providers charge for these and some do not allow this at all but this detail often gets overlooked on your quotes and only comes up after the project coordinator is reviewing your implementation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobile App for PBX Administration<\/strong>: Do you need to be able to make administrative changes to your phone system via an app on your mobile phone or tablet?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Video<\/strong>: Do you need your hosted phone system to allow video calls on phones that have a video screen?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8464 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"371\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference.jpg 4144w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference-1024x659.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference-250x161.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Video-Conference-600x386.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/a><strong>Headset-Only<\/strong>: Do you have some users that do not need a hand-set and can operate via a headset and soft console (on their computer)?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Multi-Site Failover<\/strong>: Do you have multiple sites and want the ability for certain sites to take calls for one-another after hours or in the event of downtime?<\/li>\n<li><strong>SD-WAN<\/strong>: Do you want your VoIP provider to supply you with an SD-WAN service and guarantee call quality?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Management Tools<\/strong>: How much information does your IT Team want to see, from a management standpoint? Do they want to see hosted VoIP call quality down to a user (MAC Address), level or do they just want the information at the router level?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #2:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Know Your Usage Data<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>I know\u2026 getting your bills from Accounts Payable is a pain and looking through them hurts worse but it\u2019s unavoidable.\u00a0 Just like with features, some hosted phone system providers\u2019 pricing is stronger with specific types of usage patterns.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t get stuck for three years with a provider that&#8217;s going to gouge you on your usage.\u00a0 For instance, some hosted PBX providers offer unlimited usage per user but their monthly per seat cost is going to be higher and might not be a good fit if you don\u2019t make that many outbound calls.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8465 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/calculator-178124_1280-2-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>The good news\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 A good sales agent will figure all of this out if you can get them your bills.\u00a0 Here is the data they should find on your billing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you have a toll free number? If so, how many?<\/li>\n<li>How many Outbound Minutes per month does your company use for:\n<ul>\n<li>Local Calls<\/li>\n<li>Intralata (Local Toll Calls)<\/li>\n<li>Intrastate Long Distance<\/li>\n<li>Interstate Long Distance<\/li>\n<li>International Long Distance (per country)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How many Inbound Toll Free (800 #) Minutes per month does your company receive:\n<ul>\n<li>Toll Free Intralata (Local Toll Calls)<\/li>\n<li>Toll Free Intrastate Long Distance<\/li>\n<li>Toll Free Interstate Long Distance<\/li>\n<li>International Originating Toll Free Long Distance (per country)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Do you need any additional long distance calling features, such as Account Codes, Advanced Toll Free routing, etc.?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #3:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Know Your Company\u2019s User Count\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/woman-at-desk.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8466 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/woman-at-desk.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/woman-at-desk.jpg 276w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/woman-at-desk-248x200.jpg 248w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>An agent cannot help you with this one but it is important for you to know, up-front, <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">how many phones you need at each site and what types of phones they are<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0 Here is a basic list to get you started.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Normal Call Volume Users<\/li>\n<li>High Call Volume Users<\/li>\n<li>Executive Team<\/li>\n<li>Reception<\/li>\n<li>Conference Room (i.e. Starfish Phone)<\/li>\n<li>Common Area (i.e. Lobby, Kitchen, Warehouse, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Mobile Phone App?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Having this data up-front is essential in getting comparable hosted VoIP quotes from competing providers, on the very first round of quoting.\u00a0 Some providers price each of these user types differently and some bundle them all into the same per-seat pricing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Conference_phone_meeting.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8467 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Conference_phone_meeting.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"366\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Conference_phone_meeting.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Conference_phone_meeting-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Conference_phone_meeting-250x167.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So, if you have a ton of Normal Call Volume Users but one provider has a one-size-fits-all unlimited calling seat charge, you will be paying way too much for all of your users to have unlimited calling that they don\u2019t even need.\u00a0 Nothing like having five meetings with a provider that you could have eliminated day one!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #4:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Each\u00a0Significant Site Should Have SD-WAN or a Private Circuit<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Make sure to plan on using a <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.networkworld.com\/article\/3232379\/wide-area-networking\/sd-wan-will-fix-business-voip.html\" target=\"_blank\">cloud-enabled SD-WAN<\/a><\/span> service alongside your hosted VoIP&#8230; or quote hosted VoIP providers\u00a0who can install and manage a private, protected access circuit (i.e. <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/access\/internet\/t1\/\" target=\"_blank\">T1<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" title=\"Ethernet Over Copper\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/access\/internet\/ethernet-over-copper\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ethernet over Copper<\/a><\/span> (EoC), <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/access\/internet\/fiber\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fiber<\/a><\/span>, etc.) at each of your sites that have more than five users.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/man-yelling-at-phone.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8468 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/man-yelling-at-phone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"354\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/man-yelling-at-phone.jpg 354w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/man-yelling-at-phone-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/man-yelling-at-phone-250x165.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Regardless of how large your Internet connection is, NO hosted VoIP provider can guarantee voice quality over the public Internet. Hosted VoIP traffic is very sensitive, real-time data and therefore, even the slightest <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Latency_(engineering)\" target=\"_blank\">latency<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Packet_loss\" target=\"_blank\">packet loss<\/a><\/span> or <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jitter\" target=\"_blank\">jitter<\/a><\/span> is going to ruin voice calls intermittently and will be unacceptable to your users. It is more expensive to use SD-WAN or a private circuit at each site but it is the only way to have consistent, reliable phone service. If your users can\u2019t count on their phones to work, they won\u2019t use them and you\u2019ll be wasting any money you spend.<\/p>\n<p>Not to mention the HUGE amount of stress it will put on your IT staff to &#8220;chase the ghost&#8221; of bad call quality&#8230; every day! The more users, the higher the probability that someone will experience bad VoIP quality with BYOB (Bring Your Own Bandwidth).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #5:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Compare the Quotes in an Excel Spreadsheet<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-9849 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image.jpg\" alt=\"VoIP Quote Template Preview Image\" width=\"597\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image.jpg 799w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image-209x200.jpg 209w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/VoIP-Quote-Template-Preview-Image-419x400.jpg 419w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A good sales agent should be able to consolidate the different provider quotes into a legible excel spreadsheet comparison, to give you the confidence that you are comparing apples-to-apples.\u00a0 This should be broken down by each feature included and all usage data, per your exact minute usage.<\/p>\n<p>I cannot tell you how many times we\u2019ve seen customers with separate quotes, trying to compare and then just give up and only compare the price at the bottom line.\u00a0 There are SO many details with a hosted VoIP quote that you need to list them side by side.\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.lpages.co\/voip-excel-quote-template\/\" target=\"_blank\">CLICK HERE<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for a free VoIP quote template, like the one pictured above.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #6:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Demo at Least 3 Hosted Phone Systems<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8471 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/People-demonstrating-on-computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/People-demonstrating-on-computer.jpg 425w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/People-demonstrating-on-computer-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/People-demonstrating-on-computer-250x166.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>After getting initial pricing from several different providers, you should be able to narrow your search to at least <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">THREE<\/span> of your best options.\u00a0 Make sure to take the time to demo at least your top three either on-site or via a web conference.\u00a0 It is also best to have a few different members of your management team in the meeting, so that many &#8220;user experiences&#8221; are repre<br \/>\nsented and can ask questions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Making &#8220;test calls&#8221; is up to you but it&#8217;s not as important as just having them walk you through the user portal, the admin portal and seeing the phones.<\/p>\n<p>Although it may seem redundant, you\u2019ll be surprised at how different each hosted PBX providers\u2019 interface will be.\u00a0 The provider who\u2019s pricing seems a little higher than the others might end up having an amazing user interface that makes up for the price difference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #7:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 Have a Target Price &amp; Negotiate Honestly<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>As you are shopping hosted phone systems and you start to see pricing from several providers, decide on a target price. Your target price should be the price at which your company will definitely say \u201cyes,\u201d if all of your requirements are met and you feel comfortable with the hosted VoIP provider\u2019s ability to deliver a great product.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/people-meeting-shadow.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8472 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/people-meeting-shadow-300x276.jpg\" alt=\"people meeting - shadow\" width=\"300\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/people-meeting-shadow-300x276.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/people-meeting-shadow-217x200.jpg 217w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/people-meeting-shadow.jpg 403w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once you have seen all of the quotes and performed demos of at least three hosted phone systems, you should have a good idea of which provider is your top choice.\u00a0 If your number one choice is coming in higher than your target price, tell them that you had a target price on this project.\u00a0 Tell them the price and ask them if they can hit your target price.\u00a0 Tell them that they are your favorite but their pricing is not.\u00a0 You&#8217;ll be surprised how much your honesty will help your pricing.<\/p>\n<p>If they are already at or below your target price, don\u2019t grind them further.\u00a0 If you grind a provider unjustifiably, you will start cutting substantial commission and profit from your hosted phone system provider and agent, which (like it or not), will usually result in a lower level of service from these same people.\u00a0 Even if they refuse to lower their pricing, the negative impact on your vendor\u2019s morale will stay.\u00a0 These people know their industry and know the competitive landscape better than you think, which means they already know that their pricing is fair and therefore, will be very frustrated that your company is asking them to lower their pricing, unjustifiably.\u00a0 Demoralizing your hosted VoIP support team is not worth doing if you didn\u2019t need to do it.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, when you don\u2019t grind pricing unjustifiably, you end up with a happier vendor and a good client-vendor relationship is always worth it\u2019s weight in gold.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hack #8:<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong>Select a Good Sales Agent<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong> start calling random providers and speaking to their front-line salespeople about their hosted VoIP solutions.\u00a0There are over 100 hosted VoIP providers&#8230; so no matter what, you&#8217;re not going to have the time to call all of them, so why bother?\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/shopping-business-voip-mathematically-infographic\/\" target=\"_blank\">Here is an infographic<\/a><\/span> on the math.<\/p>\n<p>Below\u00a0are some of the benefits a good sales agent will bring to your quoting process that many IT Decision Makers are surprisingly unaware of:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Happy-Salesperson.jpg\" rel='magnific'><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-8460 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Happy-Salesperson.jpg\" alt=\"Telephone operator\" width=\"355\" height=\"237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Happy-Salesperson.jpg 424w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Happy-Salesperson-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Happy-Salesperson-250x167.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A good sales agent will get you the same or better pricing on the hosted VoIP provider of your choice. No, despite some untruths floating around, on-staff salespeople do not have access to lower pricing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A good sales agent will drastically shorten the buying process because they won\u2019t waste your time with bad meetings with hosted VoIP solutions or providers that are a terrible fit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A good sales agent gets preferential treatment from the providers, which means better sales engineers helping you with your hosted PBX quotes, better project coordinators during your VoIP implementation and better support staff when you have a technical issue (which is inevitable in the real world). Providers have to <em>earn<\/em> the business of the agent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you don\u2019t know of a good sales agent, and you found this article useful, please pay us back by\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/get-quotes\/\" target=\"_blank\">contacting us<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and giving us a try. It&#8217;s free, so you have nothing to lose! I promise that we won&#8217;t let you down.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Happy Shopping!<\/strong>\u00a0 We hope this article helps you spend less time shopping for your companies hosted phone system and more importantly, helps you make a more educated and successful final decision.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Want to bypass all of this and have an AeroCom expert help you skip to the top 3 options for your company&#8217;s size, location and requirements? No problem! Just click the button below.<\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/static.leadpages.net\/leadboxes\/current\/embed.js\" async=\"\" defer=\"defer\"><\/script><button style=\"background: #f26e22; border-color: #f26e22; border-radius: 4px; color: #ffffff; display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; padding: 16px 32px; min-width: 192px; border: 1px solid #f26e22; font-size: 1rem; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center; outline: 0; line-height: 1; cursor: pointer; -webkit-transition: background 0.3s, color 0.3s, border 0.3s; transition: background 0.3s, color 0.3s, border 0.3s; box-shadow: 0px 5px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);\" data-leadbox-popup=\"144249073f72a2:136337e37f46dc\">MY TOP 3<\/button><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Author<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-9772 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/mikesmith.png\" alt=\"mikesmith\" width=\"88\" height=\"131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/mikesmith.png 181w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/mikesmith-135x200.png 135w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 88px) 100vw, 88px\" \/><\/strong><br \/>\nMike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been helping companies with telecom and cloud services since 1999. He\u00a0has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"http:\/\/mydigitalpublication.com\/publication\/index.php?i=68145&amp;m=&amp;l=&amp;p=53&amp;pre=&amp;ver=swf\" target=\"_blank\">top 40<\/a><\/span> business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Follow Mike\u00a0on <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mikesmithaerocom\/\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeSmithsBrain\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/span> or <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/community.spiceworks.com\/people\/mike-aerocominccom?source=navbar-subnav\" target=\"_blank\">SpiceWorks<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Work Less\u2026   Get Better Results. Yes, YOU\u2026 IT Directors, Sys Admins, CIOs.  It\u2019s possible.  Your company\u2019s phone system is End of Life, outdated or just died.  Maybe your current hosted VoIP\/hosted PBX service contract is coming to an end.  You\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/8-shopping-hacks-for-enterprise-voip\/\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more &#8250;<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[15],"tags":[215,446,445,382,632,377,428,379,381,383,115,461,888],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}