Thousands of organizations across all sectors have already made the switch from an expensive, restrictive, and inflexible conventional landline phone system, to an agile, scaleable, feature-rich, future-proofed, and cost-effective VoIP phone system.
If your organization has wisely decided to upgrade to VoIP (or you are considering it), then naturally you want the installation and implementation process to be smooth and straightforward, and that you take the shortest path to value. To ensure that you get prepared and hit the ground running from day one, here are 20 VoIP setup-related questions:
VoIP Setup-Related Questions About Your Organization’s Goals
These questions will help refine and focus your decision-making process, and help identify the functionality that is necessary for your team.
- How many employees do we have at this time (or by the time we want the VoIP phone system to be in place), and how many of them will be making external or internal calls on VoIP phones?
- What phone plans do we currently have in place (landline and mobile)?
- Do we make a lot of outbound international calls?
- Are employees located in different geographical areas?
- Do employees regularly need to call each other?
VoIP Setup-Related Questions About Your Organization’s Telecommunications Requirements
These questions will help you get a better understanding of your requirements. This will help you identify a VoIP Solutions Provider that will deliver on your needs and expectations.
- Who will be using your VoIP solution the most to make calls? (e.g. sales calls, technical support, etc.)
- How many employees will be making calls at the same time?
- How many extensions will we need?
- Do we need to support remote workers?
- What calling features are essential and important? This list may include Auto Attendant, voice-mail-to-email, music-on-hold, live call transfer, and more. It can be very helpful to involve employees in this process.
VoIP Setup-Related Questions About Your Organization’s Infrastructure
One of the most important advantages of a VoIP phone system is that it does not require a separate, standalone voice network. This is the case with a conventional landline phone system. Instead, VoIP runs on the same data network that your organization already has in place to connect to the internet, send emails, and transfer files. This not only dramatically reduces costs (one network instead of two), but it also enables a range of phone+internet Unified Communications (UC) such as video conferencing, instant messaging, shared calendars, and more.
These VoIP setup-related questions will help you identify where it may be necessary or desirable to adjust your organization’s infrastructure. This allows you to reliably support VoIP telecommunications and UC:
- Is our internet connection stable and fast enough to handle the number of lines we need? Do we need to increase the bandwidth capacity? Remember that cloud-based apps (e.g. Google Workspace, Salesforce, etc.) will be using the same connection to the internet.
- Do we need to configure a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)?
- Do we need a VoIP-optimized router? These prioritize VoIP data over other network traffic (e.g. file transfers).
- Do we need a jitter buffer? This device collects data packets, and then releases them in a steady stream to enable consistent, smooth call quality.
- How many IP phones do we need? These are phones that are specifically designed and optimized to work with VoIP. They plug directly into the server via RJ11 connectors vs. into conventional landline phone jacks.
Note that your VoIP Solutions Provider should work closely with you to answer all of these VoIP setup-related questions. These should include questions about your organization’s infrastructure.
Questions About Your VoIP Solutions Provider
These questions will help you find a best-fit VoIP Solutions Provider that will ensure your implementation experience and overall investment is rewarding for the long-term:
- Do you offer an all-in-one VoIP phone system with a wide range of built-in enterprise-grade features and video conferencing?
- What additional costs are there? Steer clear of any VoIP Solutions Provider that is not 100% up-front and transparent regarding cost!
- Do you specialize in offering VoIP phone systems (i.e. is it ALL that you do), and have you been in the industry for several years?
- Do you offer LOCAL service when we need you in the future?
- How do you ensure reliability and security?
A trustworthy VoIP Solutions Provider will gladly answer these questions and share testimonials from happy customers, since they are not just interested in “making a sale.” They are focused on building a long-term relationship — because your success is their success.
At Carolina Digital Phone, we are proud to be one of the industry’s MOST RESPECTED AND TRUSTED VoIP Solutions Providers. Our experts will work closely with your various teams (leadership, IT, administration, etc.), to help you get prepared for your all-in-one VoIP phone system, and ensure your satisfaction and success from day one!
Schedule a demo of our all-in-one business phone system. Call us now at (336) 544-4000, or chat with us by clicking the icon on the bottom of your screen.