Small Business Tips - Increase Revenue Through Technology

Did you know that The Maynard Group now offers hosted voip solutions? Hosted VoIP is a solution that many small business are looking into because you don't have to purchase and maintain all the equipment on-site. This allows you to generate huge savings by not purchasing thousands of dollars worth of hardware. Find out more about Hosted, Managed, and Premise based Voice Solutions in the video below. Also, don't forget to ask about our eMVS hosted solution!

AT&T Voice Transformation - It starts with an intelligent infrastructure using an IP network and a range of Voice over IP solutions to converge your current voice and data communications and deliver essential building blocks for the future.

Choosing a new business phone system can be difficult if you don’t know what type of phone system your business needs and have no idea what to budget for. I came across a great article about how much to expect to pay for a new business phone system written by Compare Business Products and thought I would summarize it for you. Although the price will always vary with your industry and how you do business, use this summarization as quick price guide reference.

Identifying Your Needs
Research should be your top priority when considering purchasing a phone system. Speak with employees to find out what functions are necessary and which could help improve your efficiency. Once you have a general idea of what features you need, or even if you have no idea at all, it’s time to talk with a phone system vendor. Be prepared to answer some of the following questions:

How many employees will be using the phone system initially?
Do you anticipate growth over the next 3-5 years? If so, could you be opening new locations or adding new employees?
What features will you need?

The vendor will help steer you in the right direction, but it’s best to have done as much research possible before your meeting so you truly understand what your business needs are.

Main Types of Phone Systems
The two main types of phone systems you will choose from are a PBX system or a VoIP system. The PBX system uses existing telephone lines and the system hardware is physically at your place of business. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol uses your internet connection to function and is often time hosted by a provider off-site. Becoming more popular is hybrid of the two, known as PBX VoIP. PBX VoIP is a PBX system that has VoIP services.  

What Pricing is Based On
Base Phone System: This is your actual phone system. Expect to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 for your base system.

Phones: There is usually a wide variety of phone available to buy. Try talking to your vendor to see if there are any promotions or if you can receive any discount for buying from them. You can also go the route of buying used equipment on Ebay, but just make sure the phones you are buying are compatible with your system.

Features and Add-ons: Knowing what features your company needs can save you money by not splurging on features you will never use. Ask your vendor if there are bundled packages available that can lower your cost and still include all the needed features.

Installation & Maintenance: Talk to your vendor about the total cost of ownership for your new phone system. In addition, find out what installation and maintenance fees usually are.

Rough Prices for Small and Medium Sized Businesses
The prices listed below are per employee, per month. Remember, these are just rough numbers, as pricing will be different for every business, even if in the same industry.

Small Businesses (1-50 Employees)
PBX Phone System: $800-$1,000 per employee per month
VoIP Phone System: $50-$600 per employee per month

Medium Businesses (50-500 Employees)
PBX Phone System: $700-$1,000 per employee per month
VoIP Phone System: $250-$500 per employee per month

There’s no doubt that a VoIP solution can provide your business with substantial cost savings. When ready to implement your new Voice Over IP solution, you will more than likely be choosing from hosted VoIP or PBX VoIP. Which is right for your company? This short article will enlighten you on the differences and the pros and cons of each.

Hosted VoIP

A hosted VoIP solution means that an outside company is managing and maintaining your phone system. You may be responsible for downloading software from your provider, but you don’t need to purchase any hardware other than the IP phones for your office.

PBX VoIP

A PBX VoIP is a phone system in which the server and all necessary hardware is purchased, managed, and maintained by the business. This requires the business to have a place for the hardware and possibly have IT personnel to manage everything.

Differences

Customer service using voice communications has come a long way since the 80’s or even the 90’s.  We have seen a movement from toll bypass to voice and data combination to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).  Today you can carry quality voice and data on the same circuit and benefit from networks that integrate signaling intelligence and advanced capabilities. So not only do you gain benefits from the network but you can extend these benefits to employees, customers and partners to help drive business productivity through advanced applications such as Unified Communications.

As technology improves, more and more companies are switching over to a VoIP-based communication strategy. Companies that have large sales teams, customer service representatives, or just need to use the phone frequently, benefit from switching to a VoIP phone system. Although hardware may be initially expensive, the savings you get from your cost per call, CRM integrations, call forwarding, and more, drastically outweigh initial fees.

What is this new thing people refer to as VoIP? Voice over Internet Protocol is when your voice communications (phone call) is transmitted over the internet.

For those of you who haven’t seen, Facebook will be attempting to roll out the VoIP carpet for its 500 million + users. Trying to compete with Skype and Google Voice seems like it will be really tough, but many Facebook users are dedicated to using Facebook, so having the option of one central platform to have all your communications could turn out to be very popular. Just as we see a market increase in Unified Communications for business, this could serve as unified communications on the consumer level.  Facebook already has all your contacts, instant messaging, soon to be Facebook email addresses, and now possibly VoIP in the near future. If Facebook enables VoIP on its mobile device apps, it could change the way we communicate by cell phone. Maybe we would see a price drop in the cost of cell phone calling plans, but more likely an increase in data fees resulting in a huge increase in data usage. Facebook already has all your contacts, instant messaging, soon to be Facebook email addresses, and now possibly VoIP in the near future.  It is still too early to see what Facebook will actually be releasing, but could it possibly be revolutionary for consumer communications? 

I have had customers ask a lot about VoIP lately, and one thing that continues to come up is the idea of having an internal or external Voice over IP system. Many people think that having VoIP means that you have to be on Voice over IP both internally and externally. When you are looking for a new VoIP solution, try to identify exactly what it is you are looking for. For example:

A phone system is one of the main tools you use to communicate with your clients, vendors, and prospects. There are many questions that you need to answer in order to choose the right phone system for your business. How many employees are there? Is your business on the verge of expanding or do you need extra extensions available so that you can add lines more cost effectively? In addition to that, will you need room for multiple fax extensions to be added to your phone system? These are just a few of the question you need to be able to answer to choose the right phone system for you.