How To Find A Reliable VOIP Provider
If you have decided to use VOIP as your business or personal phone solution, your next step will be choosing a reliable but affordable VOIP Provider.
Even though you could always change VOIP providers if you need to, there will be a cost and inconvenience to the disconnection process. The cost will come in the form of any contract breakage charges or disconnection charges in your contract.
The inconvenience stems from the process of needing to find a new provider and then the potential downtime involved from stopping with your current provider and starting with the new, with the added convenience of potentially needing to get new phone numbers and letting everyone know that your number has changed.
Suffice it to say, for many reasons finding the right VoIP provider up front is important and will make your experience much smoother.
There are multiple different ways you can find out more about your potential VoIP provider before you sign on the dotted line to minimize the chance that you choose a poor provider.
The rest of this article will explain the things you can do to enhance your ability to select a good VOIP provider the first time.
Authority In The VOIP Industry
One thing to look out for is to try and see whether the VoIP provider you are considering using is an authority in the VoIP industry. If you see the Chief Executive Officer, or the Chief Technology Officer of the provider you are considering appearing in magazines, doing radio shows, and talking about the VoIP industry on YouTube, that is generally a good sign that the provider is a trusted provider and knows what they are doing.
Whereas if the provider you are considering signing up with has no public face, and there are no individuals from that business prominent in the industry, that could be a signal that they are a low-quality provider.
This factor on its own is not enough to make a decision on, but it is one of the multiple things you should consider when finding every reliable VoIP provider.
Ask Them
An old and often forgotten thing you can do is to ask the provider what the quality of their cloud VOIP services is.
Even though they are likely to be biased and there is a risk of them giving inflated opinions of their service there are some questions you can ask that are more likely to get you some useful information that is harder for them to gloss over.
Some specific things you can ask are what their uptime is. Uptime refers to the percentage of time that the system is active and working compared to the amount of time that the system is down and not working.
You could also ask about the sound quality and request proof of this via actual VoIP calls with them.
You can also ask for statistics or proof regarding how regularly calls of theirs are disconnected.
If you are using VoIP in a business setting, then having confidence that the service will be consistent and you will not get hung up on your phone calls with customers, is important.
Google Business Profile Reviews
Most businesses have a Google business profile. Even if the business has not created the profile themselves, Google often scrapes databases of businesses and creates profiles on their behalf that the business can then claim.
These Google business profiles include generic information about a business, but they also include the opportunity for people to leave reviews about their experience with that business.
the reviews left on a business’s Google Business Profile are often a good indication of the types of experience that people have with their business.
Though people can organize fake reviews to make their profile look good, the majority of reviews that are left are genuine and provide you with useful and relevant information.
Reviews may also include helpful information on whether the hosted VOIP pricing was reasonable for the quality of service provided.
Client Testimonials
Another type of review is a client testimonial. As the name suggests a client testimonial is a reference of sorts from a current or previous client of a company detailing their experience with the company.
There are different types of testimonials ranging from simple quotes that are included on web pages and brochures to first-person videos that you can watch on a website or TV. Still, the most powerful testimonial is a one-on-one conversation.
If a VoIP company gives you the contact details for a current customer and says that you are welcome to give them a ring and ask them whatever questions you want about their experience with the VoIP company that is a big positive as it shows trust from the VoIP provider that they’re happy for you to have a private conversation with their customers to ask them what their experience is and how they find the company and its services.
Final Thoughts
It is really important to do your homework before selecting a VoIP provider, as it is a significant inconvenience to change providers at a later date. You will increase your chance of success in choosing a good provider if you do your homework and speak to as many existing and previous customers as you can to get an unbiased opinion on their experience with the company.
FAQs
How can I ensure that my VoIP call quality is good?
You can do a few things to ensure that your VoIP call quality is good. Firstly, you can research the quality of different providers’ services by reading online reviews and speaking to current and previous customers. Secondly, you can ask the provider about their uptime, sound quality, and statistics regarding disconnected calls. Finally, you can check the business’s Google Business Profile for reviews left by customers.
How important is it to have a reliable VoIP provider?
It is very important to have a reliable VoIP provider because if you are using VoIP in a business setting, then having confidence that the service will be consistent and you will not get hung up on your phone calls with customers, is essential.
