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Choosing a VoIP service provider

With VoIP phones services evolving rapidly-and many different service providers promoting many different types of offerings-how do you choose the right VoIP solution and provider for your business?

Many consumer-oriented VoIP services fail to address the quality and security issues raised by VoIP technology. Others do nothing to manage and mask the complexity of implementing VoIP service across multiple locations. As a result, businesses can end up paying thousands of dollars in consulting fees, just to get remote extensions working properly.

We offer the following tips on what to consider when evaluating VoIP phone services for your business-as well as how webFones PBX addresses each area.

1. Look for business-grade VoIP services.

While it makes sense to shop around for the best deal, be aware that quality of service varies greatly. With VoIP services, as with most things, you usually get what you pay for.

The low, low prices offered by consumer VoIP service providers are enticing. But companies that offer free or near-free services also tend to over-subscribe their phone lines and equipment-with negative impacts on sound quality and reliability.

Worse, many VoIP calls are routed over the open internet, with no encryption or protection. While this practice reduces costs, it is not acceptable to most businesses. It can also lead to inconsistent phone conversation sound quality.

the webFones difference

webFones PBX is a commercial-grade VoIP business communications system for companies that require a higher level of reliability and prefer a "one-source" solution. In addition to business-class sound quality, webFones PBX encapsulates your phone conversations into a protective high-speed VPN that preserves confidentiality all the way to the analog telecommunications network.

2. Consider privacy and security.

Security is a huge problem in the VoIP world. The standard SIP protocols used are very vulnerable to compromise by hackers. That means anyone with a packet-sniffer can listen to your conversations-or possibly even figure out your VoIP passwords and make unauthorized phone calls.

the webFones difference

In contrast, the webFones PBX security solution delivers the benefits of a hosted VoIP solution while keeping your conversations secure. The webFones PBX gateway device encrypts all SIP communication between your LAN and our servers, all the way back to where it enters the analog telephone network (PTSN). The webFones PBX gateway also provides error-checking and packet prioritization for better, more consistent sound quality.

3. Consider reliability.

Reliability is a challenge with any internet-based phone service because parts of the network can be controlled and parts cannot. Many low-cost VoIP services have multiple points of failure where a problem might bring down your phones for as long as a day or more. For businesses that need to be in constant communication with customers and suppliers, it's important to choose a provider that has taken steps to minimize and eliminate downtime.

the webFones difference

webFones PBX uses redundant phone servers, redundant communications to the phone network, and failover to alternate ISPs to provide the highest degree of uptime, even in rare cases of equipment failure.

A problem with the local internet connection can still cause a failure-for example, an internet outage at an office location can knock out that location's ability to receive VoIP calls. However, even in that case, with redundant webFones PBX servers, your customers and other callers continue to be serviced, with their calls transparently and automatically re-directed to a cell phone or voicemail.

In addition, if a webFones PBX server fails or comes under an internet attack, your phone service moves to a different server on a completely redundant network, located in a different part of the country. In this way, webFones has been able to eliminate almost all failure points and ensure that your phone system will always answer your calls.

4. Consider the risks of VoIP sabotage.

Some cable companies that offer their own internet phone service have been accused of sabotaging competitors by intentionally degrading the sound quality of the competing VoIP services that travel across their network. The potential impact of such sabotage on your quality of service could be serious-and is very hard to police.

the webFones difference

To address this issue, webFones PBX disguises phone conversations to look just like secure web browsing. And since saboteurs don't see the VoIP, your phone conversations are protected.

6. Consider where you want to be.

There is a lot of talk about how VoIP can help companies set up remote offices-or support temporary consultants or contract workers. But very few VoIP solutions make it easy. In many cases, adding new locations can mean thousands of dollars in consulting fees to get remote phones working properly.

the webFones difference

Since webFones PBX is located centrally on the internet, it is able to auto-configure your phones-wherever they happen to be plugged in. So your employees can work at home, in remote call centers, on the road, or at multiple locations-without costly configuration.