Once a VoIP solution is in place, how is it maintained?
Once the system is in place, maintaining it is just like maintaining any other item on your data network. An administrator should be assigned to take care of any moves of people and any additions or changes to the service, and the system that is chosen should have the capability for that administrator to do that on their own.
Choose the system you’re going to have the best ownership experience with, because you’re going to have that system for three to five years. You need somebody you can live with and can grow with. If you choose something strictly on price, you might find yourself constricted down the road as far as system administrators being able to make moves and changes, or your scalability might be hampered.
What types of upgrades and updates should companies expect from their provider?
Typically, you’ll see patches the same way you see software patches in an operating system environment. A lot of the upgrades and updates have to do with security, because, again, the VoIP system is operating on your data network. It has to be very secure because you are allowing users onto your data network.
It is not a separate system. That was one good thing about separate systems; they were fairly secure. As long as you had complex passwords for voice mail, you didn’t run much risk of people hacking into your system.
With VoIP, it is a piece sitting on your data network, so the security on it has to be very stringent. Otherwise, you may experience some problems.
What do companies need to know about the different types of VoIP systems?
If you are going with a hosted solution, you need to be with a company you believe is going to be around for the long haul. By ‘hosting’ your system, you are essentially outsourcing their phone system to the VoIP company. As vital as that communication system is, they cannot entrust it to a fly-by-night company. They need to be with a company with a good reputation, history and a vast amount of experience to draw from, and one that is financially stable.
Some companies will make it sound very appealing and inexpensive — selling the sizzle. A lot of those companies go out of business or get gobbled up. If they do fail, you have to be ready to move very quickly because your phone numbers could be at risk. Your whole phone system and your communication with the rest of world could be at risk.
The other way to do VoIP is with a premise-based system. Premise-based has somewhat similar concerns to what you would have with a hosted provider but not as dire because you have control over your own phone numbers. Premise-based is less risky because you have the system within your enterprise, so you’re still able to make moves and changes, even if the VoIP company were to fail.
Chris Surdenik is president of Call One. Reach him at (312) CALL-ONE.
