The Cost of VoIP

When customers are trying to choose between potential VoIP providers, they consider factors like the reputation of the candidates and the customer support they can expect to attract, However, most of their decisions hinge on the issue of money.

Businesses are always looking at ways to save money. As a result, they will prioritise the cheapest service providers they can find. This makes sense. After all, VoIP is supposed to be more cost-effective than traditional communication systems.

But in many cases, the cost of VoIP is determined by the consumer rather than the service provider. At VoiPer, we endeavour to provide packages that can cater to the needs of every financial bracket.

It is up to you to determine how much money you are willing to spend; whether you will make do with the most inexpensive offerings or if you are willing to throw larger sums at the priciest products.

Companies take various factor into consideration when calculating their VoIP budget, for instance:

Users

The number of users will determine the VoIP costs you will incur. With VoIP, the ‘number of users’ doesn’t refer to the number of employees in your company but, rather, the number of lines you want to keep open.

A company that wants to engage two or three dozen customers at the same time has to target a VoIP system that can serve two or three dozen users. The configuration of the lines matters. To get proper value for your money, you need to buy in bulk. Pay for chunks of users rather than paying per user. The latter is more expensive.

Features

If the number of users is the most important consideration when calculating the cost of VoIP, the features are a close second. What do you want your VoIP system to do for you besides fielding calls?

There is call recording, conferencing, virtual extensions, queuing and so much more. Your choice of features will depend on the need in your organisation. The more features you want, the more money you will pay.

However, you are discouraged from limiting the features in your VoIP package in an effort to cut costs. VoIP is an investment. If you deploy the technology appropriately, you will recoup your investment in the long run but only if you are making sufficient use of all the benefits VoIP has to offer. Sometimes, that means spending a lot more money to acquire features that will grow your business in the years to come.

Contract

The nature of the contract you sign is as important to the overall cost of VoIP as the features and number of users. For many service providers, the greater the length of your agreement, the lower the price tag.

The objective is to discourage companies from pursuing month to month contracts. They want to funnel users towards agreements that are several years long. And they know that competitive prices will encourage companies to commit.

Hardware

Your choice of hardware is going to affect your overall costs. If you can introduce VoIP to your company in a manner that allows you to continue using your old handsets, your costs will be lower. But if you need an entirely new set of phones for your entire office, you have to pay more.

Your choice of handsets also matters. Some VoIP phones cost more than others because they have more features.

As you can see, the power lies in your hands. It is up to you to determine the amount of money you are willing to spend on your VoIP system.

Find out more about our VoIP phone systems, and if you have questions about the best system for your needs, please contact us.