Can You Trust Your Hosted PBX Provider?
June 16, 2014
Category: Business Phone Service, Hosted PBX, Phone Systems
As your hosted PBX provider controls a large part of the data streaming through your company, it is absolutely vital that you be able to trust them to offer the speeds, services and features that are most important to your business. Not all hosted PBX providers are equal, and many of them have been cobbled together without any real intention of delivering the best possible product. There are a few things that you can keep in mind when deciding whether or not to implement or keep your PBX provider today.
If QoS is a serious concern for your company, you need to enquire about High Definition Voice. While the name makes this feature fairly self-evident, the answer itself will tell you a great deal about your potential providers ability to actually provide good quality voice over your hosted PBX system. Specifically, if the provider speaks about G. 722 codec then it is likely that they are using the only system that is really guaranteed to provide high quality phone service.
For some companies it is the variability possible with hosted PBX that draws them in the first place. If this is the case and you are more concerned with your own ability to control and manage your features, ask your potential provider if they are able to give you centralized control of those same features. If they aren’t able to, you will want to switch to a provider that offers you the control you need.
Like any good partnership, both companies should be able to grow together in ways that complement both of your futures. You might ask your potential provider for a service roadmap. This handy document will enable you to see the features that your provider will be rolling out, and how they intend to implement them to make the best functionality. This can help you to see if they are going to be able to offer the services that your business needs, when you will need it in the future.
Another good sign that your provider is going to be a good fit has to do with their variability and willingness to offer that for your business. One of the advantages of a hosted PBX system is the ability to customize the system to meet exactly your needs. Just because a company offers up a multitude of features doesn’t necessarily mean that you need all of those features. Make sure that you discuss with your provider what features you do need, and just like any salesman, don’t let them pressure you into purchasing add-ons that you don’t need.
Finally, it can never hurt to do a little bit of research into the provider that you are interested in. Make sure to check into the history of your provider – see how their current clients and past customers feel about their services. A good resume for a provider can make all the difference in choosing between two, equally good providers.
