Criteria for Selecting a Small Business PBX Hosted VoIP Provider

Key Considerations; Key issues that should be considered when selecting a VoIP Provider.
1. Voice Quality & Reliability of Service
2. Hosted Service versus Premise Equipment
3. Types of Business VoIP Services
4. Pricing Considerations
5. Conclusion

Voice Quality & Reliability of Service

Voice over IP is a proven technology that has been deployed by many of the largest and most successful companies around the globe. The voice quality and reliability of service is now equivalent to traditional telephone systems. Almost all of the major telecom companies are currently offering VoIP service to their residential telephone customers.
Hosted VoIP PBX versus Premise VoIP installations
There are 2 ways to get Voice over IP;
1. Own the hardware and the software (Premises)
2. Lease the Services from a VoIP Service Provider (Hosted Service).
From a technology perspective, there should not be a difference in voice quality and reliability between Premises based VoIP service and a Hosted VoIP service assuming the 2 alternatives have comparable hardware, software and internet connections.
Generally, the cost associated with owning voice over IP equipment (Premise solution) is not economically justified until the number of users is well into the thousands. This is because the cost of implementing a Premises bases VoIP requires a significant amount of upfront capital and the commitment of at least 2 full-time IT staff to support the system.
The primary non-economic reason for Premises based VoIP solution is if your company has specific applications such as a CRM application that must be integrated with your VoIP system. Custom applications also require an additional commitment of staffing resources.
AVAD Technologies VoIP is a hosted solution. The software we use to run our service is licensed from Broadsoft. Broadsoft VoIP software was awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2006 VoIP technology of the year award. At the end of this paper is a page from VoIP magazine that discusses the award Broadsoft received for its VoIP software. If you Google “Broadsoft”, you will see many positive articles about Broadsoft’s VoIP software.
A hosted service frees you from the burden of managing the security of the location that houses your system. The hardware that runs AVAD Technologies VoIP service is housed in an ultra secure location located at 32 Ave of the Americas in New York City. Among the many security features of this location is a 7-day backup power supply along with a team of technicians that monitors the systems 24/7. Some of the Worlds largest telecom providers house their systems at this location. Verizon is one of the companies that use this facility.
If a major event were to occur at this location, our service will automatically switch, without interruption, to a redundant facility located in Virginia.
A hosted service also does not require the purchase or maintenance of VoIP hardware and software and is therefore easier and much less costly to implement. The IP telephone, and if needed, a specialized router that costs about $750.00 is the only hardware that is required to install AVAD Technologies Hosted VoIP phone system.
Types of Business VoIP Services

There are 2 types of VoIP services; Group Services and User Services.
Group Services are PBX features that allow you to control how calls are handled by your telephone system. Group Services gives you the ability to easily and with no additional hardware, customize how calls are routed to and from your organization.
The power of Group Services lies in its ability to unify your company’s telecommunication system under a single umbrella regardless of the physical location of your offices. Home Offices can even be incorporated into your telephone system.
The Auto-Attendant is an example of a Group Service. With a Voice over IP Auto-Attendant, calls can be automatically routed to any geographic location within your company. Calls can even be routed automatically transferred to a home office or a cell phone.
User Services are the Calling Features of your phone system that your employees can customize to meet the unique requirements of their position within your organization. Examples of User Services include voice mail and call forwarding.
Pricing Considerations
Most organizations are initially drawn to VoIP because of the savings that a VoIP system offers. After using the VoIP for a while, most companies realize that they can gain an additional return on investment from the increased productivity and improved customer satisfaction by taking advantage of the advance Group and User available with VoIP technology.

Pricing Comparison

A cost comparison between Service Providers can be a little tricky because each Service Provider has a different way of pricing their product. Hosted VoIP Service providers generally charge a monthly fee for each “service” they provide. In addition to the monthly cost for services, some VoIP Service Providers charge for the initial installation as well as for moves, add’s and changes to your system.
One of the biggest benefits of VoIP is that with the exception of the IP phones, all repairs to AVAD Technologies system can be done remotely and with very little effort or expense. AVAD Technologies does not charge for installation, moves, add’s or changes to your VoIP system.
Conclusion

Unless you plan to write custom applications and are prepared to invest a significant amount of up front and ongoing capital necessary to create and secure a VoIP platform, a Hosted VoIP Service is the preferred solution.
The decision criteria when selecting a Service Providers should include the following;
1. Is the Service Providers equipment housed in a secure location?
2. Are the Service Provider’s facilities redundant?
3. What type of software is being used?
4. Final pricing considerations should include cost of installation
5. The expertise of the Service Provider.
AVAD Technologies Business Class VoIP runs on Broadsoft platform software. According to industry experts, Broadsoft is one of the best, if not the best VoIP software available. Broadsoft’s customers include Verizon, AT&T, and Bellsouth.
AVAD uses state-of-the-art IP Phone Sets. Again, these are the leading manufacturers in the IP phone market place. AVAD Technologies pricing of its services and customer support is among the most aggressive in the industry. We specialize in working with customers to solve/improve their telecommunications. This is one of the key benefits of working with AVAD Technologies.
We designed our system using the best products available for each critical aspect of our platform. It is very important from a customer’s point of view that the Service Provider understands the customer’s business so that a customized VoIP solution can be constructed to address the customer’s individual needs.
With AVAD Technologies you get a first class system from end-to-end. All of the components of our system are top-of –the-line. The IP Phones, VoIP software, hardware, security, plus the service and support that AVAD provides are second to none.