| The Situation | | | | -Money-back guarantee (Always a sign of an honest |
| When deciding on a VoIP service, you should first find | | | | and quality provider) |
| a plan that makes sense for your wallet. You'll want to | | | | -International calling (If you need it) |
| avoid purchasing a costly VoIP system with an | | | | Contract Termination |
| inflexible fixed contract. A one or two year contract is | | | | It's very important to find out what kind of policy your |
| required for some VoIP providers, but some | | | | prospective VoIP provider will have with regards to |
| companies don't require such a commitment. Make | | | | contract termination. Sometimes there can be |
| sure to look into this because being locked into a | | | | early-termination fees. There may also be fees to |
| contract can be harmful if the business model of VoIP | | | | remove any installed equipment and/or transferring |
| ends up not working for you. For those of you who | | | | any archived data on the system. You'll want to make |
| don't mind signing a contract, pay attention to the fine | | | | sure you have an honest and reliable service provider |
| print of the termination agreement. Depending on the | | | | for this, although if you have an honest and reliable |
| company, commitments can range anywhere from 6 | | | | service provider, you might question why you need to |
| months to 2 years. Cancelling the contract early usually | | | | terminate service at all! |
| means you'll have to pay a fee. Inquire about this type | | | | Support |
| of contract before choosing your VoIP provider. | | | | You might have, one day or another, to ring the |
| | | | company up for a technical support or to report |
| -The activation fee (What are the additional costs of | | | | defective equipment or service. For this, you want to |
| setting up service?) | | | | make sure that there are people nearby (either |
| -The termination fee (Will I be penalized for ending | | | | physically or electronically) for you to yell at... well, at |
| service early?) | | | | least who can advise you. A local provider is beneficial. |
| -The contract terms (What am I allowed to do?) | | | | And getting your problem solved in person is better |
| -Is the plan limited or unlimited? (How much data can I | | | | than doing everything on the phone or online. A local |
| transmit over the server?) | | | | provider should be your first choice, and an overseas |
| -Ease of use (Will the employees need training?) | | | | provider a distant second. |
| -Quality (Wil the equipment need frequent | | | | Consider the effects on your business a VoIP service |
| replacement?) | | | | will have before you make a purchase. What impact |
| -What equipment is needed? (What additional fees are | | | | will it have, if any, on existing levels of service to which |
| involved?) | | | | your users are accustomed? Can your system handle |
| -Will I get the equipment with the service? (See above) | | | | an increase in data load without lowering the |
| -Equipment cost (See above) | | | | performance of other applications? Think about that as |
| -Minimum duration of service (And is there an | | | | well. |
| early-termination fee?) | | | | |