Is VoIP phone system Complicated to Set Up?

The VoIP phone system has changed a lot compared to its early days. It used to be an exotic tool for the tech-savvy but now it has become mainstream. Nowadays you would have difficulty in finding a business which does not use VoIP phone system and if you find some then they would be switching away to VoIP systems as well. Despite this evolution, a lot of people still have misconceptions about VoIP technology. For example, there are some managers that think a VoIP phone system has a complicated set up. At times it might appear overwhelming since the transition to any new technology includes making big and important decisions. However fortunately for businesses VoIP technology is just as complex as you make it.

Elements influencing VoIP phone system setup

The difficulty level of setting up a VoIP phone system depends on your business needs. and how you want the phone system to work. Entrepreneur, freelancer or small business would find setting up a VoIP system much easier compared two large organisations. However, size is just one factor. There are several other factors that determine the difficulty level of setting up a VoIP phone system.

VoIP systems depends on a fast internet connection. Therefore, if you have poor Internet network then you have to improve that first before you switch to VoIP. Making improvement can take less time for small business compared to a large organisation. On the contrary, bigger organisations do have access to financial funds.

VoIP phone system setup can become complicated if you want to use the advanced functionality. And if you want to connect multiple locations are you wish to sustain support for the Legacy systems. On the one hand of a scale, few businesses can get VoIP systems set up and running in just a few hours. While on the other end you can have VoIP technology deployment projects which can take years to complete.

VoIP phone system setup in 6-steps

Irrespective of the scale and difficulty of a project, the majority of businesses follow 6 steps while switching to the VoIP phone system. A small business may complete every step in just a few hours or days whereas others may take a few weeks. In this article, we are going to mention the steps that you must take to set up VoIP systems in your office.

1. Calculate the number of users. Understand that not every employee in your office needs to have an IP phone or their own phone number. A few of your employees might prefer to use their mobile phone while others may need just an extension. Having a number of users in your hand can make it easy for you to compare plans from different providers. It can also help you in estimating how many numbers or lines you will need so you can figure out a financial budget for your project.
2. Check your Internet speed. You may have a high-speed Internet connection, but it might not be enough for a VoIP phone system. Voice calls take place in real time, therefore, things such as latency and jitter can have an adverse effect on your phones if you haven’t set up the Quality of Service. Are you aware of how much extra bandwidth will you need so your employees can make concurrent calls? Is the system going to stop if somebody streams a video? If you want your business to run smoothly then you cannot afford to take the risk with your communication system. There are a number of businesses which even to go for professional assessment from external experts to ensure that their Internet network can handle VoIP phone system.
3. Have a financial budget. It is easier to get carried away by all the fancy features that providers promise you in their ads. However, the catch is that everything will cost you money. Whether it is the upfront fees or in the form of monthly bills. You must decide which features are significant for your business needs. Which features are nice to have, and which are not that useful for you. You have to determine where you can afford to spend your budget and which parts do not need much. Making such lists can help you in comparing offered plans and features which you are going to pay for.
4. Select a VoIP provider. Every VoIP provider has a different plan and services. You have to select a provider who can offer you a complete suite of VoIP phone services at the lowest possible price. With your financial budget and feature list in your hand you can select a provider who can offer the following things:
   1. The features which you want at a cost which you can afford
   1. Reliability and high-quality VoIP
   1. User-friendly interface, training guides along with other resources
   1. Good customer service and Technical Support
5. Order and upgrade the hardware. You will require IP phones to use VoIP technology. IP phones can be desk phones, desktops with software or mobile phones with app or even analogue devices with VoIP adaptor. Once you have selected a provider you can work with them to buy suitable hardware. Any other types of equipment which you may have to include are session border controller, VoIP friendly firewalls etc. Also, you might find that you have to upgrade your existing hardware such as switches or routers. The older hardware might not be capable of handling the VoIP traffic.
6. Configure your phone system to suit your requirements. Majority of the reputable providers offer auto provisioning which can simplify the VoIP phone system setup procedure. All you will need to do is plug your phone into the network. Your employees can configure settings which suits their workflow and the system administrator can have greater control.

Business Phone Systems setup is easy if you break it down into small steps. Eventually, VoIP systems are easy and quick to setup compared to the traditional PBX systems.