Enterprise VoIP: What Is It and Why You Need It

What is Enterprise VoIP?

Today, the main advantages of enterprise VoIP should be sought among services and functions these systems offer for enterprises and large-scale businesses. They allow broad communication capabilities, processing costs optimizing, accelerating the exchange of information inside the company and outside, increasing management efficiency, and competitiveness.

The cost-efficient rates of VoIP service providers are possible by not having to deploy a complex system of telephone networks because signals are transmitted digitally via the Internet. This feature allows companies to save on long-distance and international calls, making cheap VoIP calls, as well as purchasing special equipment necessary for the deployment of analog telephone networks.

Reducing administration costs, as well as the ability to use new applications and combining voice communication with software and mobile apps, are additional arguments in favor of the IP-phone system compared to the traditional one. Read additional information about business VoIP.

Nextiva

Founded in Scottsdale, USA, in 2008, this cloud-hosted IP-phone provider offers the best IT solutions necessary for enterprises and large companies with remote offices. Conference calls, call forwarding features, and service of managing remote platforms from the central one are advantageous for enterprises seeking ways to increase mobility and efficiency of their communication systems. The company offers three business-related phone service plans. The example of pricing the system for 10 users is as follows:

Basic ($30 per month per user monthly billing and $26 annual billing). Free number porting, unlimited calling, and virtual fax. Free toll-free and local phone number, auto-attendant, hold music.
Pro ($35 a month per user monthly billing, and $30 annual billing). Basic plan features plus advanced calling services like Nextiva App, professionally recorded greeting, instant messaging and SMS, unlimited conference calls.
Enterprise ($45 per user billed each month, and $40 billed annually). Features of Pro plan added with call recording, voicemail to text, voice analytics. Advanced business sales/service CRM features, data collecting, and analytics.

Nextiva’s support service is available 24/7 and can be reached by phone, online chat, or submitting a ticket on the website. Moreover, the company’s website contains detailed FAQs and guides on communication, technical, and business-related questions.

Vonage

Vonage IP-phone provider was founded in 2001 in New Jersey, USA. At the present time, it has numerous branch offices throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia. Offering affordable and multifunctional VoIP systems, it can become a reliable supplier of professional phone services for businesses and enterprises. The ten lines phone system plans for enterprises are shown below:

Mobile ($17.99 per month/line). This type of plan is the best for mobile businesses that don’t require the use of desk phones. It includes unlimited calls and SMS, mobile apps for iPhone, Android, iPad, as well as a desktop app, team messaging.
Premium ($27.99 per month per line). The solution is best suitable for the traditional business model and office work. It contains all the features of Mobile plan plus multi-level auto-attendant, chat, and video conferencing for up to 100 people, CRM integration.
Advanced ($37.99 month/line). The most powerful solution adapted for the need of enterprises that includes all the features of other plans with 15 hours of call recording per month, call group, Vonage visual voicemail, Orange-Glove setup added.

All service plans are subject to free 14 days risk-free trial period with no cancellation fees. Vonage’s customer service can be contacted on the phone from 8 am to 9 pm ET or by filling in the form online. All problems are resolved quickly and efficiently; in addition, the experts from the support team will assist the customers in making the smart choice suiting exactly their business needs.

RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud-based business IP-phone systems provider that was established in 1999 in Belmont, California. Offering quality voice, calling, text, conference, and mobile features, the company can be the perfect Internet phone solution for enterprises.

Flexible pricing with different phone service plans can vary in features allow the customer to select the appropriate for his needs and requirements. The RingCentral Office plans are available for monthly and annual billing. In the case of annual billing, the customer saves a massive 33%. Phone plans for a 10 user system are listed below:

Essentials ($29.99 per user monthly or $19.99 per month per user billed annually). The unlimited US and Canada calls, local or toll-free number with 100 free minutes each month.
Standard ($34.99 monthly or $24.99 annually). Unlimited calling and fax, audio meetings, and video conferencing for up to 4 people. 1,000 toll-free minutes per month.
Premium ($44.99 monthly or $34.99 billed once a year). All features of previous plans plus 2,500 toll-free minutes, unlimited audio and video meetings for up to 100 members, automatic call recording.
Ultimate ($49.99 monthly or $54.99 annually). Premium alike plan increasing toll-free minutes up to 10,000 and up to 200 people per audio and video conference.

The support service is highly professional and friendly. It is accessible on the phone or via online chat.

8×8

8×8 is a business-oriented IP-phone service provider with global headquarters in San Jose that was founded in 1987. With long-standing experience in the IT industry and thousands of satisfied customers, it offers advanced cloud solutions for voice, texting, conferencing, and phone calls. The four phone service plans for enterprises vary in available features, the number of users, and rate. The detailed descriptions of 10 lines enterprise plans are outlined below:

X Series X2 ($250 per month). This plan includes unlimited international calls to 14 countries (USA, Canada, UK, France, Australia, etc.), advanced auto-attendant, call handling, voice mail, mobile, and desktop apps.
X Series X4 ($450 monthly). Unlimited calls to 47 countries, advanced call handling, team messaging and business SMS, call recordings, analytics, and call quality reporting.
X Series X6 ($1,100 per month per 10 lines). In addition to unlimited calls to 47 countries, this plan provides 4,000 min for contact center calling within these countries. Also, native CRM and knowledge base, reports, and analytics are available.
X Series X8 ($1,720 per month per 10 lines). It contains features of all plans mentioned above plus enterprise-grade security system, compliance and certification, email, chat, SMS, and Social Media Channels.

Additionally to the detailed 8×8 support knowledge base, the customer service is available 24/7 online and on the phone from Monday to Saturday, 6 am – 6 pm.

Jive

Jive is a contemporary VoIP communication system that can reduce your enterprise’s expenses by delivering robust cloud-hosted solutions combining video and voice features. Established in 2006 and headquartered in London, Utah, the company developed a network of regional offices in the US, Latin America, and Canada.

Today, this is a company with a leading position in the IT solutions market. Being compared with service plans from other IP-service providers, Jive can claim to be able to offer the most flexible and user-friendly system. All Jive’s plans, even the least costly one, provide full access to all the available features and services (call options, mobile, desktop, web apps, conferencing, voice services, etc.).

The price ranges from the number of customers only. Moreover, the more lines you order, the per-user rate is decreasing. Jive suggests five tiers with pricing starting with $29.95 to $19.95 per customer per month. The price-setting structure is presented below:

up to 4 customers $29.95 per customer, a month
5-9 customers $25.95 per customer, per month
10-24 customers $23.95 per customer, a month
25-49 customers $21.95 per customer, a month
50-99 customers $19.95 per customer per month

In the case of having over 100 employees, your enterprise is eligible for custom pricing. The customer and technical support are available online 24/7 by submitting a ticket, and on the phone.

Dialpad

Dialpad is a California-based business Internet phone system provider founded in 2011. Dialpad’s business communication platform can help to build a connected enterprise, delivering quality support, conference, and voice products. At the moment, it offers several IT solutions covering all the needs of modern business communication:

Business phone system. Standard ($20 monthly per user), Pro ($30 monthly per user), and Enterprise (custom price) plans are available. They include international numbers, unlimited calling, SMS, MMS, and group texting within the US and Canada, local and toll-free numbers, and other features.
Video conferencing. Free and Business ($15 per month per user) plans offered. The business option includes a conference with maximal duration up to 5 hours, up to 100 participants, unlimited conferences, document sharing, etc.
Inbound call center. Pro ($75 per month per agent, annual billing) and Enterprise (custom pricing) plans are available. Local, international, toll-free, and special numbers, international service in over 50 countries, call forwarding are included.
Intelligent sales dialer. Pro ($95 per month per user, annual billing) and Enterprise (custom pricing) plans are provided. The plans offer local and international offices, international numbers, call control (hold, mute, forward), UberConference business license.

All products are available for a free trial during the 14 days. Contact customer service is possible via the phone or from your personal account dashboard on the company’s website.

PanTerra Networks

Headquartering in Santa Clara, the heart of Silicon Valley, PanTerra Networks, was founded when the new millennium started in 2001. These days PanTerra is the leader in providing business-class, unified cloud communication solutions including secure channels, team messaging, online meetings, conferencing, and detailed business analytics to enterprises.

PanTerra’s secure and simple cloud-hosted product Streams is a unified communications solution upgrading the communication capability of the enterprise to a whole new level. Offering the opportunity to combine unified communications, team collaborations, and high security, Streams makes a closer connection and higher productivity of the employees available.

Also, this VoIP provider offers to discover the full scope of Streams benefits with no risk, no obligation, and for free. Streams is delivered in 4 options which vary by features and pricing:

Business basic (starting at $19.95 per month). This option includes unlimited outbound calling, integrated Softphone, SmartBox with 2 Gb storage, voice mail, music on hold, and ring groups.

Business Plus (starting at $24.95 a month). All of the previous option features plus unlimited SMS and MMS messaging, audio/video streams, auto-attendants, unlimited conferencing, and team messaging.
Professional (starting at $34.95 monthly). It contains the features of two earlier options with digital fax, unified live monitor, supervisory modes, unlimited auto-attendants, and CRM integration added.
Call Center (starting at $64.95 per month). This option is a combination of all previous ones plus lifetime analytics, detailed reporting, unlimited call queues, and AppDesigner.

The support team is accessible via email, phone, and through the online form on the website.

VoIPLy

VoIPLy service provider delivers a unified communications solution for businesses and enterprises. The cloud-hosted secure system is flexible and reliable, easy to set up, and use. It contains more than 50 various features and services able to make happy even the most demanding customers.

Founded in 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA, the company grows and expanding its limits, now serving over 5,000 businesses and enterprises. In addition to delivering quality products and services, VoIPLy offers very personalized customer service and 24/7 technical support. They work with the customer until the issue is fixed and do everything to ensure their clients are satisfied. Among available VoIPLy features are:

call logs and voicemail-to-email
Internet fax and toll-free and vanity numbers
business SMS and mobile app
call forwarding and extension dialing
secure VoIP service and number porting

Currently, only the Business Pro plan is offered at $15 per month with convenient monthly billing with no cancellation fees. This plan includes unlimited calls to the US and Canada, sending and receiving faxes using mobile devices, auto-attendants, business texting, and online conferencing.

Additionally, the company offers the opportunity to custom build your own enterprise network. By selecting different parameters, services, and features, the customer is able to configure its own communications system focusing on the needs of the enterprise.

OnSIP

OnSIP business phone service provider delivers cloud-based secure communications solutions that are very attractive for all types of businesses and enterprises. Once established in 2005 in New York with a team of 5 dedicated professionals, it has rapidly achieved recognition providing business-oriented quality communications systems.

Now it has three office locations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania serving the needs of over 15,000 customers. Presently the company offers two main options for business communications system:

Basic ($49.95 monthly per account). It includes $0.29 per min for calls within standard calling area (US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, etc.in a total of 17 countries), sayso website chat, call recording user, auto-attendants, ring groups, voicemail to email, dial by name directory.
Unlimited ($18.95 monthly per user). The plan offers desk phones or headsets for all new accounts with over five users. The unlimited number of standard calling area calls, call parking lots, auto attendants, ring groups, Polycom phones, enhanced music on hold.

Each plan can be extended with the additional features vary from the inbound bridge for $1.95 + 0.5¢ per minute and on net conference suite $19.95 ($50.00 for 10) to queues and reporting dashboards for $14.95 per seat. Technical support and customer service can be contacted via email, chat, and phone.

How to Choose an Enterprise VoIP Provider

Are you searching for an enterprise VoIP Provider but don’t know which one is right for your needs? The importance of wise VoIP Provider choice In general, VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) is a term used for business phone communications that allows you to use advanced call management features on your computer or mobile device.

Unlike the cumbersome settings of the old phone systems, VoIP for business is the ideal solution both for small companies and large-scale enterprises. You can cut down on phone costs by using all the advanced communication tools to grow and expand your business.

Enterprise VoIP technology offers great flexibility and freedom, offering secure and reliable communications solutions that bring significant advantages to businesses of all sizes. Whether you have a small company with 3 employees, a growing team of 14 people, or an established business with over 100 employees, you can benefit from using enterprise VoIP.

Another striking thing about VoIP systems is that if your enterprise is oriented to work in different geographical locations and time zones, you can set your number to the identifier of the local area where you operate. This will help you make deals, as customers tend to trust more local suppliers rather than foreign ones.

However, if you have not chosen the best enterprise VoIP provider yet, you may encounter some serious problems. For example, the voice quality of VoIP calls fluctuates depending on your bandwidth potential and the Internet service provider plan you are using. Unlike landline phones, you lose your VoIP connection during a power outage or Internet connection loss, but this should not affect your enterprise if you are well prepared.

Tips for choosing the right VoIP provider for your enterprise Many renowned and recognizable companies offer various VoIP solutions, and this is a very competitive market. The abundance of choice and the highly competitive advertising nature only complicate decision-making and increase the chances of finding the wrong enterprise VoIP provider.

If you are a newbie, then most likely, you are looking for the cheapest VoIP options. Although, you have to be careful with this strategy because low-cost solutions often may not have certain features that you later discover are essential for your enterprise network. In addition, some VoIP services are not easy to setup and configure, migrate, change or simply too expensive.

While comparing enterprise VoIP providers for your business needs, make sure to look for a balance of features and reasonable rates. A shortlist of things to pay attention to is summarized below:

National and long-distance call pricing. Most enterprise VoIP providers offer different plans for international calling. You need to select a service based on your calling needs and geographic location of your customers.
Features available in business communications plans. Many IP-phone companies offer various features and services included in different pricing options, while some charge them as separate add-ons that increase your costs.
Mobile apps and features that can be shared among various users.
Third-party integrations that can be used for connecting your communications system with other tools, such as analytic reports, website chats, CRM software, email marketing service, video services.

Reliable and secure service is crucial when it comes to business, and the ability to establish quality communication with employees and other enterprises. Before making a decision to use one or another enterprise VoIP provider, the company must fully understand if its communication demands are covered and how this can help the business to grow.

Know the Difference: On-Premise vs. Hybrid vs. Cloud Hosted

On-Premise Fast, easy setup and configuring of the phone system, along with the low cost, are very important for small and medium-sized companies. Cloud-hosted products are attractive because of their relatively rapid installation, but in price terms, they are not always cheaper than On-Premise solutions.

Generally, virtual cloud-hosted phone systems are more suitable for small companies oriented to short-time projects, while enterprises will often benefit from having their own safer to use IP-systems. By setting On-Premise modern communication systems, the company receives:

reliable and high-quality internal corporate communications
cost reduction, since due to the use of various communication channels, calls can be made at the most favorable rates
the opportunity to expand and upgrade the network without replacing all the equipment, since the IP-PBX models of different series are compatible with each other, and new generations of products are developed, taking into account the principle of continuity

The systems allow you to use a conference call, as well as use the functions of a call center and business applications. All these features help company employees enhance collaboration and improve the quality of their work. The equipment must be installed by a team of authorized specialists to ensure its proper functioning.

Hybrid Hybrid solutions combine the advantages of traditional telecommunications with the capabilities of IP-telephony, offer a wide range of abilities and intelligent functions, giving small and medium enterprises many competitive advantages.

Hybrid telephone systems can provide smooth and comfortable migration to IP systems, which is beneficial for customers switching to converged solutions while maintaining existing telephone networks. The hybrid telephone system will support SIP connectivity for desktop computers and networks, allowing the use of IP telephones and supporting standard digital and analog devices.

Typically, hybrid telephone systems are designed either as fully IP solutions, or as fully digital, or as a combination of both. Lots of useful features (one-button click advanced call routing, call recording, holding, forwarding, and similar) save the time of each employee and the resources of the entire enterprise.

At the same time, the use of such technologies leads to an overall reduction in communication costs, which is extremely important not only for small businesses but also for large enterprises. Hybrid solutions help to increase customers’ loyalty and effectively process each incoming call, which contributes to the company’s profit increase.

Cloud-Hosted. The term cloud-hosted telephone system means that the VoIP provider takes care of all hardware, software, and using all the technologies necessary to provide communication services to the enterprise. Calls, notifications, and other functions are processed on the provider’s server(s).

Typically, the IP-phone service provider offers different business plans containing a certain number of minutes for calling and many additional functions. Plans are billed monthly or annually, though calls can also be paid per minute. The use of cloud-based phone communications has two main benefits:

the company does not bear preliminary costs
the company can more accurately estimate and budget monthly expenses

Advanced features may be charged extra if they are not included in the service plan.

Questions to Ask a Prospective Enterprise VoIP Service Provider

Why should I choose your company? IP-phone communications systems market is very competitive, with numerous providers offering similar features with more or less similar price forming. To find a golden grain is a challenge, but the result is worth it. Seek for the company offering creative and non-standard solutions necessary for your business needs, exclusive features, and special services.

What should I do during 14 days of free use Enterprise VoIP? Typically, the free trial period is given to let you learn more about the basic and advanced features of the system to see if they meet your expectations and demands. The website of the Enterprise VoIP provider usually contains FAQ and section with how-to guidelines and helpful articles to answer your questions.

Also, the customer support service is here to resolve any issues you may face while using the new enterprise communications system. What advanced enterprise-class features you offer? Enterprise VoIP solution is aimed to enhance your customer service by using auto-attendants and integrating with your CRM software.

Also, by delivering advanced features like mobile apps, conferencing, team messaging, file, and screen sharing, it can improve your teamwork and productivity. Are you guaranteeing full uptime, and what are your recovery options? Your Enterprise VoIP provider must ensure 99.99% uptime, secure channels, and a reliable system of redundant backups.

The ability to handle a situation with no loss of information and service is essential. Ask your provider about its efforts and actions to maintain and secure your information for various contingencies. What features do I lose after migrating to Enterprise VoIP? Compatibility with particular services and some existing equipment can be lost if you switch to Enterprise VoIP option.

Discover how to reconfigure the system for new opportunities. If you need to replace any equipment, find out how to set it up to the new features available. Can I use all auto-attendant features in the Enterprise plan? Definitely, you can. You record a voice greeting (IVR) once, and the system will use it for all inbound calls.

Also, you can set up the necessary call forwarding. The auto attendant is always polite and attentive. It is always in a good mood, will helpfully forward the call to the employee responsible for the particular project, and accurately record all voice messages from customers in the popular .mp3 format. And the auto-attendant will never forget to notify your customers about discounts, special offers, or advertise your new product or service to callers.

How does the CRM integration feature work? One of the most popular CRM system functions, in addition to the basic functionality, is the ability to integrate CRM and IP phone systems. Such integration will significantly increase the convenience and speed of call processing and analytics. VoIP solutions for enterprises offer the opportunity of smooth integration with different CRM you may use.

Key Benefits and Features of Enterprise VoIP Phone Systems

Fast, high quality and safe communications High-speed digital data transfer guarantees no interference, delays, or echo. This provides excellent communication regardless of your location. If necessary, the voice and video stream can be encrypted using modern cryptographic algorithms. This feature complicates the wiretapping of conversations and other actions aimed at the unauthorized interception of classified information.

Communications cost reduction Savings due to the use of Enterprise VoIP depends on the number of employees, distance, and location of regional offices, business partners, and customers. Switching to this plan may result in a reduction in communication costs up to 50%. This effect consists of several factors, including reducing the costs of administering corporate networks (managing a single network is simpler and cheaper than several different ones), decreasing telephone service bills, and the absence of international call bills.

Also, no need to pay for communication between company divisions because regional office communications systems are merged into one network. A broad spectrum of additional features available In addition to the basic IP-phone service functions (call waiting, group call, conference calling, and others), the enterprise option provides the following functions:

digital fax
advanced call recording
unlimited auto-attendant
desktop and mobile apps
CRM integration
voice to email feature
website chat option

Video conferencing and adding numbers at no extra cost are also possible. Happy customers Do not forget about the benefits for your customers that get quality service with unified communications, a single number for international and local calls, the ability of online communications with no location restriction, convenient callback, and many other things.

Handy Enterprise VoIP Terms to Know

Auto-attendant or IVR (Interactive Voice Response) The computer-controlled interactive voice response system in response to customer actions. It can be used, for example, to route a call to a specific manager or to vote and evaluate the quality of service.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) A system for organizing customer relations, as a rule, contains contact information, a history of relationships, negotiations, and customer purchases. Cloud-hosted Cloud-hosted phone service is a corporate telephone system located on a server that belongs to the IP provider.

With a cloud-based solution, you get all the usual services and features, but free from the cost of setting up, configuring, and maintaining the system. WAN and LAN WAN (Wide Area Network). The Global Computer Network (Internet), accordingly, the WAN port is a port for connecting to the Internet. LAN means Local Area Network.

The LAN port is used to connect computers and consolidate them into a local network. ISP This is short for Internet Service Provider and refers to companies or enterprises that provide Internet access at a certain price. An Internet service provider is tasked with establishing local, regional, or even national connections to facilitate online data transfer between users, other Internet service providers, and Internet servers.

Also known as Internet access providers (IAPs), these companies not only provide Internet connection for their end-users but can also provide other network services such as email access, domain name registration, web hosting, and data center services.