Despite technological advances in communication, the main way in which people get in touch with businesses is still the telephone. Therefore, choosing a telephone service for your business is very important. However, the effect your telephone service has in your business can be great, which is why it is also hard to choose the appropriate service. A good phone service provider will be reliable and affordable, as well as provide you with all the features your business requires. Evaluating different services and providers is vital so that way you will be able to choose the company that best suits your needs.
There are two types of business phone services offered in Cedar Island, NC: Traditional, analog telephone services and business VoIP service. Understanding the difference between them is key to choosing a provider. Below we will compare business phone services to give you the information you need to make the best choice.
| Provider | Plan Details | Monthly Rate* | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | RATED #1 BY INDUSTRY EXPERTS
| $19.99 | Details  142 Reviews |
 | Business phone service - no internet required
* 8.3% discount if paid for the year upfront | $17.41* | Details  7 Reviews |
 | Engineering for the Small Business
* per user per month | $9.95* | Details 1 Reviews |
 | Alliance
* 12% discount for subscribing and paying for a year upfront | $19.97* | Details 13 Reviews |
_2.png&contenttype=png "Talkroute Logo") | The phone system built to do business anywhere
* $5 per additional user | $19.00* | Details 1 Reviews |
_2.png&contenttype=png "Verizon logo") | Get 99.99% network reliability with Fios.
* Per month. Plus taxes, fees and equipment charges. | $69.00* | Details  11 Reviews |
The newest innovation in phone service is Voice Over Internet Protocol, commonly referred to as VoIP. VoIP provides Cedar Island, NC area business customers with a quality alternative to old-fashioned analog phone lines. Since being introduced a little more than a decade ago, VoIP has become more mainstream, with more business owners choosing to adopt this style of phone service in favor of traditional PSTN service. VoIP is also the preferred business phone system choice for new companies, especially smaller businesses. Even though phone calls are transported over the Internet, users report that call quality with a VoIP service sounds the same as when using a traditional phone line. Maintaining a reliable call quality for VoIP, however, is dependent upon having a quality business Internet connection. The Wirefly Internet Speed Test can prove useful to check if your current Internet connection will supports VoIP telephone service.
How the phone calls are carried is the main difference between PSTN and VoIP service. PSTN service carries calls over an analog signal. VoIP calls are digitized and transmitted through your Internet connection. VoIP service is a lot more economical for most businesses who send data, with the cost of making and receiving calls considerably less than using a traditional phone network. This is important if your business makes and receives a large volume of long distance as well as international calls. Determine whether or not the provider you are considering offers a flat rate package allowing for an unlimited amount of calls to certain destinations rather than charging for calls by the minute.
You can order a Cedar Island, NC business VoIP service with virtually any calling feature that benefits your business. These include multiple extensions, voicemail with remote access, caller ID, ring groups, fax to email, call forwarding and voicemail to email.
Most business VoIP providers serving the Cedar Island, NC business community offer a variety of plans combining features that suit the needs of businesses depending upon their size. You may be a small start-up venture needing just half a dozen lines, or the national headquarters for a large corporation with thousands of extensions. In either case, or anywhere in-between, there is a VoIP service to meet your needs and your budget.
When you start your search for the best phone provider, you'll see that there are many VoIP service suppliers battling to do business with you. While you may be overwhelmed at first, you can actually use this to your advantage.
Consider what you need before you choose a company. You will want to know how many lines you will need, whether you will utilize the special features enough to be worth buying them and if your business has the potential to grow down the road. How much the companies charge for service will also be a factor. If you are a smaller company, you won't want a company that overcharges.
Compare all of the features between the companies to see who offers the most for the best rate. Look into the actual reputation of the company, as well. Finding a cheap VoIP service isn't beneficial if the company has poor customer service and a bad reputation. Remember that your company needs to have a reliable phone service to make and receive calls, so choosing a cheap company can actually lose you money if they do not offer reliable service.
Traditional phone services carry all calls over the PSTN, which is the public switched telephone network. The PSTN network is what has been in use for about a hundred years and was the very first phone network to be used. It is available all over the country and is made up of satellites, cables, telephone lines and mobile networks. Most customers think of this type of service when they are considering a business phone service, only because it is what they are used to.
However, a PSTN phone service can cost more in Cedar Island, NC than VoIP service. This is mostly due to the fact that the PSTN infrastructure is old and requires ongoing maintenance to it. Since PSTN is analog, it makes it harder to send data over longer distances.
Making a long distance call with PSTN means that the data sent will have to make numerous stops at locations along the way. Data flows through equipment that is owned by a number of different companies, causing this type of call to be more expensive. While much of the infrastructure that is used to carry, switch and route the telephone calls is completely digital, the “last mile', as it is known, is still an analog connection made between the customer and the local central office.
Most Cedar Island, NC companies use a PBX, or private branch exchange, to route calls that are received within their office. When you set up a business phone service, the PBX is what allows the users to enjoy the different call features, such as voicemail, caller ID, multiple extensions and more.
The PBX in a traditional PSTN phone system may be located at a remote location or at the user's premises. But no matter where it is, an analog PBX is expensive. A complete business phone system which uses a PBX will need countless types of hardware that the business owner must purchase themselves. This investment may start at $1,000 and up. Not only that, configuration and maintenance will be a separate cost, which could run you a $100 an hour or more.
Upgrading a traditional PBX in Cedar Island, NC can be difficult and expensive. Many of the PBX systems only support a small amount of lines. This will become a problem if your business becomes larger and you need to add more extensions. You'll end up having to pay for more hardware to accommodate your growth, as well as the service hours to install them.
A PBX may also experience issues and breakdowns, much like other types of electronic hardware. This could result in expensive repairs and hardware replacement costs if you have a problem with your PBX. If your PBX becomes obsolete, you'll also be responsible for replacing it, which could conceivably occur every few years. This could end up costing you hundreds of dollars over time, plus the aggravation of having to have a costly service team come in.
