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New technology brings a lot of pluses to the table of any business, but incorporating new technology also requires adaptation. It's not always easy to adopt technological advances into your daily operations. Sometimes it requires substantial upfront investments in money, manpower, or time. Sometimes it means delays or time to get the bugs worked out of the system. Sometimes it just means being willing to learn something new. But keeping on top of new technology that can benefit your day-to-day operations and customer satisfaction is essential to successful business.

While that may mean that sometimes you have to adapt to new technologies, VoIP technology should adapt to you and the needs of your organization. Like any new technology, the purpose of VoIP is to make your business run smoother, improve customer service, and make your life easier. To that end, VoIP offers a host of flexible features that can be adapted to fit the needs of your organization. Hosted VoIP phone services from sipVine are budget friendly, don't require a significant upfront capital outlay, and offer customized deployments for all of your business needs, large or small.

Modern VoIP phone technology brings with it a lot of benefits that older phone systems couldn't manage, including direct dial, voicemail and inbound faxes to email, voicemail notifications to cell phones, unified messaging, on-phone corporate directories, IT and telecom support, and a variety of other advances that can help bring your phone system into the future. In addition to our VoIP services, sipVine also offers VoIP-enabled phones that boast a wide range of labor-saving and organizational features such as call waiting, caller ID, call transferring and forwarding, ad-hoc conferencing, group paging, intercom, and more.

Customized deployment means that you only pay for the services that you need for your business. At sipVine, our flat-rate service models include unlimited local and long-distance calls, and we offer price points on a sliding scale based on the number of users on your system, including low-usage phones (such as those in break rooms and conference rooms) priced at our lowest tier. Hosted VoIP has the added benefit of allowing you to turn over the administration of your phone system to sipVine. There's no longer any need for an expensive and maintenance-intensive private branch exchange (PBX) for your phone system. sipVine hosts the VoIP system, and handles the administration as part of our monthly flat fee, so you know what you're getting in advance, and pay for only what you want.

Many new technologies pay off in the long run, but require a lot out of you in advance. VoIP from sipVine gives you the best of both worlds, paying dividends in savings and performance, while adapting to suit the needs of your business from day one.

About the author: Mark Greim is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at sipVine, a provider of hosted VoIP phone systems and services. Mark has extensive experience working for start-up or entrepreneurial organizations and has a passion for affordable, reliable, and purposeful technology solutions in those environments.

Who are sipVine's customers? Anyone who needs a good, affordable, flexible solution for their organization's phone system. But there's more to it than that. There are many ways you can spot a sipVine VoIP customer. While they come from all walks of life, and all types of business, they've always got a few things in common. sipVine customers are:

Happy – There are few things in life more satisfying than when something works exactly as it's supposed to, and with sipVine's VoIP service, our customers have a lot to be happy about. Our commitment to customer service ensures that anything that goes wrong is handled quickly, efficiently, and with a minimal disruption to our client's business, so that our customers can keep that smile on their face.

Secure – At sipVine, nothing is more important to us than the security and privacy of our customers. Our hosted platform features fully-redundant servers in a secure data center, and our customizable built-in disaster recovery program lets our customers maintain control even in the event of an interruption of service.

Well-connected to their customers – VoIP phone service from sipVine ensures that our customers are always in touch with their customers clearly, easily, and efficiently. It's our business to make sure that our customers can do business.

Flexible – sipVine customers are highly adaptable entrepreneurs and business leaders, riding the wave of new technology, and they expect us to be just as flexible. That's why we offer customizable deployment packages to ensure that our VoIP plans fit the specific needs of our customers.

Efficient – There's a reason that customers choose VoIP phone solutions. They want to get more done, and they don't want an outdated phone system getting in the way. Our customers have a lot to do, and they need solutions that will help them get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Cutting-edge – Hosted VoIP phone service allows our customers to future-proof the phone system at their business. sipVine stays on top of new technology, and helps implement it seamlessly into their VoIP system, with no more need to worry about old phone systems becoming obsolete. Plus, our custom-tailored feature deployment means that our customers can add their own personal touches to their phone systems.

Confident – Our customers need to be able to have confidence in themselves and their business, which means they need to be able to feel confident about the performance of their phone systems. That's why they rely on sipVine. Our round-the-clock observation, maintenance, and support of our hosted VoIP systems give our customers the peace of mind they need to run their business.

Savvy – Our customers want the best from their phone systems, but they also don't have money to burn. They want a good return on their investment, and they know that VoIP phone systems can save money not just on installation, but also down the road in monthly service charges, maintenance, and administrative costs.

Forward-thinking – VoIP customers are looking to the future, not just in terms of riding the crest of new technology, but also in terms of business growth and cost savings. Hosted VoIP from sipVine allows our customers the flexibility to easily adjust their phone systems to changing business needs and new challenges, while also offering them cost-saving benefits in the long term.

Satisfied – Above all else, sipVine customers are satisfied. We consider it our duty to ensure that our customers receive the best possible service, and we're so committed to it that we require no long term contracts. We believe that our service speaks for itself, and that our customers will be so satisfied that they'll be happy to keep coming back to us month after month.

If you think you've got the makings of a sipVine customer, give us a call today to learn more about our VoIP phone solutions!

About the author: Mark Greim is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at sipVine, a provider of hosted VoIP phone systems and services. Mark has extensive experience working for start-up or entrepreneurial organizations and has a passion for affordable, reliable, and purposeful technology solutions in those environments.

VoIP implementations in the small to medium business markets are becoming the norm, as more trends are pointing to IP systems becoming the technology of choice.  Why are businesses investing in this technology?  Why is the hosted or cloud based model a good option for this market?  These are just a couple of questions answered in this post.

Replacing Old Phones / Old Technology – Analog lines and phone systems are simply becoming relics.  If you are a business with an analog phone system greater than ten years old, you already know how difficult it is to get new or replacement handsets for your system.  You also know how much in service and maintenance fees you are paying to keep that system alive.  Finally, if your business has evolved at all, you know that your phone system may be holding you back on certain functions or capabilities necessary to meet the customer expectations of this generation’s marketplace.  Simply stated, many companies are evolving to the new technology because their business has evolved with the times.

Low Investment / Stable Monthly Service Rates – Businesses making the change from their old system are faced with an investment decision.  Few businesses enjoy investing in infrastructure.  Similar to cloud-based software, hosting, or other applications, similar advantages are found with hosted VoIP, or hosted telephony applications.  The investment is low when compared to site-based systems, as the only investment is in the handsets and some minor premise equipment.  In return, hosted VoIP providers typically charge for monthly phone service by the user count or handset.  Many bundle local and long distance charges into this rate along with any administrative updates they handle on your behalf.  Thus, by going with a hosted model, businesses upgrade their technology for a low entry rate and a stable monthly service fee.

Administration / Diminished Obsolescence Concerns – Administering a VoIP system is much different than your analog systems, as most hosted providers handle changes with a simple keystroke!  There’s no more paying service personnel to moving phones around so people can their extensions as they move offices.  For the most part, businesses are out of the phone administration game once they make the shift to VoIP.  Additionally, they do not have to worry about their PBX becoming obsolete.  The responsibility to keep up with technology enhancements is up to the hosted phone service provider.  The handsets are relatively inexpensive, thus, over time, can be easily upgraded to newer models if required by wear and tear. 

Continued Improvement of the Internet Landscape – A decade ago, the availability of stable and robust internet circuits was a valid deterrent to VoIP deployments.  Today, more alternative providers are in the market providing internet service with significant bandwidth.  These connections have proven to be more and more stable as the networks mature.   Google’s recent entry into this market by offering fiber gigabyte connections to businesses and residences in Kansas City, MO and KS, and the just announced market of Austin, TX will only push the marketplace further and further. 

New Technology / Flexibility – It’s not all about just replacing the old technology; it’s what you are able to do with the new technology that really has businesses flocking to hosted VoIP service.  Small and medium sized businesses are able to take advantage of system features that previously may have been only available in very expensive on-site systems. I recently posted a series of articles focusing on the many features and capabilities of hosted VoIP systems that will provide you with additional detail to this point.

Join the party and investigate a hosted voip system and service for your business today!

About the author:  Mark Greim is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at sipVine, a provider of a variety of digital phone solutions and services. Mark has extensive experience working for start-up or entrepreneurial organizations and has a passion for affordable, reliable, and purposeful technology solutions in those environments. 

You've wrapped up your business plan and you’re now ready to make your start-up operational.  One of your many decisions you’ll need to make is to establish your phone service for your business.  Clearly, it is not the most important decision you’ll make, but one where many start-ups have had an expensive “education”.  

Start-up small businesses enter this decision with a common point of reference – scalability.  Whether they are starting with a large number of employees out of the shoot or just a few, the common need is that their phone solution needs to be scalable as they grow.  Here are some areas for caution: 

Caution #1 - Purchasing a phone system.  Someday, making a decision on a phone system will be appropriate, but there are good alternatives available at the point of start-up.  You can oversize your system and spend needless capital that can be better placed in fueling your business.  You can undersize your system and create a need for a fork-lift replacement down the road, again burning capital. 

Caution #2 - Implementing analog lines.  You are a new company, why use old technology?  Using a provider of VoIP phone solutions will bring to you a number of great features and unify your communications over a single connection. If you’re buying an office phone system and simply bringing in analog lines, you could oversize or undersize the number of lines you need to handle your call volume.  Both are expensive.  If you need voice mail, that’s an add-on! 

Caution #3 - Signing a term contract.  There’s nothing like being dissatisfied with service or if you need to adjust your number of lines down just to find that you’re tied to the provider and the volume of business for 9 more months!  There are providers out there willing to earn your business every day and do not require contracts. 

Caution #4 - Adapting your business to the phone system.  Wouldn’t it be great if your phone solution actually was customized to how you do business?  How wonderful would it be if your phone system actually improved your accessibility to your customers and enhanced your communications?  Make sure your decision achieves those goals. 

Caution #5 – Going with VoIP, but not considering voice quality.  Some VoIP providers do not provide quality of service in their technology which can impact the clarity and quality of the voice call.  Make sure that your VoIP provider doesn’t solve this merely by over-sizing your bandwidth, as this doesn’t cover all the bases. 

A great alternative for start-up companies is to choose a VoIP phone solution.  You simply need to purchase the VoIP phones required for your business at the start, and add them as you grow.  There’s also typically a need for some minor network equipment, but all start-up costs are a far cry from purchasing a system.  Additionally, VoIP solutions typically are highly customizable to how you do business, and there are a variety of features that will enhance your business.  Finally, the service is very affordable.  There are a number of business applications that are delivered over the web from a host site, and a hosted phone service is another great way to drive economies of scale down to the end user. 

I hope this information helps as you think about one of the many decisions you face as you start your business.  sipVine provides Hosted VoIP services to businesses across the United States. A better phone system for your small business with advanced features to match your unique business needs! Make your company's business communications better by engaging better customer experiences at every touchpoint. Want to learn more? Our small business phone service representatives are here to answer any questions you have!