Top 10 Things to know about Virtual PBX systems

Many large corporations and small businesses have made the decision to switch from PBX to VoIP.  For many of them, this involves upgrading to a virtual PBX system.  Known by various names including VoIP PBX and hosted VoIP PBX, it all boils down to a compound technology that leverages the best of traditional PBX and Voice over Internet Protocol. 

Before investing into a VoIP PBX system, it is important to learn from the mistakes made by other businesses who decided to make the upgrade.  The 10 tips in this article will reduce the learning curve, helping you save time, money and a lot of frustration.  

1.) Observe Carefully

Before incorporating VoIP virtual PBX, we recommend that you take as much time as you can.  Even if the deployment of business VoIP PBX appears as if it will be a seamless process, you should always give yourself a little time to work out any problems.  This is vital as bandwidth requirements and other network issues need to be a sorted out first. 

2.) Make Sure Everyone is On Board

In order for a successful VoIP virtual PBX deployment, its best to make sure all the key figures of your business play their parts.  Develop a business VoIP project plan and assign leaders to oversee different areas.  By doing so, everyone involved will know the project details and how to relay them to other associates.  This will make for a more seamless transition as training time can be reduced dramatically. 

3.) Know What You Are Working With

While outlining the business VoIP plan, make yourself familiar with the network infrastructure of your organization.  Learn what hardware and systems are already in place then determine what improvements can be enjoyed and most importantly, if the existing infrastructure supports such an advanced technology. 

4.) Ensure Phone Compatibility

Whether you are using existing phones or plan to purchase new ones, you need to make sure they can be operated via standard power over an Ethernet connection.  All VoIP business phones should also have integrated LAN switch ports to enable a single cable connection to an IP phone or computer. 

5.)  Determine Bandwidth Requirements

In the midst of planning and evaluating, you should also determine the amount of bandwidth the VoIP PBX service requires.  If more bandwidth is needed, consider making an upgrade to a gigabit Ethernet connection as it ensures the best performance.  Keep in mind that even when business appears as if it is at a standstill, it is always best to anticipate an increase in network traffic, which will inevitably warrant such a system upgrade. 

6.) Utilize the Proper Codec

The best way to reduce the amount of bandwidth a business VoIP solution requires is to select codecs that encodes voice stream when transmitting data over network wires. The transfer rate of codecs ranges widely at anywhere from 8 to 64 Kbps but you need to figure out which provides a quality acceptable for your business.  If bandwidth ends up being limited, it is best to select a codec that offers optimized performance while using less of this resource. 

7.  Plan for 911   

When incorporating a business VoIP solution, it is imperative to compensate for emergencies, meaning you need to figure out how 911 calls can be placed on the new system.  This technology is somewhat complex in how a VoIP device knows its own IP address but can’t specify its physical location.  The reason for this is that the phone can be used from virtually anywhere and moved to different network jacks.  For emergency situations, we strongly recommend keeping an analog phone available.

8.)  Simplify the Training Process

A large VoIP PBX system deployment generally means that a large number of people will need to trained on how to use the new system.  The learning curve can be drastically reduced with extensive documentation consisting of tutorials on how network devices work and FAQ sheets for continuous education. 

9.)  Remote Control Access

Determine how remote management fits into your VoIP IP PBX plans.  This involves learning if the same tools on the call server or VoIP IP PBX can be utilized to remotely administer and configure files, mail and print servers. 

10.)  Learn How to Enjoy Cost Savings

One of the greatest advantages to VoIP PBX systems is cost savings.  Depending on resources, you may want to consider a project that limits deployment to critical areas of the infrastructure.  This can be done by utilizing analog systems where valuable.   If your company is deploying a VoIP small business solution, learning to cut costs is imperative.