VoIP services can vastly improve your clients’ digital communications. But what VoIP services are the best? Which do the top MSPs recommend? Learn more here.
VoIP or voice over IP is what many businesses and organizations are turning to for their internal and external voice communication.
As you know, the benefits of VoIP are manifold for your clients. Today, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a digitally advanced business or organization using traditional phone systems to communicate internally or with their customers or clients. Nearly every enterprise stands to obtain numerous benefits by integrating voice over IP.
Below, we’ll go over some of these particular benefits and list a few of the top VoIP services that are recommended by top MSPs and IT experts.
What Are the Benefits of Offering VoIP Services to Your Clients?
As you market your VoIP services, it’s crucial to remind your clients of their multiple benefits.
First, VoIP services are going to lower the overall costs that your clients spend on voice communications. At one time, a single phone line could only be used by two individuals or entities who wanted to speak to each other. Normally, a business would be charged for each of these phone lines.
However, with the use of an IP-based communication system, communication is transferred via data packets and sent over the Internet. Therefore, they get a simple charge every month no matter how many “lines” of communication they’re using.
Because no phone lines need to be used to make calls, this enables conference calls to be made much easier as well. Furthermore, VoIP does not distinguish between local calls, domestic calls, or international calls, all of which would normally go into different pay categories with traditional phone lines. Because of this, clients can call an individual in another country for the same price they’d pay to call someone down the street.
Finally, here are a few more benefits your clients can expect from using VoIP services over traditional phone lines and methods of communication.
- Easier faxing
- Simple and flexible integration with other systems and networks in the business
- Easy installation and management (not costly to install a VoIP service)
- Better network flexibility
- Reliable service as long as there is a reliable Internet connection
- Easy scalability when a business is ready to grow and expand
What Are the Best VoIP Services That MSPs Can Recommend and Offer?
We spoke with numerous successful managed service providers and IT specialists to come up with a list of the very best VoIP services they recommend to their own clients. Depending on the unique needs and business goals of your clients, one or several of these options may be a good fit.
1. Vocus
Ian Brady of Steadfast Solutions touts Vocus as their go-to wholesaler for VoIP solutions. “They provide SIP trunks or hosted PBX solution (through Broadsoft). It is a white-label, so we set up tenancies for our customers,” says Brady.
2. Jive
Jive is the service most used by Tektonic Inc., says Tektonic’s Jorge Rojas. “The solution is solid … Our contact is awesome. They have a quoting tool that makes it easy to send the proposal.”
If your client opts for this option, Jive will bill them directly for the installation and monthly charges. As the MSP, you will receive a commission from Jive every month.
3. MedTel Communications
Alltek Services’ Taher Hamid says they’re exceedingly happy with MedTel Communications, a slightly smaller company than Jive. Says Hamid:
“We worked with big providers in the past … however, the support was always slacking. We work with MedTel because their client onboarding and support is top-notch. They may not be the big boys and their portal may not be as pretty as others, but their service is reliable, their phones have all the features expected of a VoIP provider, and their support staff is excellent.”
4. TotalVoice
Jason Simons, the VP of ICS’s Houston Division recommends TotalVoice for their customers who are looking for even better communication integration and conferencing capabilities. He says of TotalVoice:
“For customers that need advanced integration, high-end conferencing and high-end contact Centers we utilize our TotalVoice platform. This is based on the Mitel MiVoice business.”
5. OpenVoice
According to Simons, OpenVoice is their best VoIP option for most of their clients:
“We offer our OpenVoice platform which is SIP based with Polycom phones. It is easy to configure, deploy, and bill, and [they pay] all commissions up-front. So, if someone purchases a 36-month [contract] at $1,500 per month, then the MSP would receive up-front commissions on a $54,000 sales. The portal allows for self-administration and even self-branding if the MSP prefers.”
6. Mitel’s Cloud Connect
Lastly, Simons says that ICS will sometimes use a service called Mitel’s Cloud Connect — although it’s rare. According to Simons, you’re basically handing over the reins to Mitel when you recommend this service:
“Basically, you are giving the customer to Mitel, but it is great for international or someone who wants to deal directly with a fortune 1000 type of company. You lose support access and just receive an agent commission. Mitel does the installation and ongoing support.”
Consider these six VoIP services for your clients’ communication needs. By helping them choose a service provider wisely, you’ll help them streamline their business and save money.