The rising buzzword in the Internet community, nowadays, is VoIP phone. What does it mean? How does it affect your life or business? VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and that means a phone service that uses broadband Internet connectivity to dial and connect.

Using VoIP phone service provider like SoFla Voice can help you save hundred to thousands of dollars on your monthly business phone or residential phone bill.

VoIP providers are competing against each other to bring you the best VoIP plans. At VoipReview.org, we want to help you make an informed decision before you select the best VoIP plan to fit your needs.

With dozens of broadband phone plans offered by providers SoFla voice will help you eliminate the confusion by  explaining your options and helping you choose the right product to fit your needs.

SoFla Hosted PBX (also known as Voice over IP) is a leading edge communications technology that provides large pbx functionality without the need to have one installed in your office. We host the phone system for you, giving you some important advantages.

SoFla leverages a single circuit to provide both voice and computer connectivity networks. This gives you several advantages such as a single bill and the abillity to program your phone from your computer.

With a traditional phone system, if your phone service or T1 stops working, calls are not able to get through to your system. Callers will hear a busy signal or “Out of Service” message. But with a SoFla Hosted PBX, even if your T1 goes out, we can re-route your calls, so that callers will still be able to reach you on your cell phone or leave a voicemail. This means your callers will never hear a busy signal or operator error message again.

Not having a phone system in your office means you can plug your phone into any ethernet or internet connection and your phone will maintain its identity and features. You can move your phone from desk to desk, or from the office to your home, and it will maintain its associated numbers, voicemail and programming.

Now you can gain all the features of a large phone system in your office, without the cost.

Features offered by SoFla include:

• Unlimited local and long distance calls (on certain plans)
• Caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, redial, and three-way calling (conference calling)
• Customizable auto-attendant
• Direct telephone number for each person (DIDs)
• Portability. Plug your office phone into any internet access port and place and receive calls just like you are in the office
• Flexibility. Forward calls to a particular number or play a particular greeting based on the caller ID information displayed
• Receive calls to your office phone and cell phone simultaneously
• Receive voicemails as email attachments
• Remote web-based management of your telephone and features
• Easy to Use Web Interface allows you to visually see company directories and caller ID logs
• Track who has called, when, and their number
• See how long the duration of each call is and its associated caller ID information
• Place calls from your computer
• Music on Hold
• Dial your telephone from Outlook or from Internet Explorer

SoFla Hosted PBX (also known as Voice over Internet Protocol)utilizes a single circuit to connect your office to our very sophisticated phone system. Telephone calls and internet traffic are transmitted through your T1 circuit to us. The data is then sorted by type. Phone calls are then sent out as regular phone calls. Data is sent to the internet. All of this sorting and sending happens without any drop in speed of service or quality of calls.

With SoFla Hosted PBX, there is no upfront capital outlay to purchase or lease a large amount of equipment. This means a substantial savings for companies on tight budgets. SoFla Hosted PBX offers your business a flat monthly fee per user. If your company has outgrown its existing equipment and wants to avoid an unnecessary capital expense, choosing a SoFla Hosted PBX means you don’t have to pay for extra equipment until your business needs it.

Our monthly rate includes the following for each user that subscribes:

• Personal telephone number (DID)
• Voicemail
• Internet access
• Unlimited local and long distance
• Technical support

Today’s VoIP-seeking businesses have a choice of three options: managed, hosted PBX or on-premise systems. Here’s how they stack up:

Managed VoIP

With managed-VoIP services, a third-party provider offers all the equipment, software, operations facilities and technical expertise needed for a company to reap the benefits of an IP-enabled phone system without the costs, risks and headaches of an on-premise VoIP solution. A managed VoIP-service package typically includes the design, integration and deployment of IP-telephony equipment and software, along with management and maintenance of existing telephony solutions and the new VoIP network.

Network management and maintenance offerings usually consist of remote fault monitoring with network surveillance, customer-defined service-level agreements for response and resolution, moves and changes, comprehensive customer reporting and service management, guaranteeing a certain percentage of network uptime. Pricing may range from usage-based to a fixed flat rate, depending on a company’s needs and preferences. In most cases, companies can keep tabs on their costs of operation through regular reports.

Managed VoIP is designed for small and medium-size businesses with limited IT resources and a burning desire to leave telephony headaches and hassles to a third-party service provider’s team of experts.

Pros:

• Round-the-clock access to experienced staff that can help deploy and manage a VoIP network in accordance with a company’s unique business needs.
• Faster time-to-market by allowing for a rapid VoIP migration in order to take advantage of market opportunities.
• A third-party provider typically boasts an aggressive product-development cycle, ensuring that a company enjoys access to the latest technology and that equipment doesn’t lapse into obsolescence.
• Low up-front capital expenditures without any need to acquire expensive equipment and software. Plus, a managed service lets a company leverage its existing technologies alongside a new system.
• Predictable operating expenses thanks to services that are contracted and based on monthly charges or fixed flat-rate billing. The result is that companies can easily make budgetary accommodations.
• Because managed-VoIP services feature a service-level agreement, companies can rest assured that a managed-VoIP system will perform at peak levels in the face of security threats, business continuity and disaster recovery.
• Flexibility that accommodates a company’s fast growth, anticipated seasonal peaks and unexpected economic downturns.
• Many managed-VoIP services include value-add capabilities through the availability of mobility, communications and productivity applications.

Cons:

• Recurring fees mean the total cost of ownership may be higher over the course of several years.
• System improvements and upgrades may take longer to execute than if the equipment were housed internally.
• There is always the possibility that a vendor may go under or consolidate with a competitor.

Sample solution:

Avaya Inc.’s Remote Managed Services for IP Telephony service ensures that a company’s IP-telephony applications, platforms and underlying data network are working together for optimal reliability, stability and availability. Companies can choose the amount of operational responsibility they want to farm out to Avaya.

Hosted VoIP

Some of the most feature-rich systems available, hosted-VoIP services rely on a service provider’s hosted-PBX equipment to route a company’s voice and data traffic. Calls are routed over the PSTN (public switched telephone network) to the hosted-PBX system.

This method is best suited for small and medium-size businesses with limited IT resources and budgetary funds that want the perks of a powerful VoIP system without the hefty price tag.

Pros:

• Greater adaptability that allows features to be added and changes to be made in order to accommodate the fluctuating needs of a growing business.
• Easy to increase and decrease capacity in accordance with seasonal peaks and economic swings.
• Troubleshooting is conducted remotely, eliminating the lengthy wait time typically involved in service calls.
• By not involving the participation of a company’s internal staff, providers can deliver a faster and more reliable deployment schedule.
• Integrates seamlessly with most legacy systems, allowing for an easy migration from traditional telephony to VoIP.
• No need to purchase VoIP hardware or software for lower initial capital expenditures.
• Round-the-clock monitoring ensures ongoing peak performance.
• Per-seat licenses mean companies only pay for the technology they’re using.

Cons:

• Recurring fees mean the total cost of ownership may be higher over the course of several years.
• System improvements and upgrades may take longer to execute than if the equipment were based internally.
• There is always the possibility that a vendor may go under or consolidate with a competitor.

Sample solution:

Qwest Communications International Inc.’s One Flex Hosted VoIP uses business-class IP technology to bring voice and data together in a single solution. Qwest hosts the voice server and messaging hardware off-site. A company makes and receives calls while being able to check voice messages online, filter incoming calls, add new employees to the system in minutes and more.

On-Premise VoIP

An on-premise VoIP system is a phone system whose equipment — including servers, cables and routers — must be installed and maintained by the company purchasing the system. All hardware associated with a traditional on-premise PBX system is deployed and maintained by a company’s IT staff.

The right audience for this type of VoIP system is large enterprises interested in systems that can be easily tweaked, swiftly modified and uniquely configured for optimal control and customization.

Pros:

• Upgrades can be executed immediately and internally.
• Favorable long-term total cost of ownership.
• Highly customizable, especially when it comes to administrative functions.
• No need for costly service-level agreements.
• Internal IT teams know the system inside and out.
• Allows a company to call all the shots regarding system specifications, so that every detail and configuration matches the purchaser’s needs.
• Because the system is located on-site, modifications to telephony configurations can be made swiftly and to the purchaser’s specifications. Adding a new line or extension, for example, are tasks that can be completed without the assistance of a service provider, granting companies greater control and flexibility.

Cons:

• Costly up-front capital expenditures on hardware and software.
• Ongoing maintenance fees and operational expenses.
• Costs of keeping an in-house IT team with the right skills.
• Necessary to pay for a soups-to-nuts solution even if the system’s full potential is never realized.

Sample Solution:

Nortel Networks‘ Communication & Application Servers portfolio of telephony and converged IP-telephony solutions deliver seamless, scalable real-time customer and business communications with the flexibility and reliability that enable enterprises to migrate to packet-based networks. For example, the Communication Server 2000 can be applied to new networks or to existing DMS-based networks to allow them to migrate to a VoIP network solution.

A managed-VoIP service package typically includes the design, integration and deployment of IP-telephony equipment and software, along with management and maintenance of existing telephony solutions and the new VoIP network. Network-management and maintenance offerings usually consist of remote fault monitoring with network surveillance; customer-defined service-level agreements for response and resolution; moves and changes; comprehensive customer reporting; and service management guaranteeing a certain percentage of network uptime. Pricing may range from usage-based to a fixed flat rate, depending on a company’s needs and preferences. In most cases, companies can monitor their cost of operation through regular reports.

Managed-VoIP Benefits

The specific benefits of a managed-VoIP service include:

• Experienced Staff: Users have around the clock access to a team of highly experienced and well-trained technicians, helping to deploy and manage a VoIP network in accordance with a company’s unique business needs.
• Faster Time-to-Market: Get up and running or complete a VoIP migration at a rapid pace in order to take advantage of market opportunities.
• Greater Innovation: A third-party provider typically boasts an aggressive product-development cycle, ensuring that a company enjoys access to the latest technology available and that equipment doesn’t become out-of-date.
• Low Up-Front Capital Expenditures: This features helps companies avoid the cost of acquiring expensive equipment and software while still deploying a scalable solution. Plus, a managed service lets clients leverage existing technologies alongside a new system.
• Predictable Operating Expense: Figuring out the ongoing costs of a VoIP solution can be a bit of a guessing game. Managed services, on the other hand, usually are contracted based on monthly charges or fixed, flat-rate billing, making it easier for companies to make budgetary accommodations.
• Enhanced Security: Because managed-VoIP services feature a service-level agreement, companies can rest assured that a managed-VoIP system will perform at peak levels in the face ofsecurity threats and disaster recovery.
• Flexibility: A managed-VoIP service provider can easily scale a solution to accommodate a company’s fast growth, anticipated seasonal peaks and unexpected economic downturns.
• Special features: Many managed-VoIP services include value-add capabilities through the availability of mobility, communications and productivity applications.

Buying phone systems is getting more complicated for SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses). Partly that’s because the systems are becoming more complex, and partly it’s due to the fact that smaller companies have started expecting more from the systems they choose. For these reasons, such companies are depending more on consultants to help them make the right choices. Consultants are likewise depending on SMBs for a greater percentage of their income.

Hard Evidence

A recent study by The Brookside Group LLC of Mendham, N.J. tells the story. The firm’s “2008 State of the Market Study” surveyed the activities of independent telecom consultants not affiliated with vendors. It analyzed the responses of 342 consultants and the updated professional profiles of 1,750.

The resulting data indicated that 54 percent of the consultants’ clients are now SMBs, defined as between six and 999 employees. Enterprises of 1,000 employees and above account for 46 percent. That’s up from 45 percent SMB, 55 percent enterprise in 2001, and a 49/51 split in 2005. The growth in SMB clients has particularly accelerated over the past three years, the report found. The majority of those clients fall in the medium-sized category, which the report defines as between 100 and 999 employees.

Driving Causes

The main impetus behind the trend has been smaller companies’ growing interest in IP PBXes and hosted-IP telephony, according to Brookside founding partner Michael Sawka. Other key drivers are interest in unified communications and the growth of broadband networks that can support such technologies.

But making wise choices about complex new IP-based communication systems requires considerable expertise, which boosts demand for consultants. Their know-how is considerable, with 72 percent of those surveyed having been in business for more than 10 years. The consultants themselves are doing what they can to boost demand even further by broadening the range of services they offer.

Turning to Consultants

Clients have a number of reasons for using consultants to help them with their telephony needs, according to the report. The first is that consultants will help themsave money on phone systems and services, a motive of 69 percent. Second, at 52 percent, is a specific interest in a new technology, product or service. Others include the desires to do more with existing phone systems and networks, to increase network efficiency and to improve business processes. Improving business communication and collaboration is a motive of 33 percent, while improving competitive advantage is important for 29 percent.

According to Sawka, the most fundamental service consultants offer is needs assessment, or helping companies determine which equipment or services will work best for them. Beyond that, consultants make themselves useful in a variety of ways, depending on a client’s needs and resources. They can help evaluate and choose vendors, for example, even going so far as to write RFPs (request for proposals) and assist in contract negotiations.

And in the last 12 to 18 months, Sawka added, consultants have become involved in network design and configuration because of IP telephony’s dependence on complex data networks as opposed to simpler traditional telephone wiring. Consultants are even increasingly moving into deploying and managing phone systems and networks on an outsourced basis, according to Sawka. “There’s a growing gray area between consultants and integrators,” he explained. “The big difference is that consultants aren’t financially compensated by the vendor.”

The report noted that a number of vertical industry segments find consultants particularly useful. The top source of clients is health care, followed by banking and finance, local and state government and education (both K-12 and higher). Professionals such as lawyers and accountants also rely significantly on consultants.