Businesses have embraced VoIP solutions not only to save on money but also make work easier. If you are working on a VoIP project, you should stand on the shoulders of people who have done it before so as to avoid their mistakes and gather tips that can make your own deployments go more smoothly. Of course it pays when you tap into lessons others have learned:

Buy time

It is important to take your time because even the smoothest of deployments have sometimes gone sour. You are advised to buffer into your timeline in case you want to deploy VoIP in your office. You want to get the most out of it.

Get everybody onboard

You should ensure that department leaders are involved in the VoIP project so they get the details and communicate them to their juniors. Every user should have a stake in the project in order to reduce switchover time and make little need for training them.

Know what you have got

You need to know your traffic as well as what hardware makes up your network infrastructure. And because you want to improve on the quality of voice, check if that hardware will support this technology. Most switches and routers can support virtual LANs and traffic shaping, so they will help in carving out enough, reliable bandwidth in order to prevent VoIP system degradations. Your desktop phones should also pass the power and switching test.

Bandwidth control

It could be time to consider an upgrade if the audits reveal that your bandwidth is an issue. Your business should expand in terms of its operations, so project network traffic increases over the next five years to see if such an upgrade is inevitable.

Use the right codec

Since you want to minimize the bandwidth that is required by VoIP, choose codecs that take voice stream and encode it before transmitting over network wires. Use acceptable codecs that can use the least bandwidth especially if bandwidth is tight.

Make training simple

When it comes to mass deployments, large numbers of user need to be trained on how to use the new phones. You can even use pictures or screen shots to help users know parts of the hardware. Good documentation is a must here. You can also deploy IP phones in areas such as lunch rooms and conference rooms before a formal VoIP training program so that curious employees can try out the hardware.

Gateways to savings

There is nothing wrong with blanketing your business with IP phones, but if you are tight on budget, you can consider using low cost analog handsets that come with analog-to-IP gateways for connecting traffic to the VoIP network.

Work with the professionals

Of course you want to get the most out of your VoIP deployment. So, it is important to work with a reputable service provider who will ensure that you get quality service and value for your money. Sim-phony has vast experience dealing in commercial VoIP services, so you will never go wrong when you contact us!