“How much will VoIP cost my business?”   This is one of the first questions many prospective clients want to know when they call our company. Although this is a very difficult question to answer because there are so many considerations, I will try to do my best here to explain some general pricing guidelines. The purchase of a VoIP Phone is much like the purchase of a vehicle or other mission-critical equipment. With so many options available, price ranges can vary drastically. Just as a Toyota Hilux can start around 30k with just a basic package, it can quickly cost over 50k once you add your essential items such as 4-wheel drive, 4 doors vs two, and a steel top canopy then jump up to 60k+ when you upgrade to all-leather interior, chrome finishes, alloy wheels, dual exhaust and built-in GPS system etc, etc… These same principles typically apply to the purchase of a VoIP phone system. Understanding that you are going to have to use your VoIP Phone System every day makes picking the right system with the right features critical to ensure maximum performance, minimum maintenance and above all ease of use. For this reason, most of the businesses we deal with elect to get the VoIP Phone system that will offer them the best performance in the long run. Unfortunately, there are some businesses which only focus on the initial costs with the goal of finding the “cheapest” hardware and installation services available. This approach sacrifices performance, reliability, and peace of mind, which inevitably leads to regret and seeking an alternative solution. If you continue to read below, you will begin to understand the wider considerations that need to be made when choosing your VoIP Phone System. Now that you hopefully understand the vehicle analogy, I will list some of the most common “add-ons” that can be found in the purchase of a VoIP Phone System. Note: While it is standard practice to sell VoIP Phone Systems with some of the ‘add-ons’ seen below as package deals it’s important to realize that no company should sell you a package without first evaluating your current infrastructure and goals. ( See 7 Questions to Ask A VoIP Sales Person Before You Buy – for more on this) We do this through a comprehensive free assessment. Common ‘add-ons’: 1. Decision for a Cloud or On-Premise VoIP Phone System 2. Installation / Set-Up Costs 3. Types of Desk Phones 4. Software Phones (Softphones/ Smart Phone Apps) 5. Wireless or Wired Headsets 6. Secure Remote Extensions 7. High-Quality Broadband Connection 8. VoIP Grade Broadband Router 9. VoIP Grade Network Switch 10. VoIP Grade Wireless Access Points 11. Data Cabling 12. Reporting Features 13. Software Integrations As you can see, there are many ‘add-ons’ available, and the extent to which you add them to your VoIP package really depends on your existing infrastructure and what you are looking to achieve with your new VoIP system. Now, all these ‘add-ons’ can roughly be

VoIP Speed Test   The benefits of VoIP are undeniable,  so it’s no surprise that most businesses are choosing to switch to VoIP. Unfortunately as with most things in life, just because you want to switch to VoIP doesn’t always mean that you can. You see in order for VoIP to work correctly in your businesses, your internet connection must meet certain prerequisites. This is one of the main reasons we prefer our VoIP clients to have UFB or Fibre. VoIP calls are essentially calls which are transferred over the internet instead of traditional copper telephone cables so the stronger and faster your internet connection is higher your call quality will be. The speed test below (from VoIP info.org) is an HTML5 speed test specially designed to test your system for VoIP phone calls. It checks your Internet connection’s quality and speed and provides you with an easy-to-understand report afterward. Should the results of your test be less than favorable you can always send them to our team for further diagnosis. The purpose of this speed test is to analyze an Internet connection and check the packet loss, buffer bloat, download speed, jitter, upload speed, and latency. If you don’t know what some of these terms mean there is a full explanation below, however, it is not essential to understand them at this stage. What is essential, is knowing how you perform under each, where your performance is below average it is definitely worth some further investigation and diagnosis, especially if you are considering a VoIP system in the near future. The result will also contain additional information about the tested connection. Since this is an HTML5 speed test, it doesn’t require Java or Flash, and it’s compatible with virtually all devices, which includes smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Ready to start your test? Click here to begin.  The test is at the top of the page click the blue – ‘Test Now’ button.   In-Depth Discussion – How the HTML5 Speed Test Works: Once you have clicked test now, the speed test has been activated. The test will work out your base speed and examine several additional factors. Once you have the results you will know what types of services are supported by your Internet connection. E.g whether your connection is it suitable for VoIP, gaming, YouTube and/or live video streaming. What to Do After Receiving a Poor Result There are many reasons for a bad result including but not limited to: Network congestion ( too many devices connected to the network) Old wiring and loose connections. Outdated hardware (Routers, modems etc) Understanding the terminology involved: While some of the terms may seem complicated it’s not actually that difficult to interpret. Once the speed test has finished running, the results of the test will be presented using the following terminology. Packet Loss This measures the number of data packets which are sent that actually make it to their destination. Ideally, the results from the test should reveal a packet

Should I host my VoIP system in the cloud or on-premise? Cant I just upgrade my existing phone system? What is the best method to deploy a VoIP system? These are all common questions we get asked at Real IT. The thing is, there is no straight forward answer because it really depends on what you are looking to achieve by moving to VoIP. This post dives deep into the advantages and disadvantages of each option so that you can choose the deployment method that best suits your business. Not sure whether you should move to VoIP yet? Read this post first. Generally, there are four main methods used to deploy a VoIP system, when advising our clients, we tend to recommend either option 3 or 4, depending on their use case and you will see why. Methods: Converting Your Traditional Phone System to Work With VoIP Upgrading Your Compatible Phone System to Work With VoIP On-Premises Modern VoIP Phone System Cloud-Based /Cloud Hosted Modern VoIP Phone System. Method 1: Converting a Traditional Phone System to Work With VoIP. When we refer to a converted VoIP phone system, we are referring to the process of taking ‘older/traditional’ style business phone systems and converting them to use the internet to make calls (VoIP) instead of traditional fixed-line services (copper telephone lines). These older systems are usually accompanied by analog or digital desk phones which were not traditionally designed to use VoIP. Because these older systems were primarily designed to use traditional fixed-line services, converting them to work with VoIP may give you some cost savings but will not be able to give you the full features, benefits, and functionality that comes with modern VoIP phone systems. Your phone system currently looks like this: After the conversion your phone system looks like this: Advantages: This is a cheap way to achieve some cost savings because your calls are coming through over the internet (VoIP) instead of your traditional fixed-line service. Most older business phone systems can be converted to work with VoIP if you put in place the right conversion hardware. Can provide a lower set up costs because you are adapting an already working system. Disadvantages: This option is a disadvantage If you are looking to link multiple office locations. This means, for example, that you will not be able to check if someone at another office is on a call. Poor scalability- The traditional phone system may be limited by existing hardware which can make adding more users, locations and/or phone lines a complicated and expensive process. Older converted phone systems may be end-of-life with the manufacturer, a faulty component may result in you having to partially or even completely replace your system. Converting your traditional phone system to work on VoIP does not ‘upgrade’ its functionality in any way. This means that you will not benefit from any features that a modern VoIP phone system can offer. (e.g softphones, call forwarding etc.) you will also be limited to analog