Deciding to migrate from your aging PBX phone system to a cutting edge digital phone system is a smart choice. However trying to sort through the thousands of VoIP service providers can be challenging. How do you find the best one for your business?

VoIP Experience

Look at the VoIP service providers themselves before looking at their products. A good product with a bad company will just cost your business money in the future. Because the demand for VoIP is growing so fast, the industry has attracted a lot of new companies that don't have the experience your organization needs.

Let the new companies learn the business with someone else. Stick with organizations that have many years of direct VoIP experience, preferably ones that have created innovative new concepts rather than just cashing in on what other people do.

Ask about a company's experience with VoIP, not just office phone systems. There are a number of PBX vendors who are trying to make the leap to VoIP but don't really understand the technology. You want VoIP service providers, not PBX providers who also do VoIP.

Customizable and Scalable Solutions

Your business is not like any other and yet often VoIP service providers will try to sell you the same phone system they sold the last customer. Many VoIP solutions are very limited in scope, designed either for very small or very large customers.

You want your business to grow, and saddling yourself with a phone system that won't be able to expand with your company's success means you will have to revisit the VoIP once you outgrow it. Your best bet? Find a scalable solution.

One of the strengths of VoIP over traditional phone systems is the number of advanced features. However just because VoIP can do these things doesn't mean all products do. Look at the features the VoIP solution offers. Consider not only your current situation but future needs. Get a phone system designed for your unique organization.

Legacy Support

Your business probably has an existing PBX phone system. Some VoIP service providers will tell you to throw away the old system and invest big money in their product instead. That's great for them but not so great for you.

There are many VoIP solutions that work with PBX phone systems. They integrate seamlessly with your existing network, allowing you to replace as much or as little as you like. You can invest money over time, expanding at your own speed. Keep the legacy system as long as you want, although once you see the benefits of VoIP you will probably want to phase out the PBX sooner rather than later.

Use a little common sense and soon you will separate out the get-rich-quick charlatans and the well-meaning amateurs from the capable and professional VoIP service providers. Once you get your short list of providers, it's that much easier to get the phone system you need.