Deciding what you need from a hosted phone service

Before you contact any hosted phone service vendors, start gathering information on your current telecommunications situation:

• Your total number of current phone lines and their costs, including toll-free numbers
• Locations and numbers of employees at all offices, including home workers
• Recent local, long distance and toll-free bills
• Current broadband Internet specifications and costs (Not just "DSL," but "1.5 Mbps DSL")
• Conference calling and electronic faxing costs (if applicable)
• Current equipment costs: lease and maintenance costs for phone system, voice mail, auto attendant, conferencing
bridge
• Call volumes: averages, seasonal or time of day patterns, inbound vs. outbound volumes
• Contract status for any of these services – time remaining and opt-out requirements

The vendors may not need all of this information, but knowing these answers will help you get a handle on which components of your current infrastructure to evaluate and potentially replace.

All-in-one or just phone service?
A key difference among hosted phone service providers is which service components they offer. Some pride themselves on supplying a complete solution, one that includes the phone numbers and dial tone service, long distance plans, the Internet connection, and the hosted PBX service. Others take a more specialized approach, allowing you to use your existing Internet connection and phone service.

Each type of provider will tout their approach as being superior. The all-in-one providers can ensure that all aspects of the setup work together smoothly. Providers who use your existing connections can focus exclusively on providing the hosted phone service, allowing other specialists to handle the Internet connection and dial tone.

Both approaches have their merits, so we recommend considering both. Do make sure you know exactly what you'd be getting from every provider you talk to, so you fairly compare costs later.

How the purchasing process works
After some initial conversation, providers will want to set up demos to show you how their service works. Some will send you a pre-configured phone that you can simply plug in to your network and use, allowing you evaluate call quality and ease of setup. They should also let you access the administration tool so you can evaluate the management features. Other providers may just hold phone and/or web conferences to introduce you to their services.

To get specific pricing, most vendors will want to do a site visit so they can check out your existing phones, hardware, and cabling. Once they have all the information, they can create a detailed proposal that includes all the prices and contract terms.