Is Your Network Ready for Hosted PBX or SIP Trunking?

The advancements in voice over IP solutions makes it possible for you to simplify your telecommunications and save of costs but is your LAN ready for IP voice services?

Here are some simple steps that you can take in planning that will allow you avoid some mistakes.

1. Is Your Network Ready?

   1. Your voice over IP will run over your LAN (Local Area Network). The quality of a phone call can be impacted by items as simple as having the right type of cabling (cat 5 or 6 is recommended).
   2. Make sure you have the correct routers and switches deployed within your network. Additional details can include whether a company has a firewall and whether the ports that permit the two most common protocols SIP AND MGCP ports are blocked.
   3. Review of your Internet Access. Ensure that you have enough bandwidth to the number of concurrent calls your business requires.   

2. Call flow?

   1. How are phone calls routed to various groups within the company via an attendant, either live or automated? (For sales: press 1, for service: press 2.etc.).
   2. What will happen to calls after hours? 
   3. Hunt groups?
   4. Each employee’s phone should be considered for each feature that they have with their current system, and which of the new features should be made available to them.  

3. Transition Plan?

   1. Porting your existing telephone numbers from your old service provider to your new provider.
   2. Ensure your Internet access that is installed and ready.
   3. To port your 800 numbers your new company will need to allow for more time. It is important to purchase not only numbers to support your existing users but also to support planned growth.

4. Staff Education?

   1. Be sure to communicate to your employees about the transition and the new features and equipment.
   2. Plan trainings and provide userguides to make your co-workers are prepared and excited about the changes.
   3. One of the key features of Hosted PBX is the ability for each employee to decide how each incoming call is treated. A sales rep may elect to have calls from home forwarded to his/her cell phone rather than being sent to voice mail immediately, have calls that he doesn’t recognize sent to voice mail, and calls from a top customer routed to the cell phone and then a home phone.

Rainier Connect representatives will work with you to ensure a smooth transition to an all IP system. Our Managed LAN service rates start at $27.95 a month.  As you have read above this is a key element in making sure your voice quality at its best. Without managed LAN services you may experience poor voice quality such as echoes and jitter. 

Additional professional services are available as needed for customers who already have IP phones and phone systems.