For years, only the largest of businesses could enjoy the convenience of having a fully-featured phone system. Thanks to technological advancements, however, such solutions are now within reach for small and medium-sized companies. In particular, the emergence of hosted VoIP as a telecommunications solutions has greatly speeded up this process, opening up a handful of benefits as a result.

Affordability is perhaps the most important reason you should consider switching to a hosted VoIP service. Your provider will take care of all your hardware requirements as part of your plan, leaving the subscription fee as your biggest concern. Now take into account the fact that you won't have to pay for maintenance, and it becomes clear why you start looking for a cloud telephone service provider immediately.

Hosted phone systems are particularly well-suited for businesses that have lots of field workers. Because the service isn't tied to a physical location, one can add new lines without having to subscribe for an additional plan. Depending on the provider, employees can also answer incoming calls on the same line they use in their offices. This makes it easier to stay in touch with customers and colleagues from wherever.

Supporting a growing business means expanding its infrastructure in proportion with the rate of growth. This isn't always possible with standard phone systems, but it's one of the key features of cloud-based VoIP. Not only can you add and remove channels as you need, but this also comes without the penalties you'd otherwise face with a traditional setup.

When shopping for VoIP solutions, always make sure you read the fine print on every brochure you come across. Phone companies have been known to hide surcharges in such places, which means you must protect yourself by examining all contracts thoroughly before signing one. If you can't figure out what certain terms imply, get in touch with the company for further clarification.

Even the most advanced telephone system will experience issues from time to time, and these need to be fixed quickly to prevent costly downtime. For this reason, it would be prudent to choose a VoIP package that includes extended technical support, besides reviewing your vendor's experience in this area. Evaluating your current and future needs will also steer you towards a service provider with the ability to serve them adequately.

Because no 2 businesses can be identical, you want to purchase a hosted VoIP system that you could easily customize to make your own. This isn't necessarily a must-have feature, but it's something you should think about, particularly if your business has specific communications needs. Not all vendors will disclose how customizable their products are when advertising, so remember to make this clear up-front when shopping.

You've probably heard about hosted telephone systems, but are you familiar with their benefits? Besides cost-efficiency and flexibility, cloud VoIP could also take you closer to adopting unified communications. This all depends on the service you choose, so be careful when navigating the tricky telecommunications landscape.