Which business phone plan is right for me?

When you’re a new start up or small business, it can take some time to get your feet off the ground. Having the right business phone plan will ensure you have your communications sorted.

With so many different business phone plans out there, what should you look out for when choosing the right system or provider?

First up, you need to decide whether you want a phone system with physical desk phones or a virtual phone service that runs on mobile devices. Neither is right or wrong, it’s about what will be the best fit for your business.

Things to consider include:

• What are the communication needs of your business
• The size of your business and resources available
• Whether you and your staff are always on the road or work remotely

Once you’ve decided on the system type, you need to think about what kind of service you want. Do you want to use a traditional landline service or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system that runs entirely over the internet? If you choose VoIP, you also need to decide whether you want to have an on-premise system (housed at your business), or cloud based system which is hosted by your service provider.

When selecting a business phone plan, make sure the provider also ticks the boxes for the types of features and tools you want in a phone system, and whether it meets the level of customer support you need.

A recent survey by Canstar Blue revealed what’s most important to business phone customers in terms of the plans offered by phone providers. The top responses for customer satisfaction included the level of customer service (30%), network coverage (22%) and value for money (21%).

Almost two-thirds of people surveyed (65%) said they stayed with their existing phone provider, but 63% of respondents agree if they shopped around, they would probably find a better deal.

The average business phone customer is spending $128 a month on their business phone plans, so it pays to set aside some time comparing phone providers, if you want to get best deal.

For example, if you’re thinking of having your phone system hosted in the cloud you need to consider uptime. This is a measure of system reliability and refers to the amount of time the system is operational (opposite to downtime).

Why is this important? When the system is down you won’t be able to use your phone services. The best providers will have strategies in place to minimise any downtime to your service. So, when doing your homework, make sure you ask about uptime stats and whether the provider has any conditions around their service, should your system ever be down longer than what they promise.

Need help choosing a business phone plan? Get in touch with our team of business phone specialists today to find the right plan for your business needs.