Is the “best” hosted voice-over-IP (VoIP) solution much different for a small business than it is for an enterprise?

Actually, not entirely.

Organizations of all sizes need the same thing from their hosted VoIP solutions, which is quality. When quality is defined as the value for cost, it’s the single most significant predictor of customer satisfaction and quality of experience.

Making the switch to hosted voice can allow your organization to unlock significant cost savings while achieving a solution that meets the needs of your mobile and remote employee workforce. However, finding the right provider isn’t always straightforward.

There’s no shortage of vendors, and these options can vary significantly in terms of service options, pricing, and approach. Even if you’re certain that voice-over-IP (VoIP) is the right approach, vendor selection is another story entirely, and proceeding with caution is an important tool to avoid dissatisfaction with your new business phone system.

Upgrading to hosted voice shouldn’t be challenging, but far too many organizations experience hidden costs, quality dissatisfaction or other pitfalls due to confusion during the vendor selection process.

If you’re trying to decide between cloud vs. dedicated server as the right solution for your business workloads, the price is an important factor which can shape your final decision. From the perspective of pure operating expenses, the price tag each month on a cloud service is likely to be lower for many use cases. However, the cloud is not the right fit for every workload, and neither are dedicated servers.

Evaluating cloud vs. dedicated servers solely on monthly costs paid alone is a mistake. There are other factors which should shape your decision. There are both hard and soft costs which can impact total cost of ownership (TCO) and overall client experience.

There is a lot of hype in information technology around the cloud as the "end all and be all" solution for business data, and there’s good reason for that hype. Deployments of cloud technology can offer businesses some serious benefits for many use cases, such as cost savings, scalability, and time to market. According to RightScale research, over 9-out-of-10 enterprises have adopted cloud technologies to some degree, including software-as-a-service and other cloud innovations.

However, there are reasons and use cases where dedicated servers are a better choice than cloud. If a business workload has stringent data security requirements or high availability and uptime requirements, a business’ needs could be best met with server resources that are rented and reserved solely for their needs.

Selecting the right vendor from the 20 registered internet service providers who offer business-class connectivity in Bethesda, Maryland is likely to play a significant part in your employee and customer experience.

Chances are, you’re aware that you can save quite a bit of money on your business telephone communications by bundling service into a package with your internet connectivity.

Whether you’ve already decided to make the switch from traditional telephone service to IP-based phone service (VoIP) or you’re already using cloud-based phone services, evaluating vendors who offer both internet and voice on the same network could be the right move.

However, a lower price paid each month is only one benefit you can realize with bundling if you select the right option from the best business internet and telephone packages available now. With the right vendor, you can unlock the full range of long-term business advantages associated with Unified Communications as a Service or UCaaS - a technological baseline for next-generation communications.

So, your organization may need a point-to-point fiber-optic network, also known as P2P fiber.

A point-to-point fiber optic network provides a direct, dedicated connection from an access node to remote workstations, servers, or business locations. This creates a direct connection for data transmission, offering dedicated bandwidth.

Other business benefits of P2P fiber above traditional fiber network deployments can include:

• Data security
• Simpler troubleshooting
• Superior network administration

Is P2P fiber right for you? Well, that depends. Keep the following factors in mind when evaluating your technology options, providers, and deploying the right business network for your needs.

Washington D.C. Metro area businesses have many options for commercial Internet plans.

A local Google search of the 2,500 registered Internet providers in the U.S reveals more than two dozen options in the DC Metro region, including global Internet Service Providers (ISPs), national ISPs, and regional ISPs. There are also options for fiber, enterprise-class Internet, business-class Internet, small business-Internet, high-speed Internet, and much more.

As you’ve certainly noticed, there’s almost no standardization in the industry when it comes to Internet plans. While one company offers the lowest prices, does their package come with enough bandwidth or a service level agreement? Is the rock-bottom pricing offer shrouded in hidden fees? Price doesn’t always equal value among commercial Internet service providers.

Why should you consider narrowing your business connectivity search to enterprise-class Internet providers? More importantly, is enterprise-grade Internet genuinely better than business-class solutions?

First of all, yes--enterprise is a distinct solution from business-class connectivity, and some organizations need the features of enterprise-grade connectivity offerings.

Enterprise solutions go above and beyond business-class Internet service by offering:

• Interoperability with the enterprise IT infrastructure
• Customization and flexibility
• Scalability, including fast scaling
• Superior protection against information security risks

There are more than 2,500 registered internet providers in the U.S. While the FCC says half the addresses in the U.S. have only one option for a fast internet provider, there are several commercial internet service providers (ISPs) with coverage in the Baltimore-Washington area alone.

But how do you know which ISP is the best choice for your small businesses?

While your organization may not have hundreds of employees, you need exceptional connectivity. Generally, small or mid-sized businesses (SMB) have lower bandwidth needs than an enterprise, but they still need an exceptional ISP experience at a cost within budget:

• Reliable internet connectivity
• Fast speeds
• Excellent customer service
• Enough bandwidth to work without interruptions