It is hard to believe, but there are over 100 VoIP Service Providers. What are the most important factors to consider when choosing a Business VoIP Provider. It is a difficult thing to do because telephone service is not a physical item. You can't really touch it or see it, you can test it out, but it would not be under ideal circumstances so you really won’t be able to tell if the service does what you want it too.

Making the task even more difficult is that most of the companies are not physically located in your area and even if a company was in your area, going to their offices to check out their system would not tell you very much about the their system. If you actually went to a VoIP Providers office, you will probably be taken to a room with a lot of equipment, wires, fans that had a couple of guys standing around that look like they know what they are doing. You also might see a bunch of nice offices with important looking people working in them, but again, that won't really tell you that much about the company.

So, exactly what is the best way to choose a Business VoIP Provider?

Peter Radizeski (On Rad's Radar) wrote a post the following post "7.5 Things to Consider about VoIP Providers" that discusses some of the most important considerations when choosing a Business VoIP Provider.  I think this blog post lists most of the key points businesses should consider when choosing a VoIP Provider.

What I find to be most important is point 7.5 “Is the vendor a good fit for your needs?”.  This is really what it comes down to assuming the vendor passes the first 7 tests.  Will the VoIP Provider be able to help your company implement their system so that your company can actually take advantage of all the technology they have sold to you?  This is no small matter.  All the technology in the world won’t matter if you don’t know how to use it.