• The Frequently Forgotten

    Questions and data customers often forget to ask, forget to find out or simply didn't know was an option. Be sure you answer these questions during your Hosted PBX deployment or you to prevent surprises.

  • Frequently Forgotten

    Here are some things we find our clients and other providers forget when implementing and using cloud voice systems.

    Do you have Toll-Free Numbers?

    What are they? What numbers or people do they ring? What carrier are they currently with? How many minutes of use do you generate on average?

    What happens during an internet outage?

    Do calls need to flow to a cell phone or land line number? Do they need to flow to an answering service or automated attendant? Do you need to invest in backup internet connectivity?

    What happens during a disaster?

    Where should calls be routed? Are passwords and the configuration portal logins well documented? Do multiple people know how to administer the system?

    How much long distance are you using?

    How many minutes of long distance usage do you generate? Does it make financial sense to go with an "unlimited" long distance plan or to go instead for a pay-per-minute plan?

    Where are your local numbers?

    What other providers can service your local area? Can your numbers be ported natively to some other carrier?

    Surprisingly, not ever local phone number is portable. We most often encounter this issue in rural areas. Always verify that any numbers you want to keep in the new system are portable to the provider you would like to use. Do this before beginning any engineering or network design in order to prevent expensive surprises down the road.

    What business names are on your bills?

    Who is the responsible party for billing? Has your business name changed or have acquisitions occured which are not reflected on your bill? Who signed the original contracts for service?

    Who are the authorized users on your account?

    Who can make changes to service? Who can ask questions about billing? What happens when an employee is deceased or terminated? Do multiple people know where and who to call in the event of questions or problems?

    What PIN numbers and passwords are set?

    Are your service logins, PINs and passwords documented in some way - at least for the critical administrative accounts? Does someone know how to change user passwords? Are you rotating user passwords to prevent fraud and hacking of your user accounts? Do you know how to change passwords and PINs when an employee leaves the company?

    Can you re-use your existing phones?

    Are the phones already on your desk re-usable? If so, what passwords and configurations need to known in order to reconfigure them? If not, what are you going to replace with with? Will you rent phones or buy them outright?​