Why the cheapest VOIP is not your best option
People love to find a bargain, but for the most part, people who buy on price alone are doing themselves a disservice. If you know exactly what you’re looking for in a product and get the lowest price on an XYZ123 model dishwasher, that’s one thing, but getting the lowest price on a generic service is often not your best value. This is particularly true when someone gets the cheapest VOIP service available anywhere, because they will spend a lot of their time on the phone with the VOIP service provider trying to get it to work as advertised.
Now if those people put zero value on their own time, then maybe it can be a good deal to get the cheapest VOIP service possible, but most people don’t consider their own time worthless at all. .
I recommend looking for the best value, which is often different from the lowest price. You need to determine what features you are looking for, describe and detail your calling requirements, and find out exactly what you want your VOIP service to do. You’ll then be in a position to make smart and informed decisions about who has the lowest price compared to the feature set on offer. However, getting VOIP based solely on price is rarely a good decision and will present more problems than it solves.
One particular aspect of VOIP, be it the cheapest VOIP or the most expensive VOIP service, that most people don’t realize is that the VOIP service itself is not responsible for or has any control over the most critical aspect of a successful VOIP implementation, and that is the reliability and stability of your high-speed Internet connection. The VOIP operator you’ve chosen has no control over that, and if your high-speed Internet connection, whether it’s cable or DSL, isn’t rock solid, there isn’t a VOIP service anywhere on the planet that can. provide a good solution. If your high-speed Internet connection isn’t rock-solid without hiccups, slowdowns, and dropouts, you should consider a different high-speed Internet provider before you even think about a VOIP installation.
If you live off the beaten track and don’t have DSL or cable available, where your only solution for high-speed Internet access is satellite, don’t consider VOIP because it almost certainly won’t work well. Satellite Internet service was not designed for real-time communications as required by VOIP, and your VOIP experience will not be a good one, regardless of which provider you select.
If you have a rock-solid high-speed Internet connection, then you can start comparing the features and benefits of VOIP to determine who offers the best value for money. Most of the time, your most cost-effective solution is NOT to get VOIP from your cable or DSL company. I’ve seen deals from cable and DSL carriers where they were more than twice the price of reliable alternatives, and they didn’t even have as many features!
Determine your needs, and then find the VOIP service that meets those needs at the best price. But keep in mind that the cheapest VOIP service probably isn’t your most profitable and best value.