Are These Items Included on your VoIP Telephone System Quote?
If you are getting a VoIP Quote, make sure these things are included!
When businesses are looking to purchase or deploy a new VoIP telephone system, they need to make sure that everything is as it should be, and that there are no unexpected costs.
Often, quotes include the base package of licenses and phones, but neglect to include a few pieces of hardware, along with some monthly line items, that can really add up!
To enable every business to be prepared and clear on what they are signing up for, we have broken down the top four items left off of VoIP telephone system quotes.
Taxes are always a consideration in VoIP 
A router for proper VoIP operation 
Phones have to get their power from something!
- Taxes– Depending on the size of your telephone system, taxes can be a major expense, and therefor a cause for sticker shock if you are not expecting to see them on your quote. The long and short of the issue is that whether or not your quote includes taxes, your business will be paying them! Even if you are a tax exempt organization, there are still some Federal taxes to pay. A fair rule for general, for profit, businesses is that your quote will increase about10% due to taxes. Some providers, such as GoTo Connect, include estimated taxes in their quotes, however, so check your line items carefully.
- POE Switches– Old telephone systems powered the telephones through the wires in the wall which received their power from the PBX, the box on the wall. VoIP phones do not receive power from a PBX so instead receive it from the switch they are attached to or a power injector. When you are looking at your quote, either plan on providing a POE (powered) switch for the phones to all use or plan on each phone being plugged into a power strip. A power adapter into a power strip is fine, just ensure it is properly protected with surge protection and that each phone comes with a power adapter!
- Router– Many of our VoIP customers have compatible routers, which we determine when we start our due diligence before installation, so this is not an additional cost for them. However, on many smaller VoIP telephone system installations, the business is using consumer grade basic equipment, fine for standard internet and data usage, but not compatible with VoIP phone service. The good news is that these routers are not very expensive. A standard router for an installation with less than 50 telephones is around $350, one time, not recurring.
CSM South does our absolute best to be completely transparent on the costs involved with every one of our VoIP quotes. If you receive a proposal from us, please, be sure to ask any and all questions that come to mind. On that note, be sure to ask our competition as well to make sure that your quotes are as “apples to apples” as possible.
Based in Tampa, Florida and with offices in Austin, Texas and service centers throughout the southeast, CSM South installs and services traditional telephone systems and VoIP premise and cloud systems.