Compare These Top Vendors for Voice Mail

Nearly every small business today can benefit from a voicemail system. When used properly, voicemail can improve productivity, give your business a professional image, enhance customer relations, and make ordering products and services quicker and more efficient. Here are a few keys to making sense of voicemail systems.

1. Learn which voicemail system best meets your company's current needs, but don't forget to plan for growth.
2. Determine which providers will offer you the best long-term investment. While most traditional voicemail systems designed for small businesses are cost-effective, they can range from less than $1,000 to more than $40,000, depending on the features you select. Own a very small business? Consider a Web-hosted voicemail system, which can start at less than $10 a month.
3. No matter which type you choose, select only the features that you and your customers need. A simple system provides individual mailboxes, while more comprehensive ones offer options like music, virtual hold and question-and-answer scripts.
4. Get quotes from several vendors, including local and national providers.

Learn the lingo

There are lots to know. For example: PC-based systems, usually low-cost, require a standard desktop PC to act as the system's server. Traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) voicemail solutions use operating systems just for messaging.

Examine different providers

Voicemail systems include a variety of expenses from setup charges to maintenance fees.

Do I really need that feature?

Most small businesses share basic voicemail features, like mailboxes and auto attendants. After that, the similarity ends. Depending on the services or products you provide and the image you want to project, you may consider options like music on hold, messaging on hold, "screen pops" (an automatic display of a caller's information), route-to-fax capabilities, automatic routing and remote voicemail pickup.

Compare systems within your budget

Many suppliers offer free quotes online.

Rent virtual voicemail

If you're a sole proprietor or have only one or two employees, consider the least expensive, least intrusive option of all: a Web-based virtual phone service, which can provide many of the most commonly used features of any business phone system, such as automated answering, call forwarding, music on hold, multiple mail boxes, and caller ID, plus delivery of messages via email or the Web.

• Ask potential voicemail providers for references.
• Make sure the voicemail system you select is expandable. Avoid systems that have limited capacity for growth.
• No matter which voicemail system you use, always give customers the option to speak to a real person.
• Expect some annual maintenance expenses for your system. Maintenance costs should not exceed 5 to 10 percent of the initial purchase price.
• If you choose a "virtual," Web-based phone system, watch out for per-minute fees. Read the fine print carefully.
• Virtual PBX, one of the newest options, features an automated attendant over existing mobile, land and VoIP phone lines.
• No matter which technical configuration you choose, you'll need to decide how many "ports" the system will have. The greater the number of ports, the greater the number of phone calls that the voicemail system can answer simultaneously. As a rule of thumb, a system costs about $1,000 per port.