Have you ever wondered what differentiates various VoIP services out there? Today, we will be having a check on the different factors that separate these two types of internet phone services. Let us begin our comparison.
Quality and Reliability
Many internet phone users think that all VoIP services offer the same voice quality when it comes to making and receiving phone calls. This is nothing close to the truth in reality. There are many different types of VoIP services out there and there always exists more or less difference in terms of the quality of phone service offered. The main difference lies in the quality of the voice delivered to the end phone users. A new user who has just recently switched from telephone to internet phone will find every other internet phone service offering high voice quality but an expert VoIP user will easily be able to differentiate between the voice qualities of the various services. A good VoIP service will offer you very high voice quality that would not only be clear to listen to but also would be comfortable to get your message conveyed to the phone user at the other end. One other thing that counts a lot in determining the quality of a phone service is the reliability. Not every internet phone service offers reliable phone service. Like landline phone services, VoIP providers may also have issues with the service that they are offering to their customers. Therefore, never think that all internet phone services are trustworthy. This is one key characteristic that distinguishes an average VoIP from a premium one. There can be many issues that can trouble a VoIP customer that may include faulty IP phone, bandwidth issues, or numerous other VoIP related problems. A caring internet phone service will take care of all these problems in advance while an average one will not bother much about the problems that its subscribers are facing.
Competitive Call Rates
Call rates are a very important factor in any phone service. Most of the people that switch to internet phone make a shift in order to save more cost. Again, an average VoIP provider is not capable enough to offer market competitive calling rates to its subscribers. When we are talking about call rates, there is a trick which is played by the deceptive type of internet phone services. They tend to advertise very low call rates for the new customers to lure in, but in fact, they trap the customers and once the customers subscribe to a service, they come to know many hidden costs and charges that weren’t included in the advertisement. Few of the VoIP services out there take care of their own image and the level of trust their customers have in them. They make sure that all the rates are rightly quoted in ads and their service subscribers are charged accordingly. Hence, good VoIP services ensure that they remain transparent and accountable in front of their customers all the time.
Call Plans for Customers
The variety in call plans is something that often acts as eyewash for the VoIP subscribers. You will find number of different internet phone services out there that would be claiming to offer a wide range of call plans. However, if we look closely, we won’t find much difference between any of the different call plans that they are offering. Call plans are to be intelligently packaged in such a way that each one of them sufficiently addresses the calling needs of its particular customer base and is still affordable for that specific customer segment. An intelligent internet phone service knows what its customers really need and they design their call plans accordingly. Average VoIP service providers on contrary offer plans that are not meticulously planned to offer such comprehensive number of options to the service subscribers.
Features of The Service
When looking at different internet phone services, not all providers offer a full range of features to their customers. Good phone services offer advanced as well as free features within the call plans without any extra costs or just for nominal charges. This means that you will not be dearly charged for any of the good features that are packed within a call plan that you are opting for. On the other hand, when we look at average phone services, they only provide their subscribers with basic features and when you ask for any of the advanced features, they heavily charge you for that. So be aware, not all services offer you with features free of cost.
Technical Support & Customer Care
When we are subscribing to any internet phone provider, we are usually told that we will be provided nonstop support and we won’t have any kind of problem. This is not true in many cases. A lot of VoIP providers that claim to offer such services actually back away from their claims later on. Some of these internet phone services do not have a trained staff that would have the sufficient technical know how about the product. Customers of such a service are often annoyed because they find no one out there to help them in case of problems. Same is the case with customer care. We hear many VoIP services bragging about the customer support that they offer. However, there are many internet phone service providers that do not have a very concerned customer care. They just don’t listen or attend to their customers, which can also be very frustrating. Customer reviews are a good way to determine in advance the level of technical support and customer care that you should expect from a VoIP provider that you are about to choose.
Next time when you are thinking about choosing a VoIP service, remember these golden rules to abide by in order to get the maximum bang of the bucks that you invest into a phone service.
