A small office/home office (SOHO) system is telecoms that can provide a high-quality solution to telephony communication needs. SOHO phone systems are well suited to businesses with as little as two employees. Businesses can benefit from a SOHO phone system in several ways. SOHO phone systems are an essential communication device to maintain a business, retain customers, coordinate with customers and manage customers from the home or office. A SOHO system also provides the infrastructure for business growth opportunities. As a business grows, so too can the phone system, which eliminates the need to replace the system as and when your business gets bigger.

One of the most popular soho phone solutions is a Voice over Internet Protocol system ie. VoIP. This solution is the perfect fit for small businesses and mobile workers who seek flexible and mobile phone solutions. Small offices and home offices (SOHO) can gain the most benefits and cost savings by having a VoIP system in place to manage all its business’s telephony needs.

Popular examples of VoIP apps:
• Whatsapp

• Viber
• Google Hangouts
• Skype
• Facebook Messenger

With VoIP calls, you can make phone calls to anyone in the world provided there is an internet connection for all parties. It helps a caller avoid the hefty international call charges of phone companies while also providing unlimited phone lines and makes communication easier, cheaper and faster.

A VoIP system can never work without an internet connection because it relies on Internet Protocol (IP) to exchange digital data. You need a high-speed broadband connection rated for at least 100 kbps per phone line up and down, which is pretty easy for most broadband connections to achieve.

SOHO phone system

Small offices and home offices used to be in a bad spot because phone systems used to be really expensive; VoIP and hosted PBX has completely changed that. Never mind savings on costs related to regarding the installation costs, waiting for engineers, monthly line cost rental, call charges especially international, a business will also save as there is no need for phone equipment such as the desk phones themselves and service charges.

A SOHO phone system allows your business to use many great features. These VoIP features (listed below) can enhance your company image while increasing productivity:

• Auto attendant : An auto attendant is a message that greets your callers. In addition to being a recorded greeting (use it project the correct image), an auto attendant prevents busy calls: calls that can’t be taken are sent to voicemail automatically.
• Voicemail to email : Receive an email every time you get a voicemail, with the contact information, time of the voicemail, and a file attachment.
• Find Me/Follow Me : Find Me is used to set call forwarding rules to ensure you can always get a call. Follow Me is used to forward calls to any of your phone numbers – even during the call.
• Most hosted VoIP plans come with either monthly no-contract payments or cheaper yearly contracts, and many of the plans differ on the amount of minutes available each month.

Offices that do not make frequent calls would be better off with a basic or silver plan for a lower price. They will still get all of the enterprise-quality features you can expect from hosted VoIP plans. The flexibility in these VoIP plans has brought a valuable, new, and inexpensive tool to the SOHO market.

SOHO Phone System Options

There are many SOHO phone systems on the market today. Features and benefits that are normally included included by a SOHO phone system provider include:

• Caller ID/Call screening
• Voicemail
• Auto attendant
• Call waiting
• Mailboxes
• Call transfer
• Call forwarding
• Dial-by-name
• Multi-line
• Multi numbers / extensions 

What are the benefits of VoIP?

First and foremost more for less money, so if you’re looking for VoIP Service Provider with Cheap Call Rates, including features that will make your communications state of the art you can find it.  Many VoIP providers have plans that allow unlimited calls in the continental US and Canada all for one low monthly fee.  In addition, added features such as Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, a web based control panel, Voicemail received as Email, Advanced Call Forwarding features, etc., are added at no additional cost.  Plus, International rates are a lot less than traditional telephone companies.  You are not limited to just a certain local’s numbers, but can even choose one from another state.  In addition, you can add virtual numbers from other areas that will ring in on your primary number.  So, the benefits of VoIP are:

• Lower monthly telephone bills; cheap Long Distance and cheap calls
• Unlimited monthly calling to certain locations eliminating long distance charges and plans with unlimited International calling
• Additional features; all included in your one monthly flat rate
• Lower prices on International calling
• Virtual numbers; numbers that ring in on a primary number and can be from other areas, even other states
• Portability (LNP), or the ability to take your phone service with you

How to choose your SOHO phone system provider:

1) Make sure your network is in good shape…

Start with things that you have control over – your network, and make sure that it does not have problems.  Even simple networks can have problems that will affect the quality of VoIP calls.  Make sure that you have only one DHCP server/router, that your switches are in good shape and that your computers are running efficiently.  

2) It’s not only bandwidth that’s important…

One of the first items that is addressed when looking at a hosted VoIP business phone service is the amount of bandwidth that your internet connection has, both on the download and just an importantly on the upload, but it also needs to be a steady connection.  It should be enough to comfortable carry the number of simultaneous calls and each computer’s needs.  Four simultaneous calls at 90kbps each would be 360kbps (upload and download) and then four PCs sending email and using whatever other applications that might be running. 

Another important need is the quality of your ISP’s Internet connection.  If there is packet loss, jitter or too much latency your calls are going to suffer.  And it won’t take much of any one of those problems to degrade your conversations quickly.  So, make sure that your Internet connection is good and stable. 

3) The connection from you to your provider…

It’s unlikely that the connection from you to your VoIP provider’s switch won’t cross several networks.  The lower the amount of hops and the less latency to the VoIP provider’s switch can be an advantage.  Do a trace route and ping to their SIP server to see how many other routers you pass and the time it takes to get there.  You may want to do some testing on different days and different times of the day or evening.

4) The lowest price is not the best service…

Just like in anything in life when it comes to paying for the cheapest, the one that is way under the others can be a red flag.  Cheap is not always good when it comes to service.  Choose a provider that has a price that is reasonable with the competition (middle or upper middle), but not a low cost provider.  You’ll be happier in the end with less problems to deal with.

5) Choose by features, presentation and service…

For a small business phone solution to work for you, look at the features that are important for you.  When comparing features keep in mind how the information is presented.  The look and feel of a provider’s website can actually give a good clue as to the provider’s target customer base.  Does their website convey quality?  Like a car, a test drive without a lasting commitment is a valuable offer.  (And in the case of a good VoIP provider, they’ll probably have an easy and intuitive sign up process.  One you can handle without that car salesman.)

Other Important Factors to Consider When Choosing Your SOHO Business Telephone System :

Cabling – Before installation, one needs to ensure that the areas requiring phones are correctly cabled. Cabling is a separate cost and needs to be quoted for on any SOHO Business telephone system.

Location –Your location is important, certain areas of South Africa do not have access to the infrastructure required to run VoIP solutions, in these cases we look at LTE VoIP or GSM solutions. Remember there is always a PBX telephone line connectivity option it just needs to be customised to your location, budget, and needs.

PBX Handsets –Business Telephone Systems come in 3 basic types:

Analog – Analog handsets require telephone Cat 3 cable and are the cheapest, most basic type of phone. They are extremely reliable and offer basic transfer and call hold features

Digital – Digital handsets have slightly more features and functionality than a traditional analogue handset, including Incoming caller identification, handling of 2 or more calls simultaneously, speaker and conference facilities and more. They also run on analogue Cat 3 telephone cabling and

IP – IP handsets run on Cat 5 cabling, they have all the features of the above unit and more. IP phones are great for future-proofing your business and creating a unified communication system.

IP telephony integration with residential/SOHO VoIP phone service

In an office setting, IP telephony integration would be as simple as plugging an IP phone into an RJ45 wall or computer jack and accessing the LAN or Ethernet. In a residential or SOHO situation, it is unlikely that the office location (especially if it’s a spare room, study, or basement) is hardwired for Ethernet, unless it’s a new development in an area that has adopted fiber to the user (FTTU) and future-proofed homes with structured wiring.

For most residential or SOHO VoIP users, the physical setting is likely wired strictly for the PSTN. If your small office is too small to consider a hosted PBX solution (which would also typically involve purchasing a VoIP gateway or SIP trunk), then converting the analog PSTN signals to digital, VoIP-ready data chunks is the answer. (However, don’t discount the hosted PBX option — some businesses such as Phone.com or Cloud Phone 7 cater to SOHO clients with custom VoIP PBX packages for few or no-employee situations.)

To produce Internet-ready voice calls in a SOHO environment without a hardwired LAN, you either need:

An intermediary between the phone and the Internet connection that can handle the signal conversion, compression, and packetization (an ATA) OR

A way to incorporate an IP phone into the LAN, probably using a device such as a VoIP router

IP telephony integration will most likely involve one of these options:

VoIP router with SIP and other protocols

IP phone with built-in router

IP PBX for small office

Ethernet pass-through

Power over Ethernet (PoE) device

A premise-based IP PBX for a SOHO is a less common solution, because it is usually more complex to set up and may require the help of a VoIP professional, but it is a possibility.Most of these are low budget and claim to be easy to install and offer features such as an auto attendant, voicemail-to-email, and ring groups.

What to Look for in a SOHO Phone System

SOHO Phone Systems can be purchased for a couple of hundred dollars or more. These systems are a low-cost phone solution with big business phone functionality. When selecting a SOHO phone system, consider the cost of installation, ease of use, and support services. To save on costs, select an easy to install SOHO phone system. It doesn’t make sense to select a SOHO phone system that will cost more to implement than the phone system itself. Selecting a SOHO phone system that is user-friendly generally enables users to more quickly learn how to operate the system. And, it’s nice to purchase a SOHO phone system with reliable support services, which may be vital if technical or functional difficulties arise. It’s a good idea to select a SOHO phone system with a built-in backup battery in case of power outages. Losing data and not being able to make phone calls during power failures may be detrimental to your business.

To conclude:

In today’s competitive business scenario, small businesses and small office/home offices need an efficient phone system that can increase employee productivity, reduce telephony costs and provide high-end call management features. A VoIP or PBX system is the go to telecoms solution for small offices / businesses having around 10 to 32 users. A small yet dynamic VoIP or PBX sytem provides all business class telephony features to be productive, look professional and enhance customer services.