Chances are, you’re aware that you can save quite a bit of money on your business telephone communications by bundling service into a package with your internet connectivity.
Whether you’ve already decided to make the switch from traditional telephone service to IP-based phone service (VoIP) or you’re already using cloud-based phone services, evaluating vendors who offer both internet and voice on the same network could be the right move.
However, a lower price paid each month is only one benefit you can realize with bundling if you select the right option from the best business internet and telephone packages available now. With the right vendor, you can unlock the full range of long-term business advantages associated with Unified Communications as a Service or UCaaS - a technological baseline for next-generation communications.
7 Benefits of Packaging Phone and Internet Together
There’s certainly data to back up the case for the hard-cost benefits of bundling business phone and internet service. According to one study, organizations can realize between 30-to-75 percent savings over traditional phone systems if they are switching to cloud-based voice communications for the first time. These savings are likely to be at the higher end of that average if the organization's need for rich communications features, long distance calling or international calling is above-average.
However, there’s both immediate and long-term, hard and soft cost savings associated with the transition to Unified Communications. Learn more in 10 Factors that Impact UCaaS System Total Cost of Ownership.
In addition to a lower monthly bill and a smaller total cost of ownership over the lifetime of your communications system, there’s likely to be significant benefits which impact more than just the IT team:
- Higher-quality service, including less latency thanks to a shared network
- Easier to understand and potentially more flexible monthly billing
- Superior system scalability
- One-source support
- Improved network oversight and faster troubleshooting
- Fewer business continuity and information security risks
- Higher reliability with the right vendor
Learn more in 11 Valuable Business Benefits of Unified Communications as a Service.
How to Understand Business Phone Pricing & Internet Pricing
Bundling business phone and internet service into one easy package should be as simple as sorting through vendors and finding the package that fits your budget? Well, not quite. While there should be transparency to both business phone and internet pricing, there’s some variation between vendor pricing.
When it comes to business internet connectivity and cloud-based phone service, organizations should consider more than just cost. The type of service that best fits your business requirements and other variables should also play into the value equation.
Deciphering the Cost of Business Phone Packages
Cloud-based phone service pricing can start for as low as $12 per line each month.
However, there are quite a few variables which impact the quality and value of your business phone service. Organizations can pay more for setup and ongoing monthly fees based on their phone station needs, their line requirements, and optional add-on features. A few common variables which can contribute to pricing include:
- Features: While many premium features such as call waiting, call forwarding and conference calling are included with phone service, some organizations opt for enhanced features for superior productivity and collaboration.
- Installation: Variables such as your building’s existing wiring and infrastructure can impact installation costs.
- Location and Calling Needs: Organizations with heavy long-distance and international calling requirements are likely to pay higher monthly service fees.
- Security: Stringent security requirements may require enhanced encryption protocols or other specialized system design.
While the costs of switching to VoIP are generally far lower than traditional telephone service, organizations may have to purchase handsets compatible for IP connectivity, which vary in price depending on features.
Opting for additional UCaaS features along with VoIP, such as data center or direct cloud connect, may also increase monthly communications costs.
Deciphering the Cost of Business Internet Service
Pricing for business-class internet connectivity can start for as low as $75 per month.
There’s very little standardization between how the thousands of registered internet service providers (ISPs) in the United States market their business-class internet service packages. A service offering which is described as “high speed” may perform quite differently than another vendor’s enterprise-class fiber-optic connectivity option. Many vendors do not guarantee speed or bandwidth.
Each of the factors below can impact the quality of your experience, and should play a role in the pricing of your service.
- Fiber vs. vs. Coax Copper: While coax or copper-based internet service can offer high-speed connectivity, fiber is generally a much higher-speed, higher-bandwidth, and more reliable option for business internet connectivity. Before getting quotes, check whether fiber is available at available at your location.
- Speed and Bandwidth: You may not know your precise speed and bandwidth requirements, which are typically calculated by users, devices, and usage habits--such as the types of data transmitted over your network.
- Reliability and Guarantees: For some organizations, opting for “enterprise-class” internet connectivity instead of business class internet connectivity to avoid any downtime risks is crucial to maintaining continual business continuity.
Learn More About Business-Class Connectivity and Fiber Costs: Comparing Commercial Internet Plans.
How to Evaluate Business Phone & Internet Packages by Price and Value
Some UCaaS vendors offer a standardized number of business communications packages. Many of the biggest names in international telecommunications offer between 3 and 5 service offerings to meet the needs of all of their small and mid-sized clients, which are sold and advertised as standalone products.
Packaging business communications into products makes it easy to compare-and-contrast pricing. For example, you may know that $214.99 per month provides access to 150/20 Mbps of high-speed internet, but the concerning information may be in what’s actually missing from these neatly-organized service package offering pages, also known as the fine print:
- Price lock-in is not guaranteed
- Speed and bandwidth are not guaranteed
- Service-level is not guaranteed
- Customers can purchase priority tech support at an additional cost
At Atlantech Online, we believe that organizations should never have to pay for customer service as an additional add-on fee. Expert help and guidance to communicate with your employees and customers shouldn’t be a benefit of your business communications tool--it should be a guarantee.
The Best Business Phone & Internet Packages are Customized
Bundling business phone and internet service together with the right vendor is an excellent way to save money on monthly communications expenditures, while unlocking the benefits of UCaaS such as superior transparency, reliability, better troubleshooting, and fewer information security risks.
However, the BEST way to achieve cost savings and drive value with your business phone and internet packages isn’t just by bundling. It’s also by developing a relationship with a vendor you trust, and creating a customized package to fit your organization’s needs. By designing the right solution from the ground up--from latency to bandwidth to handsets--you can guarantee satisfaction, speed, and value at a price you can afford.
Since 1995, Atlantech Online has been helping organizations in the greater Washington DC area optimize their business communication technologies. With a full-range of Unified Communications and cloud tools, click here to request a no-obligations quote today. 
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