If you’re in the market for a new business phone system, you may find yourself trying to decide between digital and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions. Instead of trying to decide on the system by “what is best,” you should be asking “what is best for me?” The choice will all come down to your budget, ease of use, integration with other technologies/devices, and your current network environment.

When it comes to technology and phone systems for small businesses, there’s never an easy solution or a one-size-fits-all fix. But like with any piece of office equipment, the more features you choose, the more you’ll likely be paying for. Knowing what the common phone system mistakes are that most small businesses make and working to avoid them can help save your business a lot of money. Remember, a phone system doesn’t have to be overly complex to be useful and effective for your business. To help, here are some common missteps with phone systems that small businesses make that you may not realize are costing you money.

The cloud (a.k.a ‘Hosted’)— we’ve all heard the buzzword but in the case of cloud-based phone systems, it’s not a new idea. It’s really another word to mean the Internet. A cloud-based phone system refers to a phone service where you can make calls, route inbound calls and provide features like virtual voicemail and call recording — all delivered through your Internet connection.

In shopping around for a new phone system, you may find yourself asking a lot about features, integration and scalability but one of the most essential factors to consider is security. As much as Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) systems can offer your business benefits, there are also potential threats from inside and outside your organization such as hacking, toll fraud and phishing scams.

No matter the nature of your business, your phone system is critical to internal and external communication and can determine how smooth and efficiently your business runs. Over the last few decades, modern business phone systems are benefiting from the proliferation of new technology and applications. But with more choices and options for features than ever before, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Some can lead to smaller efficiencies while others can affect wider systemic changes in your company so knowing which feature does what and how each delivers better outcomes is key to choosing the right features for your business.

It’s a given that every business needs an easy way to communicate with its employees and customers and vice versa. But when it comes to choosing a phone system to do so, you have a choice between a traditional phone service (PBX) or going with a VoIP solution — Voice over Internet Protocol — a technology that uses VoIP technology to provide lower cost telephone calls with more features such as direct numbers via the internet, redundancy to traditional telephone lines, mobility for your staff and connectivity between sites.