How can you update your telecommunications system to prevent problems?

Assessing your company's needs is the proper way to address any upgrade. However, seamless integration would mean evaluating your entire network. Cabling, hardware, new features, internet, and more would need to be reviewed. The right integration company is also a must. Experience in all phases helps upgrading successful.

I have seen too many small businesses try and use IP telecommunications on the same network as their normal internet traffic (i.e., web browsing, email, etc.). I think it is important to have communications on a completely separate network. Preferably on a completely different internet service; different switches; and different firewall. This allows IT staff to configure the network to block all of the un-needed services (ports) that intruders typically use. If a bad actor is able to find their way onto either network, they cannot move laterally to the other. There will be an added upfront cost, but you are buying piece of mind.

A 24x7 monitoring of the telco line using SNMP is vital in maintaining good health. This alerts to you any potential problem like disruptions, poor quality, and likewise helps with demand forecasting.

This is the exact reason 'Strategic Service Providers' exist. In today's telecom vendor landscape, there's literally hundreds of providers out there with various offerings. It is a monumental task to try and find the one that's going to fit into your particular infrastructure in an ocean of telecoms all offering the same thing. When you call companies directly, you're typically oversold on products and services so that salesman can keep their job (quotas). When you call an SSP or a solutions partner, a brief conversation can put them on the path of finding you the correct solution while also locating the best price points without the red tape and boiler room sales tactics. They'll likely save you thousands of dollars as well.

This is common when an organization migrates from a legacy PSTN to a VoIP (UCaaS/CCaaS) system. Older PSTN systems are on-premise and usually require an engineer to constantly maintain and configure it. Upgrades and maintenance are expensive and you don't get the same features you would with a newer VoIP system. With UCaaS, your phone system now has the added benefits of not just incoming/outgoing phone calls, but also SMS texting to send clients important updates or appointment reminders (or just your typically texting back and forth), along with video collaboration. It's cheaper to implement and operate with the added benefit of multiple points of redundancy via numerous data centers, 4G failover circuits, and smartphone functionality