Cost savings is one of the most important reasons to switch to VoIP, both for businesses and individuals. VoIP for the consumer often has a limited set of functions compared to the services hosted in the company and also has comparatively lower prices. While many organizations appreciate the large number of technical and commercial features that VoIP offers, it is likely that the first incentive to change PSTN is the cost difference.

This is particularly the case of the VoIP service for international calls. There are many reasons for the lower prices of VoIP, some of which are related to the technology itself, while others are due to the competitive nature of the market today. Hosted VoIP can save your organization important amounts in various areas, such as: 

Calls within the organization are usually free.This means that employees can stay in touch and talk for as long as it takes to work productively. 

voice over ip international calls are much cheaper, since most calls are made over the Internet instead of PSTN circuits. Reduce the amount of termination fees to be paid by the local PSTN operator in any country by the provider and the savings are transferred to customers

Lower initial investment, since commercial telephony service and PBX functions are delivered over the Internet. The organization does not have to invest in hardware, apart from buying desk phones

There are no service contracts or maintenance agreements, as there are no teams for the organization to maintain, repair or replace them. VoIP providers operate in an environment without a contract for the most part.

Various types of call plans for the VoIP service

If you have ever compared hosted VoIP pricing plans, you will know that the quoted price often does not tell the whole story. It is not just a matter of selecting the provider that offers the cheapest prices, but the best value generally depends on what is included for the price and how the price is calculated. This means that even if two suppliers offer identical prices, your total monthly bill can vary substantially depending on other variables.

Pay as you go vs minute packages 

Basically, there are two types of call plans for hosted VoIP services. One of them is the option of payment according to use, which can be called by different names by several providers. What it means is that the provider will charge a fixed monthly price (depending on the number of users) and calls will be charged at a certain rate. Then, apart from the fixed cost, the variable cost will increase or decrease according to the number of calls made in the month.

The other type of plan is the minute packet plans, which are often referred to as "unlimited plans" due to the large number of minutes available within the plan. In this case, individual calls are not measured and charged separately. Rather, the company has to pay a fixed price per user that includes all the calls that will be made over the course of a month or a certain number of minutes (which is often cheaper than paying as it progresses if it constantly increases). your minutes) 

Another variation in billing plans depends on whether all the functions offered by the service are included or not. Some providers, such as VoIPstudio, do not distinguish between so-called "basic" or "advanced" features and all are included in any plan. Others charge extra for certain premium features separately, regardless of how the calls are billed. 

Types of billing practices 

The other big difference is if billing per second is supported. VoIPstudio uses billing per second to ensure that customers are not charged any excess, even if they are only a few seconds at a time. Imagine if you charged 3 full minutes, although the call lasted only 2 minutes 20 seconds. Even if you are only charged an additional 10 seconds for a call, it can cost you hundreds of additional dollars per year, depending on the volume of calls.

International calls in hosted VoIP 

The way in which international calls are handled will differ from one provider to another. When it comes to combined minutes, VoIPstudio has separate plans for national and international calls. The national plan includes approximately 2000 minutes per user to a selected country, which is useful for companies that usually need to interact with partners or suppliers there.

The international plan, on the other hand, provides 2000 minutes per user for all countries selected from a pre-established list. This is suitable for organizations that make calls to clients or partners in different nations. 

This is not always the way billing works for international calls from all providers. Some offer very expensive plans that include unlimited international calls. While it may seem like a good idea, few companies will make enough calls on a regular basis to justify it. Others will offer a real feast of options with every possible combination: pay on the fly with selected features, pay on the fly with all functions, unlimited national calls with only a few features, etc. at each different price. 

As you can see quickly, it simply becomes confusing and incomprehensible quite quickly. Choosing the right plan for your company should not take more time than setting up the entire telephone system of the company! 

Nowadays, most companies have to deal with international entities regularly and voice is undoubtedly a big part of business communication. Therefore, selecting the right international plan can make a crucial difference in your monthly phone bill.