To save or not to save?  That is the question!  Okay so it is an abuse of Shakespeare, but it is a point we seem to be making more and more.   Most customers and Churches look to VoIP as a way to save money first and it does a good job of that.   Churches generally see a savings of 50% or more from traditional telephone line costs.

VoIP makes an interesting transition and adds options that once were costly add-ons.  Replacing line for line is definitely on the cheap, but the larger question (and the salesman in me) asks that question.   “What are some of the things that you would like your current phone system to do that it does not?”  Or maybe the Pastor in me asks, “Where does your phone system fail to meet your ministry needs?”   This becomes a very interesting dialogue with most prospective customers.

As you examine the possibility that VoIP is right for your Church remember to look and see beyond the savings into what other ways a Hosted PBX solution can benefit the ministry.

Some features that may benefit your Church include:

Advanced Flexible Auto-Attendant – Take it to the next level with multiple menus and sub menus to guide callers through to the correct departments or personnel.
Advanced Flexible Schedule – Go beyond a simple Time Of Day redirect to accurate control down to the minute. Working around the simple or advanced schedule of your Church.
Direct Inward Dial (DiD) – Assign each of your phones a DID for a direct number to that phone.  Calls out can be routed through either the DID or the Church default number allowing you to keep your DID private for your wife or elders to use to bypass the church secretary or autoattendant.
Do Not Disturb – Set your phone to DND to send your calls directly to VM.
Find Me/Follow Me – Control the routes of each number on your phone system, ring extensions or external DID’s and have the call or voicemail end up where you want it to be.
Forward to Voice Mail – This option can be set by device, by number or by virtual forward in the web portal. Take control of your inbound calls.
Off-Premises Stations – Put your phones where you want them to be, great solution for a pastor or minister’s home office or even one floating extension to take to conferences, etc.
Soft Phone (SIP) – Setup a “soft phone” to work from Wifi on your iPhone, Android or laptop while you are on the road.

Bottom line price may be the driving factor and it will be respected. (no pressure here we just want to see the church be more effective in spreading the Gospel ) Just don’t discount all the other ways that a Hosted PBX solution may benefit the many ministries of the church.