Our phone system relies on the internet and power. Most likely, your office is equipped with the following infrastructure. But if not, it's likely some modification will be required before we can provide our services.
Due to the nature of VoIP phones, a solid internet connection is required to create a solid phone system. This doesn't mean you need a lot of bandwidth. Stability is most important. This is followed by haveing low latency and jitter. Finally, bandwidth might be a consideration if there is a lot of internet usage (ie. streaming videos) within the office. If you are unsure that the internet at your office is suitable, reach out to us and we can set up some software within your network that will help us identify and weaknesses.
Ethernet cables are the best way to supply internet to the phones. Ethernet is more reliable and can pass more data than WiFi. Check to make sure that you have RJ45 jacks in each office. If you only have enough for your computers, don't worry. We can pass the ethernet through the phone and then out to the computer. This effectively accomplishes the same results as if there was a small ethernet switch in each individual office.
Having consistent power is important to the reliability of most systems. Ours is no different. This is why we highly recommend investing in devices called "uninterruped power supplies." These effectively work as battery backup systems and power surge protectors for whatever is plugged into them. This protects our equipment and your computers. It can also save data if an unexpected power lose occurs. Instead of losing your work, your computer will remain on, enabling you to save your work.
These can be found at a pretty wide range of price points. Normally, the more you spend, the longer the battery will continue to provide power to your devices. We have some recommendations for a UPS that works well. Reach out to us for more information.
Since you have an ethernet cable to each phone, it seems unnescessary to have another cable running power to the phones. It is possible to run power over the data cable and clear up some wire clutter. This requires a special network switch equipped with Power over Ethernet, or PoE. These switches are normally more expensive, but the benefit of simplicity is normally worth the cost. This is especially true if you are setting up a new network, or already considering making network changes.
While almost all offices have firewalls in place within their routers, some networks have external firewalls that provide a bit of extra protection for the network. These firewalls can sometimes interfere with our phone communications. If you have one of these devices, we may have to spend some time tweaking settings within your firewall.