Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy in New York didn't hit on the perfect arrangement from the start. The company tried going with two other hosted VoIP vendors before finding success with M5. Chairman and CEO David Michonski offers five tips for getting it right.

1. Get an out clause . The first provider Coldwell signed with didn't have the staffing to get Coldwell up and running, nevermind maintain and manage the system on an ongoing basis. "They lasted two weeks before we decided they were clowns," Michonski says. Coldwell didn't have much more luck with the second provider. Although it had a stellar reputation for providing hosted VoIP service in Miami and Washington, D.C., Coldwell was its first customer in New York. "New York is a tough place to do business, and they just weren't accustomed to that," Michonski says. "Dealing with Verizon is an art in itself, nevermind the unions, the permissions to go into buildings and so on." Michonski says insist on an out clause.

2 . Interview everyone . "Make sure the vendor brings in everyone, and put them around your table," Michonski says. "This includes everyone you'll be talking with at every step of the way. If they can't do that, walk away fast."

3. Check local references. If Coldwell had checked into its second vendor's references better, it would have found it was the firm's first customer in New York. "We checked six reference of M5 at random, and they were all glowing," Michonski says. "And they were all in New York."

4. Shoot for two years . Coldwell signed on with M5 for two years. "Two years is fair, because any shorter than that and you'll be pushing your own people too much," he says. "The learning curve on technology is such that my people don't want a technological change quicker than two years."

5. Make sure they're flexible . Beyond track record, experience and satisfied customers, look for flexibility, Michonski says. "The bottom line is I don't know what will be going on six months from now, and M5 probably doesn't either. All we know is that we have to adjust. And I'm confident they can make those adjustments on the fly."

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