Hosted Cloud Phone Systems vs Premise Business Phone Service

So what are the advantages of a cloud based Hosted IP PBX vs. a premise based phone system? Let’s break it down to 4 simple components: Price, flexibility, ease of operation, and disaster recovery.

• With a premise based system your primary expense is the “brain”, which you buy and it’s mounted on the wall in the phone closet. It’s outdated the moment it’s purchased. Any technology upgrades will have to be purchased at a later date.
• Maintenance contracts. The moment you purchase your equipment, your representative will encourage to sign a long term maintenance contract to fix any ongoing problems you might have with the phones or the system.
• Nothing flexible with a premise based system. Every time you want to move phones, extensions, add or subtract lines, you have to call a technician. (i.e. the need for that maintenance contract)
• Even if you are under a maintenance contract, you still have to wait for the “certified” technician to be available to fix your problem. That can take hours or days!
• Technology advancements: Unless you buy the upgrade you can’t make use of any advancements
• No problems here. Most business owners know how to use their phones, features are very vanilla. Nothing new to learn here.

Disaster Recovery: There is none.

Compare the above to the feature rich, flexible of Hosted IP PBX:

Price:

1.  No huge out of pocket for the “brain”. The brain is in the cloud being used by multiple clients.
2.  Any technology upgrades are software downloads. Nothing to buy!
3.  Handsets can be either leased or purchased
4.  No maintenance contracts are needed

Flexibility:

1. That is the beauty of this fabulous technology! It is completely flexible. Dial tone is generated by the static IP, phone can be moved at will. No tech needed!
2. Pones mesh with Outlook so you can click to call.
3. Need to work from home? Either download a soft phone, use the mobility feature, or pick up your phone and take it with you. As long as you have a reliable internet connection the phone will work and the caller ID will appear as if you are in the office!
4. Need to add an office? So easy, just establish a reliable internet connection, order the phones, plug them into the Ethernet jack and you are good to go. It’s just that easy.
5. No programing voice mail! Voice mail turns into a wave file and is delivered to your email.
6. There are so many features available like call queuing, listen in, call recording, call detail. The possibilities are endless.

Ease of Use:

1. Yes you will need to be trained but the phones and portal are so intuitive, no one should have a problem. If you can use a smart phone you’re already there!
2. No more Remote Call Forwards! If you move an office you don’t have to worry about how you’ll move your main telephone number if you are crossing rate centers. That problem is a thing of the past!

Disaster Recovery:

1.  By the very nature of the product, there is inherent disaster recovery.
2. Should an office be destroyed by a natural disaster, you can be up and running the next day if you have a temporary location to work from and an internet connection.

There is so much more I could say about this HUGE technology advancement, but would take a book not a blog. To sum it up: what do I use in my own office? You guessed it, Hosted. The provider is the key and TeleData Select only works with established, reliable providers that know how to insure there is never a call quality issue. Call me or email us to learn more about Hosted Cloud Phone service.

TeleDataSelect is an independent telecommunications agent and consulting company that provides Telecommunication solutions to small, medium and large businesses. TeleDataSelect performs telecom audits, negotiates contracts, and project manages the entire implementation process.