Hosted IP Phone Systems

One question that seems to continually come up when evaluating different Phone System and Unified Communication options is - should I go hosted or premise based?

 

At GroundSwell Networks, we feel that this decision is unique to each business and understanding your strategy as an organization will help to determine what is right for you.

 

Here are some key differentiators when evaluating a hosted vs. premise based phone system / PBX.

 

On-Premise PBX

• May require a larger upfront investment depending on how the phone system is acquired.

• All the hardware and software sits on-premise in a customer provided phone/server room or a customer data center.

• With the rapidly changing industry of telecommunication, there will be a need to “rip & replace” old hardware and software and upgrade to more up-to-date technology.

• Multiple bills and phone companies to manage

• The customer bears the risk and responsibility of maintaining, upgrading and administering the phone system

• The customer provides phone system and employee support and training.

• Upgrades require an additional investment

 

Hosted PBX

• Minimal to no upfront investment

• Minimal hardware on-site.  All hardware and software are “cloud based” in the hosted providers data center.

• Adding additional features and functionality (UC, Contact Center, and Mobility) are added as an additional monthly fee and, typically, no additional on-site hardware is required.

• The Hosted phone system company provides all services including Voice Trunking and Internet Bandwidth. This streamlines billing and support for customers.

• The Hosted phone system provider bears the risk and responsibility of maintaining, upgrading and administering the phone system and service provider network data links and dial-tone.

• The Hosted phone system provider is responsible for employee support and training.

• Hosted provider delivers system & end user support

• Upgrades are typically included and done automatically

 

Based on either decision, to got hosted or on premise, GroundSwell Networks can offer many benefits that you, the customer, can enjoy as part of your new communications system -

 

• Simplicity - Eliminate service issues and finger pointing between your PBX vendor, carrier, ISP, and Network Integrator. We can streamline all services from bandwidth to phone set to data network switches.

• Financial -

• Reduce your monthly communications expenses with free in-network calling and unlimited usage

• Eliminate the upfront capital required to purchase new equipment.

• Treat your new monthly communications payment as an operating expense vs. a capital expenditure.

• Productivity - Integrate communications and your PC Desktop while delivering advanced services to users on the road and at home.

• Control - Enjoy control and point-and-click configuration over all services.

• Performance – Monitoring and management of your service 24 × 7 x 365.

• Stability - Enjoy built-in disaster recovery/business continuity features. This means that your business keeps running regardless of what happens at your physical location. With multiple fail over options your business stays up and running under all circumstances.

• Scalability - Add users and services when needed and leverage the support of experienced VOIP PBX professionals