Communication Solutions

If you are considering investing in a new phone system the options available can seem confusing.  On-premise now branded as ‘old hat’ with Cloud Hosted VoIP presented as the exciting new solution you can’t do without.

As with any business decision nothing is that simple.  There are key things to consider which include:

• Current and future business growth plans / needs
• Do you still want physical phones?
• How many users in offices and remote?
• Your in-house telecoms knowledge and expertise
• Do you operate on a CAPEX or OPEX model?
• Your disaster recovery, business continuation requirements
• One site or multiple?

On-Premise

A true on-premise phone system is the traditional one.  Phones you own that are on your own network

Pros

• Tailored feature set
• You don’t rely on the internet to make calls
• All phone data on your infrastructure

Cons

• Higher support costs – no remote external access
• Features more difficult to add unless you have internal expertise

Hosted VoIP (Cloud)

In its purest sense you have no physical handsets.  The phone system is rented to you on a monthly basis.  Limited upfront investment (unless you need handsets).  In the long term may cost more due to ongoing monthly payments.

Pros

• Low initial investment (very low if you don’t require handsets)
• You pay for what you have
• No long-term commitment (beyond any initial contract)
• Easy to scale
• No internal expertise needed

Cons

• High total cost of ownership
• Less features available to you
• Calls dependent on your internet connection
• All calls (if recorded), chats etc kept in the cloud

Hybrid

Arguably the best phone system currently available using the feature rich premise offer along with all that a cloud solution can offer.

Pros

• Gives you the most extensive feature set
• Easy to support
• No monthly fees for your PBX System
• Unlimited extensions
• All call data stored on your infrastructure
• No need for internal expertise

Cons

• Initial costs higher than hosted

Which ever solution you have there will be an onsite PBX (if on-premise), an IP Cloud enabled PBX (Hybrid) or IP PBX (Hosted)  and a communications server which hosts the Unified Communications.  It is ultimately the SIP Trunk that delivers many of the key features.

If you would like more information on which solution is best for you, call us at Connexis, telecommunication experts based in Telford, on 01952 5280000