5 Benefits of Hosted PBX over On-premise Phone Systems

5 Benefits of Hosted PBX over On-premise Phone Systems Aside from no Expensive Hardware Requirement

For a couple of decades, the traditional on-premise PBX has served the business communications needs of big enterprises. The way it streamlined how big companies handle their calls compared to the single line phones that smaller companies use to handle their own really showed the disparity in resources between the different sizes of companies.

For a long time, big companies have held the advantage when it comes to business communications because the technology for on-premise PBX is pretty pricey. It requires installation of servers and pbx boxes that are pretty expensive. Even if small and medium scale companies want to even the field, having little resources to waste for a pricey phone system is just not in the cards.

Fortunately, it looks like the evolution of technology has brought something that could be the great equalizer when it comes to business communications. With the emergence of cloud technology, PBX services can now be delivered over the Internet.

No longer do small and medium-sized companies have to invest in expensive hardware like servers and PBX boxes. Hosted PBX providers like BroadconnectUSA will offer the service over their own data centers and deliver it to clients through subscription of services.

The best thing about it is that the benefits of going for this option do not end with not having to purchase expensive hardware. Here are some:

Scalability

The limitation of the on-premise PBX is on the name. It is on-premise, so it is limited within the premises that it covers. If you want to add or remove a user from the system, you have to have it manually done. You would need cables and a phone unit installed. That would take extra hardware and some manpower hours.

With hosted PBX however, the phone system adjusts to the needs of the company. Adding or deleting users is as easy as a few clicks on your computer or a few taps on your smartphone or tablet. While this may sound like a minor benefit, the ability to easily add users when your company is growing or delete users when the company is struggling is something that entrepreneurs will appreciate when the right situation comes.

Mobility

Because the service is hosted and delivered over the Internet, it is also accessed over the Internet. This gives the company the ability to send out their people without them being disconnected from the main phone system. After all, all the employee needs is to have his mobile device connect to the Internet to access the service. This is especially important as at least 2.6% of the US workforce at least partially telecommute.

Upgrades and updates

As said above, companies would have to invest in expensive hardware to get an on-premise PBX service. What is unspoken is that these hardware are bound to old and its value will depreciate. With how fast technology is evolving, the servers you bought a couple of years ago will be obsolete a couple of years from now.

On the contrary, you are not stuck with aging hardware with cloud-hosted phone systems. Hosted PBX providers are the ones who will invest on upgrading their data center servers so you would not have to worry about it. And when there are new updates like new features, it is usually automatically included on your subscription. That is usually not the case with on-premise PBX as companies normally need to pay additional premium for new features and updates.

No specialized manpower needed

Aside from the needed hardware, on-premise PBX needs its own focused people to maintain and repair it. Companies either have their own people focused on it or they have their provider come in when something needs to get done. This could be a problem as providers may take days to get in and get the problem fixed.

With hosted PBX, however, providers are the ones who maintain the servers on their own data centers. Account management can be done by the entrepreneurs themselves. And since it runs through the companies own network, their own network administrators can fix any related problems.

Disaster recovery

Remember when Hurricane Sandy hit New York, there were a lot of companies that were not able to continue their operations because most of their equipment was damaged due to the floods. This includes hardware needed for their on-premise phone systems.

Those who have phone systems hosted over the cloud, on the other hand, are able to at least keep their communication lines open because as long as they have a reliable Internet connection, they are able to access their phone services.

In closing, this shows that hosted PBX is far more benefits over on-premise PBX than just having no expensive hardware equipment. It could be that hosted PBX is the natural evolution of PBX technology. The on-premise system has served enterprises admirably over the years; but like all technologies, a better option always comes along to make it obsolete. The world may be seeing a transition in technology right now when it comes to PBX.