Which One Should You Choose?
Business phone services to help small businesses manage phone calls from customers. They provide the same service as regular phone lines through VoIP, POTS, cellular network, or Simple PBX, depending on the customer’s choice. For businesses that have no physical phone line or an extremely limited number of locations, this type of phone service is invaluable.
Business phone services can either be hosted in-house using PBX technology, or hosted by a third-party, like Vonage. Both options offer some advantages to the business. Hosted PBX technology allows companies to maintain a consistent voice and data experience between their business location and their call center. As the company grows, they can upgrade their phone system to accommodate growing call load, which saves money in the long run. On the other hand, if a customer calls a customer directly, it is not possible to use a hosted PBX service.
The primary disadvantage of hosted PBX technology is that the cost is higher than a hosted system would be. For instance, a hosted PBX can cost as much as $3 per month for just one line of service. With a hosted phone system, the cost of each individual phone line is also determined by the amount of bandwidth and storage capacity that a company purchases. The cost of voice over IP technology is usually very competitive, and many phone service providers allow you to customize your package based on what you need.
A dedicated Voice over Internet Protocol phone can be set up to work only with VoIP and the appropriate hardware is already installed in the business location. This type of phone system is ideal for businesses that may not want to have a dedicated telephone line, but cannot afford a hosted system.
Business phone services using a PBX service can offer a variety of features for the customer. For example, a hosted PBX provides the ability to call anywhere in the world, at any time. There is no need to worry about lost connections and no need to plan out a business’ daily or monthly schedule. A hosted phone system does not even require employees to attend a conference. In addition, all incoming and outgoing calls are placed through a dedicated server, eliminating long-distance costs such as long distance charges, local exchange rates, and even service tax.
A VoIP based hosted PBX can be used to provide the same benefits as hosted PBX. For example, a single business can connect to the Internet, take calls at any time, and place calls anywhere in the world. In addition, they are able to set up multiple extensions, enabling customers to get a voice message when they leave the room or dial a landline. As with a hosted system, customers are not required to pay for long-distance rates for calls outside their local area.
However, a hosted phone system may have limitations when it comes to international calling. The Internet based system may be too expensive to provide the amount of coverage required for an overseas customer. When calling internationally, a business phone service can either be set up at the customer’s site or be accessed through a secure internet connection through VoIP.
A hosted phone system also offers the benefit of not requiring an employee to attend a conference. All phone calls are placed through a central server. In this way, the company’s call routing information is maintained. This allows for better billing and allows calls to be placed at the most reasonable cost for any type of business.
A hosted phone system can also provide some features that traditional phone systems do not have. For example, call forwarding allows a business to route calls to another number for an extension of up to five numbers. This allows a company to place an extension in different geographical areas, making international calling easy and economical. This also allows companies to have access to a customer at any time of the day.
Business phone service can also be tailored to specific industries. For instance, if a company has multiple branches, a hosted service will allow them to use a phone number to route calls through an administrator to each branch. Each branch can then be given its own phone number, giving the best opportunity for customer service.
If a business cannot decide between hosting and PBX, they may choose the latter. Most hosted phone systems do offer both a hosted service and a dedicated PBX, allowing a company to have their own private IP network that is separate from the public internet. With this type of service, a company can still use the public phone system, although they must have access to the internet for emergency assistance and more options in the future.