A Hosted VoIP phone system, also referred to as Hosted Voice or Hosted PBX, leverages broadband Internet connectivity and the Cloud to deliver enterprise-grade phone services to businesses of all sizes. A Hosted VoIP solution replaces the on-premises phone system that normally sits in a closet at a business with a full-featured offering virtually hosted in carrier-grade data centers.
There are plenty of reasons why companies should consider investing in a Hosted VoIP solution. Here are our Top 5:
1. Total cost of ownership - Moving from a premises-based phone system to Hosted VoIP changes your cost structure from CAPEX to OPEX. Upfront costs for Hosted VoIP are minimal: there is no need to buy any equipment aside from handsets, and all providers offer lease options on them. Since VoIP uses the Internet to transmit calls, existing Ethernet wiring can be utilized for VoIP phones, so no expensive cabling is required. All hardware is maintained in the Cloud by the service provider, so there is no need for an IT team to monitor/maintain the system, and expensive annual equipment maintenance and upgrade contracts are no longer necessary. And all providers offer flat rate calling plans, so monthly billing becomes more predictable.
2. Reliability - Since it is cloud-based, Hosted VoIP has built-in redundancy, in highly reliable provider data centers and with multiple backups in place. If there is an issue at the end user location, phone traffic can easily be routed to voice mail or cell phones. Additionally, Internet-based telephony is touted for its improved quality over that of traditional PSTN connection, so you can count on the clear reception of every call.
3. Scalability- As a business grows and adds employees and locations, just lease more phones and add them to the existing plan. Even relocating to a new office is easy: just pack up the phones and plug them in at the new site. And it’s just as easy to deactivate users or locations. Also, if a business has multiple locations, the Hosted VoIP connect all the locations into one seamless phone system, allowing for greater productivity.
4. Feature-rich - Hosted VoIP offers all users advanced calling features that previously were only available to the largest enterprise customers, such as voicemail to email transcription, find me/follow me call routing, virtual office and customized music on hold. Everything can be activated and deactivated in real-time via a secure portal.
5. East to Use - All users have access to a secure web portal, and some providers even offer mobile apps, allowing them to remotely activate and deactivate features, such as call forwarding. Users also have access to a call history, and archives of voicemails and call recordings.
Advantage has relationships with dozens of Hosted VoIP providers around the US and abroad, so if this is of interest to you, let us know and we can develop a customized plan just for you.