It doesn’t seem that long ago that people were only just beginning to hear the term “The Cloud”. Now, it has become a ubiquitous part of even the layperson’s vocabulary. As people of all industries, ages and technology comfort levels have come to put their personal music, photographs, email and files in various clouds, they have come to understand the benefits that cloud technology provides.
In business, those benefits are even more advantageous. One area where organizations have been quick to adopt the cloud is in communications, most notably with hosted VoIP. More and more companies are moving their phone systems to the cloud as their cumbersome premise-based PBXs reach end-of-life. In fact, according to a 2012 forecast report from Infonetics Research, the number of seats for hosted business VoIP and unified communications services is on track to more than double between 2012 and 2016.
If you are one of those companies that has a legacy PBX that is nearing end-of-life, and you are considering moving your telephony to the cloud, here are five questions to ask yourself, to help you firmly decide:
1. Do you wish you had more control over your phone system?
If you want to make a simple change, such as re-setting a voicemail password, or turning on your holiday schedule, can you do it yourself with the click of a mouse? When your PBX is hosted in the cloud you can. Evolve IP’s HPBX customers enjoy unmatched control and point-and-click configuration of its services through its award-winning OSSmosis Portal. Using OSSmosis you can also easily add or move users without needing to pay move/add/change fees and without relying on an outside company to do it for you.
2. Does your IT staff spend the majority of its time fixing issues or making improvements?
Is your IT staff usually stressed out in the server room? Wouldn’t it be great if they could spend more of their time focused on developing new ways to improve your business? With a hosted IP phone system, your staff can get more done and gain back valuable time that was formerly spent maintaining legacy technology. Imagine what a more productive IT staff could accomplish when they are enabled to focus on your core business!
3. How much is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your premise-based PBX system?
When your VoIP phone service is delivered from the cloud, you benefit from lower TCO than with on-site equipment, and it is provided at a predictable monthly cost, with no up-front or ongoing CAPEX. Your business will also benefit from automatic upgrades and new features added, at no additional cost.
4. Does your present system provide business continuity?
A cloud-based PBX service provider can easily and affordably provide data protection, back up and disaster recovery benefits. Top tier providers will have several redundant, geographically disperse data centers, so its customers benefit from automatic failover in the case of an emergency such as an extreme weather event or power outage. With services delivered from diverse technology centers over multiple carriers, customers have peace of mind knowing their services are available regardless of conditions at their location.
5. Do you want to take advantage of new communication tools?
With a hosted IP phone system, you will have the ability to receive all your calls on only one phone number using Find Me / Follow Me and Fixed Mobile Convergence features. With Unified Messaging, you only ever have to check one email inbox for all your messages – including your Voice Mail messages, which come in as email attachments. And that’s just the beginning; with unified communications solutions – such as Microsoft Lync – integrated with your phone system, the methods of communication and the resulting productivity gains grow even further.
If you have more than 10 employees and would like to learn more about Evolve IP’s hosted IP phone system with unified communications please click here.
Categories: Unified Communications
About Evolve IP
Evolve IP enables employees to Work Anywhere™ productively and securely. Our enterprise solutions seamlessly integrate collaboration & communications, digital workspaces, and contact center – all delivered from a browser on any connected device. Evolve IP’s technologies free IT to focus on business innovation, not systems and infrastructure, and enable their employees to contribute even more to the enterprise -- no matter where or when they are working. Businesses that choose Evolve IP have selected a true technology partner. A company that becomes an expert extension of their IT team, an organization that listens to their needs to tailor solutions just for their business, and is responsive and engaged in every interaction.
