Hosted or Traditional: The Pros & Cons
Rich Krumholz, Spectrum Solutions
Every time I fill out a form that asks me for my home, work, and/or cell phone numbers I wonder how many people actually still have a ‘home’ phone – as in a landline. Naturally, I ‘Googled’ it. In 2014 TIME reported that according to statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics, 41% of American homes were wire-less only by the end of 2013.
What does this have to do with business? You and probably most of the people you talk to still have an office landline. However, how many of those people do you think still actually USE their landline? My bet is there is a large number of individuals who are still wireless only by simply forwarding the landline to their cell phones or going a step further and just giving out their direct cell phone numbers.
For businesses that would prefer their employees to use their work phone line it is important to make the right decision when choosing the service – it can make all the difference!
“What are my options?” I’m glad you asked!
Traditional phone options are always there and now Hosted Voice or VoIP solutions are on the rise in popularity. These two growing trends eliminate hardware and transform IP communications to be more application-oriented. Depending on your business, there are pros and cons to both.
Let’s talk Hosted first.
If you’ve heard of or use VoiP you probably know a few of the pros to this side of the argument: low upfront costs, you will never have to replace system, long distance is included, multiple ways of communicating and you can get advanced features such as mobility, voicemail transcription and more. Sounds like a great business solution to keep your employees happy (yay mobility!) and still using their designated business phone line.
Every positive has an opposing negative, right? A few things to be aware of when considering a hosted solution:
- The monthly cost for each desk phone, auto attendant, and additional features never ends, ever! You will always continue to pay and it will never end.
- Any additional feature you may want will be an additional monthly charge as well.
- The hosted phone on your desk will get older and the hosted provider will NOT be updating the physical phone.
- Loss of call quality. This is a big deal if you are on your phones a lot and need to have a perfect call, all of the time, the hosted solution will not be able to provide this. You WILL notice a call quality difference.
- Minimal features provided, whereas the on-site phone system provides rich user features.
- No local support – the hosted company is usually not local and many times you are on your own to track down issues.
Now let’s take a look at a Traditional option.
With a traditional solution you hear about high upfront costs, the technology ages and has to be replaced, support and maintenance costs along with extra cost for long distance. However, many of those complaints are not accurate and sticking with the tried and true approach has its pros:
- The system can be leased, purchased out-right, or choose a managed system thru Spectrum for 3 or 5 years and every aspect of the system is covered.
- Excellent call quality, rich features, no a-la-cart pricing. Use as many of the features you want, expand the system without having to increase your monthly bill.
- The phone system is the most reliable piece of equipment you can purchase. It will outlast all of the technology within your office. It really does not make good financial sense to pay forever on such a reliable piece of equipment.
- The modern Avaya phone system comes with mobility, call record, a built in conference bridge, voice mail to email, built in software updates, etc.
- Perfect solution for those business’s wanting to keep their investment for 10-15 years and are not interested in paying monthly for the phone equipment.
- Long distance is included by almost all of the carriers.
- Service and maintenance costs are optional, not required.
When choosing a solution for your business, make sure to consider all options and do your research! Telecom should be part of your IT Plan and Strategy which will also help you to determine your needs and budget. Sometimes a hybrid system may be the best option, so don’t skip out on assessing your current solution.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about telephone system options, contact Rich at Spectrum Solutuions!
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