In today’s complex business environment, making use of the best technical innovation on hand is crucial. This is especially the case with small to medium-sized businesses that need cost-efficient and scalable solutions to remain competitive. Businesses are heavily reliant on reliable communication between employees and with customers. For this reason, choosing a dependable and affordable business phone system for your enterprise shouldn’t be an area that is overlooked. Many businesses are recently discovering the advantages of using a hosted PBX service provider for their business telephony needs.
What is a Hosted PBX Phone System?
Business telephone systems can be broadly categorized into three types. The first is the traditional analog system, or POTs (Plain Old Telephones] transmitted over copper wires. This kind of landline phone service is typically more expensive than its PBX counterparts.
The next is on-premises PBX [ Private Branch Exchange]; this, as you have probably surmised, is a telephone system located in your physical office, usually in a server room. On-premises PBX is a more suitable option for larger enterprises as it requires greater resources to manage it effectively.
Hosted PBX is a business telephone service provided by a third-party service provider and managed off-site; the initial setup and ongoing maintenance are part of the package for which you pay a monthly fee. The system is operated totally online using VoIP. The main benefit is that there are no ongoing maintenance costs or additional hardware required; well discuss some of the other benefits next.
Here is an excellent hosted PBX guide if you want a more detailed understanding of what it is and how it compares against the other business phone systems.
The Benefits of a Hosted PBX for Your Business
For new startups and small or medium-sized businesses, hosted PBX has plenty of benefits with little in the way of downside.
Here are five benefits of Hosted PBX that could help your business.
Cost Savings
There are substantial savings to be made by choosing hosted PBX over other phone systems. As there is no expensive infrastructure or hardware to invest in as this is passed on to the hosted PBX service, it offers a low entry barrier, which is especially beneficial for new start-ups. The hosting service will also deal with the ongoing maintenance and updates; you will only pay for the services you require monthly. Additionally, as hosted PBX isn’t confined to one geographical region, you can make significant call savings on long-distance calls compared to traditional phone systems.
Ease of Use
Hosted PBX is extremely easy to use and is controlled through a simple interface and is all software-based. Your employees will find it user friendly from the start. Instead of hiring staff to manage your telephone system, everything is dealt with by your Hosted PBX provider, essentially a hands-off solution so that you can work on growing your business rather than dealing with the technicalities of your phone service.
Easy to Scale
While with legacy systems, it can be a challenge to add new phone lines, using a hosted PBX service allows you to instantly scale up your service. This is all done through the cloud, with no extra infrastructure needed and virtually unlimited accounts available.
For instance, if you launch a new service or product and need more sales or customer service staff, you might require more lines for your business. If your business has specific times when you require more temporary staff, you can scale up for the period needed and then scale down when it is less busy.
As well as being able to scale your business communications quickly with new employees, you can also take advantage of additional functionality that might benefit your business when your service provider adds new features.
Operational Continuity
Using a legacy phone system, if there is an emergency of some sort such as a storm or power outage, one of the first things to seize working is often your telephone connection, disrupting your business. Having all the infrastructure off-site, this is not an issue with hosted PBX. Besides, the service is protected by geographic redundancy; what this means is that your service provider will have numerous servers located in different areas. If one fails, another can take its place.
Remote Access
With the recent pandemic, remote working is no longer a choice but a necessity. A hosted PBX offers employees the flexibility to have their calls forwarded to any device, be it a smartphone or laptop. As long as they have a reliable internet connection, they can effortlessly connect with colleagues or clients from anywhere in the world.
In Conclusion
These are just a few of the many benefits of hosted PBX; ultimately, it’s a cost-effective and efficient business phone solution with limited risk. With no expensive initial installation or maintenance and upkeep costs, it is ideal for the small business owner who wants to benefit from no capital outlay or unexpected expenditure for repairs.