Just as turkeys are sweating with the impending Thanksgiving holiday, so too should the PBX (News - Alert) in the closet of most businesses worry about its future. Traditional business phone systems with a PBX and telephony crammed into a spare closet are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Replacing the traditional PBX is the hosted PBX. Thanks to the cloud, businesses now can get their telephony needs met through a Web service. This delivers a number of business benefits, most important of which is cost savings.
Here’s six reasons why hosted PBX solutions save businesses money.
1. No maintenance costs. Hardware breaks. This is just the reality. With voice-over-IP (VoIP) and unified communications technologies still evolving at a rapid clip, hardware also requires updates. When a business chooses to use a hosted PBX solution, however, there are no longer any maintenance costs because the PBX host handles repairs and upgrades. This saves money in that IT personal can spend time on more important business needs, not keeping the PBX operational.
2. No hardware costs. Just as there are no maintenance costs when telephony is purchased as a service, there also is no capital expenditure in the form of hardware costs. Say goodbye to the closet full of wires and telephony equipment. The PBX now lives in the cloud, not in the office!
3. More features for the buck. With mobility and unified communications, there are a host of new things that voice calling can now do, from acting as a softphone to connecting agents spread across the globe to call hunting where several phones ring until someone answers. With a hosted PBX, there is a wealth of features that are not normally included or come at an additional cost. But with hosted PBX, these futures usually are included in the monthly price, saving businesses money.
4. Less wasted man hours. Hosted PBX systems are the most advanced phone systems available for businesses, making them efficient both in their usability and their ability to connect callers with those at a company. With a good hosted PBX, it takes less time for employees to get their voicemail, return calls and make sure they are in the loop. This saved time can then be applied to more meaningful, business-specific uses. This can translate in to substantial but implicit cost savings.
5. More sales. Good prospect lists help find future customers, and good marketing ensures that these customers are interested in the services of a business. But nothing can jeopardize a sale more than calls not returned in a timely manner. With a hosted PBX, businesses ensure that no call goes missed and that employees in and out of the office are not cut off from their business phone line.
6. Cheaper calls. Last but certainly not least, hosted PBX is part of the move to VoIP. And VoIP offers dramatic savings on calls. Because VoIP leverages the Internet instead of the telephone switching network. VoIP calling plans typically offer flat-rate or low costs calling, and international calls are much cheaper, too. Businesses can greatly reduce their telephone bill with VoIP and hosted PBX.
So this Thanksgiving holiday, smart businesses can count their blessings. There’s a better way to manage their office phone network.
Edited by Alisen Downey