Small businesses have enough to worry about without the added complexity of administrating a PBX or VoIP phone system. VoIP offers many advantages, but often the migration process and maintenance are simply more than small companies can handle, just as a traditional PBX (News - Alert) may be too cumbersome. Luckily, there’s a solution: a managed VoIP phone system.

 

Managed VoIP phone systems offer nine key advantages over on-site PBXs.

 

For SMBs, being freed from complexities surrounding phone system moves, adds and changes (MACs) can be transformative. With a hosted VoIP phone system, MACs become virtually a non-issue. Administrators can make changes using a Web-based portal, or simply send an e-mail to the provider requesting the modifications.

 

With a hosted VoIP phone system, there is no need to pay for an administrator to manage the on-site PBX. Only regular serviced charges apply to keeping the system in tip-top condition. Plus, upgrades are automatic.

 

Companies using a hosted VoIP phone system have a variety of choices when it comes to completing MACs. They can request access to their own partition in order to fully administer their PBX. Or, they can send in MAC requests and have the provider make the modifications. Typically, MACs are completed within 24 hours; some within minutes. On-the-phone provisioning is also available, letting employees assume 'ownership' of a particular phone merely by entering a code using the keypad.

 

Individual users of the VoIP phone system can modify their account using a personal, Web-based portal. For example, a user could, on-the-fly, set up his or her voicemail to forward to a cell phone.

 

The benefit of a hosted VoIP phone system is that disaster recovery is built in. If the business loses power at its site, or if the local power company goes down, phone service potentially could be disrupted. But with a hosted service, because it is managed off-site, inbound calls are always maintained--they can simply be redirected to another location. No calls are lost.

 

The hosted VoIP phone system model recognizes that it is phones which deliver PBX functionality to the user. The underlying system—a software-based PBX—is designed so that there is never a point when the switch is no longer supported, or otherwise becomes obsolete.

 

A VoIP phone system is software-based, so new features and functionality can be added all the time. When this happens, the business using the system recieved automatic access to those updates. Updates are part of the monthly service contract; there is no need to buy a new server to add new functionality.

 

Some companies prefer to put all their money into a phone system up front, and then let that system depreciate over time until, at some future date, it becomes obsolete and must be replaced. More and more companies today are seeing the benefits of a different approach: choosing a hosted VoIP solution with a month-to-month payment contract. This means that the system will always be up-to-date and offer the latest telephony features, rather than gradually falling behind.

 

With a hosted VoIP phone system, administrative tasks can be performed using a Web portal from any location. This feature isn't just a time saver; it can also aid in disaster recovery. For example, if a businesses' site become inaccessible, an administrator at some other location could log into the admin panel and redirect calls to another site.

 

To learn more about the benefits of a hosted VoIP phone system, visit Ring 9’s Web site and its VoIP Phone System channel on TMCnet.com.