May 26, 2023
May 26, 2023
A phone system is the central component of every business. With the advancements in technology, more and more businesses are moving towards the cloud leaving behind those traditional on-premise telephone systems. Hosted Telephony or Hosted Phone Systems are breaking new ground in the business phone system landscape. As per insights, the hosted PBX market size is estimated to reach $ 15 billion by 2035. In this post, we are going to provide you with all the information you need to buy a hosted phone system for your business.
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As the term suggests, hosted phone systems are housed in the Internet cloud and not on the business’s premises. In other words, a hosted phone system is a cloud-based virtual PBX system that is hosted by a third-party vendor away from the business’s location. By switching to hosted phone systems, businesses can directly eliminate the expense of costly equipment, installation, monitoring, and maintenance associated with on-premise telephone systems.
Ever thought about why global business decision-makers are turning to cloud phone systems and what value they really bring to the table? Well, the reasons are many and the benefits are quite far-reaching. Let’s take a look one by one:
Traditional phone lines require resources and time for additional lines. However, hosted phone systems are designed to grow or shrink your business. Whether you want to add lines during the festive season or want to remove a few lines when traffic is low, you can add or remove phone lines or extensions without exhausting time and resources. In a survey of IT decision-makers, 56% reported that their company’s move to a hosted phone system resulted in improved reliability and uptime, while 51% reported improved scalability. (Source: IDG)
Lower cost is the number one reason why businesses prefer cloud phone systems. The hardware installation is done off-site by your service provider which cuts down the cost of equipment, its installation, and the human resources required for the job. Hosted phone systems can reduce communication costs by up to 50%, according to a study by Frost & Sullivan. (Source: Tech.co)
Working within the physical boundaries of the office space is no more a mandate. There has been a significant shift in the working culture all around the world. No matter the location of your employees, whether in the office or working remotely. They can still connect with a hosted phone system and do their work. All they need is an internet-enabled device and a strong internet connection.
Though every hosted phone system service is different in terms of features and functionalities, each and every service comes with a set of advanced communication and collaboration features that can benefit a business. Besides those high-quality voice calls, a business would get access to several advanced features like call recording, call reporting, IVR, Voicemail, etc.
Hosted phone systems are not bound to any physical location, employees can access these phone systems over any internet-enabled device such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. So whether on an overseas trip or simply working from home, remote workers can take up customer calls and do their work without any difficulty.
Hosted phone systems are maintained through multiple backup options that are usually geographically redundant data centers. A reliable hosted phone system service provider will implement failover and load-balancing techniques to ensure business continuity. Also, hosted phone system providers ensure the implementation of quality service protocols to maintain high-quality call standards.
Even security is no concern when it comes to hosted phone systems. If you are with a good service provider, stay assured that your data is securely encrypted and kept safely in the cloud. Also, with redundant servers maintained by the provider, you get uninterrupted access to your phone system even when there is a disaster.
By now, it is clear that by using a hosted phone system your business can benefit from the various advanced communication features along with scalability and flexibility without having the burden of on-premises infrastructure. Therefore, it is important to choose a hosted phone system vendor by carefully considering the key factors, as mentioned below:
Hosted phone systems are usually priced according to the features they offer. Some of the top features of a hosted phone system are:
Depending upon your requirement, you can chalk out which features you really need.
The pricing of the hosted phone system plays a significant role in finding a phone system that’s right for your business. While hosted phone system vendors usually offer monthly or yearly subscription models, you can check for any upfront or hidden costs along with any additional charges for features.
Software that comes with integration capabilities can really help in streamlining workflow and enhance the overall productivity of the business. You can check whether the hosted phone system you have shortlisted can integrate with other applications used in your business. This can be like integrating with your customer relationship management software or even with the helpdesk tools.
The quality of support services offered by a hosted phone system vendor can really be a game changer. Some of the important parameters to evaluate the support service include the availability of agents with technical knowledge about the product and resolution time. You can review the SLA i.e. Service Level Agreement to ensure that they are in line with your expectations.
Ensuring the safety of your business communications is of utmost importance. You can’t let those snoopy eyes enter your business phone system and cause not only monetary damage but also a reputational loss to your business. The hosted phone system service must meet the GDPR standards and data privacy compliance as per your region.
The service must use enterprise-grade security measures so that you have a fool-proof and hack-proof communication platform. Also, don’t forget to assess the physical access to the platform. Physical vulnerabilities must be managed to avoid tampering.
Through a virtual phone system, a business can manage its phone system virtually i.e. over the Internet cloud. These systems rely on remote servers and are managed by vendors or third-party service providers. A virtual phone system usually offers basic communication features like call routing, auto-assistant, voicemail, etc. These phone systems are usually preferred by small businesses like startups who need basic features for their business communication.
Similar to virtual phone systems, cloud phone systems are communication solutions that operate entirely on the internet cloud. This means that there is no requirement for hardware or on-premise equipment by the business as the whole phone setup infrastructure is managed by the service provider.
These phone systems can be accessed on any internet-enabled device such as a laptop. In terms of features, you can some advanced features in cloud phone systems such as integration with other business applications. cloud-based phone systems are suitable for companies of all sizes.
These phone systems can be hosted on the internet cloud or deployed on-premise by implementing hardware. The range of features offered by VoIP phone systems depends on the deployment model. Typically you can expect features the same as virtual or cloud phone systems. These phone systems often require high initial capital investment when deployed on-premise which is why businesses with limited budgets prefer virtual and cloud phone systems.
Advance Call Management features available in hosted phone systems help in the efficient handling of business calls. Call Routing is a popular tool under this category that directs incoming calls to specified agents or departments based on some predefined rules. This ensures that incoming customer calls are routed to the correct agents based on their queries.
Auto attendant of Interactive Voice response is a very useful feature of hosted phone systems. It is a voice assistant that greets the callers and provides them with menu options to choose from. Based on their concern or query, the callers can choose the desired menu option and get the desired assistance. Auto-attendants can be configured to handle routine or basic business queries thus further reducing manual intervention and saving time and resources of the business.
Hosted Phone systems also offer a voicemail feature that allows callers to leave their queries or messages when the intended person or agent is not available to take the call. This usually happens when a call arrives during non-business hours. The voicemail feature stores the voice message of the caller and allows phone users to retrieve those messages via email or through the phone system.
Recording of calls is done for various purposes such as quality assurance, providing training to employees, compliance, and legal dispute resolution. Hosted phone systems offer a call recording feature that helps in recording and storing customer-agent conversations and allows accessing them at a later time.
Hosted phone systems usually provide users with mobile apps so for easy access. These apps are available for all major mobile operating systems including iOS and Android.
At first, you might tend to skip this point, but you must consider it. If your business phone system is capable of integrating with your CRM system then it can help you in many ways including enhanced call handling, data-driven insights, and streamlined workflows.
Call analytics and reporting tools in hosting phone systems offer useful insights to businesses about various calls related metrics such as the number of calls, the average duration of calls, etc. Based on these insights, a company can analyze the performance of agents and call patterns and make informed decisions for the growth of the business.
A hosted business phone system combines various business communication tools into one place. Besides making and receiving calls, a hosted phone system allows businesses to chat and do video calling as well, thus enabling better collaboration. Also, these phone systems support mobility and remote work and configure call routing and call recording, reporting, and analytics tools.
It is easy to find flashy products and services in the market but you should always avoid getting trapped. When choosing a critical business element such as a phone system, it is advisable to consider the vendor’s reputation. Check reviews from existing clients to get an idea about the quality and reliability of the service.
Don’t skip this step. Many businesses don’t pay attention to the customer support services provided by their vendor. But once they start using the product, they realize the importance of having assistance from their vendor.
While the phone system is hosted by the service provider, all the hardware installation part is taken care of by the provider. You as a business only need to have internet-enabled devices such as laptops through which you can access the phone system. However, if you have opted for a VoIP phone system with on-premise deployment, then you need to hold responsibility for hardware installation, setup, and maintenance as well.
Now that you have subscribed to the service, you need to ensure that your network infrastructure can support the hosted phone system. You can check the bandwidth as well as the reliability of the internet connection. Along with this, you may need to get some necessary network equipment such as a router.
Now, you are ready to install and configure the phone system according to the requirements of the business. This is usually done through the phone system’s web dashboard as your provider will provide you with necessary login credentials. You can then configure the different features such as call routing and IVR as required.
Once the system is ready to be used, it is time to introduce your agents to it. You must provide your agents and employees with their separate accounts. Along with that, you conduct multiple training sessions to help them get used to the system.
You can port your existing phone numbers for which you need to coordinate with your service provider. There may be some downtime as the porting process happens, so you must plan it accordingly.
Hosted phone systems offer a plethora of benefits for business communication, but there are a few challenges that businesses may encounter. Here are some key challenges along with their suggested solutions:
Poor call quality, dropped calls and intermittent service disruptions are some issues that can occur in hosted phone systems due to poor network connectivity, server performance, and inappropriate system configuration.
Hosted phone systems make use of Internet technology to process calls and other business data. Businesses need to ensure that the vendor they have chosen adheres to specific regulations related to data privacy and security. Also, the implementation of secure storage techniques, and strong authentication mechanisms to protect against potential threats and ensure the security of communications.
These issues can arise due to various factors. Compatibility problems can occur because of improper network configuration, hardware or device incompatibility, an internet connection with limited bandwidth, etc. The problem of integration can arise due to inadequate integration options when trying to integrate your phone system with other business platforms such as CRM systems. Also lack of customization options in terms of features can create integration problems.
Proper evaluation and compatibility assessment of the hosted phone system is required to ensure that you have selected the right product.
This refers to the measures that need to be put in place in order to ensure that the hosted phone system remains functional during any event of emergency. Some key aspects that need to be prepared and maintained for emergency preparedness include the incorporation of redundancy and failover mechanisms, having backup power systems, emergency notification capabilities, off-site data backups for quick and easy restoration, etc.
Hosted phone systems are a lucrative choice for businesses of all sizes given the wide range of benefits they offer. When selecting the right service provider for your business, you must thoroughly assess your organization’s needs. This way you will certainly be able to fully harness the potential of hosted phone systems.
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Business phone systems have become a part and parcel of every company, especially the small scale enterprises.
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