Business Phone System Dueling Banjos

CarrierBid, offers both hosted and premise based business phone systems. We don’t favor one type of system over the other; it really depends on what our client’s needs are.

In this exercise, I’m only focusing on the positives of both systems. I’ll start out with premise based and then switch to hosted; one statement per platform until I run out of information. Hopefully, by the end of the article, the reader will know what type of system is right for his or her business. 

Here we go: 

• The monthly cost to lease a premise-based system is usually less than the cost of the equipment portion of the monthly cost of hosted Voice over IP.
• With hosted you always get the latest and the greatest.
• Once you pay for a premise-based system, that cost disappears and you only pay for your business phone and internet services.
• Hosted phone systems require less onsite management and maintenance.
• The voice quality produced by a premise-based phone system is superior to hosted VoIP.
• Hosted VoIP offers more functionality than most premise based phone systems.
• If your company’s internet connection goes down, and you’re not utilizing Voice over IP, your employees will still be able to make and receive calls with a premise-based phone system.
• Voice over IP is here to stay. If and when the Public Switched Telephone Network disappears, some premise-based systems will become obsolete.
• Many premise-based systems offer hybrid VoIP functionality.
• Hosted VoIP systems are more scalable than premise-based phone systems. As long as bandwidth is available more users can be added.
• Premise-based systems bypass your internet connection and won’t use any of your bandwidth.
• Hosted VoIP providers offer redundancy and failover. If one of their switches goes down, voice traffic is automatically diverted to an operating switch.
• It’s much easier to switch voice providers when your business operates with a premise-based phone system because you don’t have to change your voice interface. If you’re unhappy with your current phone service provider or another company is offering you a savings – any change takes place behind the scenes and your employees won’t know the difference.
• If you don’t mind change, with hosted VoIP, you can experience new phone equipment every time your contract reaches term.
• If your company would like to reduce its tax burden from yearend profits, a premise-based system can be purchased outright and listed as a capital expense.
• The cost of a Hosted VoIP system is an operational expense, which could simplify your company’s accounting.

If you’re still unsure which system is a better fit, premise-based or hosted VoIP, contact CarrierBid telecom consulting today or complete the web form on the right side of this page. CarrierBid can provide multiple pricing examples of both hosted VoIP and premise-based systems. We also provide installation assistance and ongoing customer support.