Hosted PBX Phone Solution | WhichVoIP

What SMBs Should Know About Deploying a Hosted PBX

Hosted PBX phone solutions are revolutionizing how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) serve their customers, grow their business, and support their employees. Delivering the same enterprise level, professional phone system capabilities large businesses use at a much lower cost, hosted PBX is helping SMBs save money while putting their customer services on par with much larger organizations. While large enterprises have begun leveraging the cost advantages and robust capabilities of enterprise IP (Internet Protocol) telephony, on-site IP PBX (Private Branch eXchange) systems can require significant initial investment and ongoing operational costs that put them out of reach for SMBs. Until now, smaller companies have been limited in choice to inflexible, expensive traditional phone systems or residential-grade voice over IP (VoIP) solutions with limited functionality and flexibility, and less than business-grade performance.

Now there’s a cost-effective, feature-rich alternative to on-premises IP PBXs and traditional analog phone systems expressly designed for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Vocalocity PBX, a hosted PBX solution, offers state-of-the-art features, seamless scalability, and unparalleled ease-of use all in a low-risk, low total cost of ownership package.

This white paper provides insight into whether a hosted PBX solution from Vocalocity is right for your company, the types of benefits you can experience with a Hosted PBX, and an overview of how easy it is to deploy VocalocityPBX versus other phone systems.

Perception is reality when it comes to the customer experience. The phone system can make or break a company’s efforts to provide a professional, efficient experience to its customers. It can mean the difference between appearing to be a mom-and-pop shop or a much larger, established enterprise with the resources to satisfy the customers’ needs. That’s why choosing an office phone system should be based on much more than cost alone. While cost is a major reason why SMBs are switching from traditional office phone systems to hosted IP telephony, many SMBs are unaware of the equally important, additional advantages of leveraging the latest technology for voice communications. IP telephony – voice communications over an Internet connection – is becoming the standard for business communications. VoIP enables a broader array of features than traditional analog phone systems to improve productivity, enhance customer satisfaction, and deliver exceptional business intelligence. Taken together, the lower cost and robust features offered by VoIP is making a positive impact to the bottom line of SMBs.

Getting professional phone system features – such as those used by Fortune 500 companies – at an affordable price is now a reality for SMBs thanks to a new type of service from Vocalocity: VocalocityPBX. In contrast to a premises-based PBX phone system, Vocalocity PBX is a hosted PBX, meaning that state-of-the-art equipment and technology is located, owned, and managed off-premises by Vocalocity and leased to the customer. This eliminates purchasing, installing, and managing a full-featured IP or traditional PBX phone system, which can cost upwards of $40,000 to implement. Vocalocity PBX is based on VoIP and delivers a combination of cost-effectiveness, scalability, and robust features that make it ideal for SMBs. With a hosted PBX from Vocalocity, companies can streamline communications, improve customer responsiveness, and increase employee productivity all while reducing overall telephony costs. Whether an SMB has one employee or a hundred, VocalocityPBX delivers the same major business advantages of IP telephony that major enterprises depend upon at a price affordable to much smaller businesses.

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Improved Productivity and Optimized Customer Service

VocalocityPBX delivers a vast array of innovative features and capabilities to enable companies to improve employee productivity while delivering better customer service. For instance, users can customize auto attendants to intelligently route calls to the proper extension, get their voicemail forwarded to their e-mail, download call logs for reporting purposes, and much more. Customers can be routed to the correct person without being told to hang-up and dial a different number.

Scalability

With VocalocityPBX, companies can start with a small number of extensions and grow to any size, without phone system constraints or hardware upgrades. Adding or removing extensions is quick and simple, needing only a few minutes time to accomplish. This makes managing growth in a hosted environment drastically easier than with an on-premises system. Plus, there is no need to track line cards and trunk cards, or maintain extra capacity.

Lower Total Cost of Ownership

The start-up costs for Vocalocity PBX are significantly lower than purchasing a traditional or IP PBX. A hosted PBX smoothes out cash flow requirements and frees up cash in the first year for other needs. Vocalocity PBX provides ongoing savings with unlimited local and long distance calling or flat rate pricing.

Virtual Companies/Geographical Freedom

VocalocityPBX can route calls to any employee, but unlike a hardware PBX system, employees don’t have to be at an office phone to receive calls. Employees or sub-contractors can telecommute, taking calls on cell phones or home lines. The Follow-Me feature allows calls to be easily forwarded to cell phones or other alternate locations, enabling a completely virtual company and reducing office overhead expenses.

Maintenance and Upgrades

With a hosted PBX from Vocalocity, there’s no hardware or technology to maintain on premises: all day-to-day operations and maintenance of the PBX is performed by Vocalocity. Companies also gain access to the latest technology automatically, with all upgrades handled by Vocalocity. VocalocityPBX offers 24x7 management and monitoring at no extra charge to ensure the smooth operation of its customers’ phone communications.

Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery

Business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities are a key benefit of Vocalocity PBX. Unlike on premises solutions, a hosted PBX solution from Vocalocity ensures that phone service is available by rerouting to alternate locations to provide business continuity in the event of a disaster.

Making the decision to replace an office phone system shouldn’t be taken lightly. Despite media hype, there are certain businesses for which a hosted PBX system may not be the ideal solution. For instance, very large enterprises offer the economy of scale and depth of internal IT resources to make on-premises IP PBXs a viable solution. While total cost of ownership is the main driver for most companies, many of the benefits of a hosted PBX solution discussed in the previous section come into the decision as important factors to consider for each company’s specific requirements. For a low monthly rate, Vocalocity offers the professional, enterprise-level features and functionality SMBs need to be more efficient and productive, improve customer responsiveness, and enable flexible business models and growth. Some of the features offered, or offered soon, include:

BASIC FEATURES:
Local numbers
Toll free numbers
Virtual numbers
International virtual numbers
Unlimited calling
Local number portability
Web portal interface
Directory assistance (411)
Emergency service (911)
Fax

CALLING FEATURES:
Caller ID/on-call waiting
Call forwarding
Call hold
Call transfer
Call conference
Call waiting
Do not disturb
Call logs

VOICEMAIL FEATURES:
Password protected
Voicemail greeting options
Voicemail to e-mail
Check voicemail through
Web interface
Multiple mail folders
Group messaging
Visual waiting indicator

AUTO ATTENDANT FEATURES:
Day and night mode
Dial-by-name directory
Virtual departments
Multiple auto attendants
Import greetings

ADVANCED FEATURES:
Cell phone integration
Softphone support
Call groups
Follow me
Customize music on hold
Conference bridge
Intercom

Compared to an on-premises IP PBX or analog customer premises equipment (CPE) system, a hosted PBX solution requires significantly less planning and implementation effort and a very low initial investment.

Equipment

Most businesses will already have the majority of what is needed to use a Vocalocity hosted PBX service: a high speed Internet connection such as DSL, cable/broadband, or T1; and a router. The only additional equipment required are compatible phones that support industry standard SIP (a communications protocol especially helpful for IP-based communications).

Set-up

Once you have the equipment, setting up your phone system with Vocalocity PBX takes as little as 15 minutes. A Vocalocity specialist will call you to walk you through the set-up, ensuring that the appropriate settings and features are implemented.

Transition

Vocalocity PBX can be implemented in an evolutionary fashion – for instance, one department at a time. Because the Vocalocity solution can co-exist with traditional phone systems, it eliminates the need to cutover completely to the new system before your company is ready.

Conclusion

Until now, small and medium-sized businesses have been limited in choice to inflexible and expensive traditional phone systems or premises-based IP PBX with high start-up and ongoing operational costs. With VocalocityPBX, SMBs now have an affordable solution which offers advanced technology and features, business grade quality, ease-of-use, and low maintenance.

Vocalocity has emerged as a leader in the VoIP applications marketplace. Vocalocity gives small and medium-sized businesses the power of a full-featured traditional PBX with the cost-effectiveness and flexibility of a VoIP hosted solution. Consistent growth and the unique position of owning a proprietary voice platform has the company primed for the future. VocalocityPBX will continue to evolve as the premier phone solution while IP technology becomes the standard in business communications.

Article written by Vocalocity - a partner of WhichVoIP.com

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