How To Choose Between Cloud And Premise Based Systems

Transcription

1 Unity Connected Solutions

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRO Page 3-4 Cloud or Premise? Pages 5 8 Applications Pages 9-13 Connections & Devices Pages Comparing & Summary Pages High Level Process + Cloud or Premise + Explaining Terms + Cloud Systems High Level + Premise Based Systems High Level + Applications, features and business needs< 25 Stations + Cloud based Applications + Premise based Applications + Key Applications Explained + Connections and Devices + Cloud Based Connectivity + Cloud Connection Considerations + Premise Based Decisions TDM vs VoIP + Premise Based Decisions - Lines + Pricing Considerations + Cloud Pricing + Premise Pricing + Pricing Comparison Summary + Final Thoughts

3 DIFFICULT DECISIONS AHEAD Having a roadmap can prevent us running into roadblocks later For most of us, major IT buying decisions come along perhaps once or twice in a lifetime. We may not have the practiced skills in decision-making itself, and the rate technology continues to change at can make the task even more daunting and confusing. Telephone systems are no different. They could, in fact, be more daunting as the system being replaced likely ran for years and years and no one has really had to think about what all the changes might mean. Until now! It is more likely we have upgraded our computers and changed our mobile phones several times since the last time we looked at our phone system. With new terms like Cloud, SIP, PRI and VoIP to contend with it may very well become overwhelming. But there is a logical approach to the process. In walking you through that approach, we will also educate you on the key terms as you need to know about them. We start with determining the core platform or model Cloud or Premise and then walk through Applications, Devices, Connectivity and Support. We would love to get your feedback on whether this helped or not at: bmiller@unityconnected.com

4 HIGH LEVEL PROCESS With a CAPEX premise buy you tend to know your costs. With OPEX be careful not to go over Cloud simplifies the line question, but ensure you have enough Internet bandwidth & Speed SIP is the standard for Cloud. But SIP is not always standard. So check carefully Make sure you take into account things like door phones and other attachments you like or use ask if you can get with Cloud Cloud At least make sure the phones are compatible if you decide to go advanced later Simple Or Advanced Check # line,s & if LD is provided. Mileage varies by vendor. Lines Self install is not always easy. Check if vendor will install & support SIP or Soft Phones Check payment terms. Are you locked in for one year, 3 years, etc Make sure it isn t feature it is and you are paying for more than you need Cloud often includes LD calling, saving you more money Most will require you buy your own phones. The only CAPEX part What install and service options are available. OR is it completely do it yourself? Business Needs Cloud Or Premise Don t assume Cloud is less secure. Often Cloud Data Centres are more secure than your office, especially from disasters. Premise Make sure the TDM system can support you for at least 5 years TDM Or VoIP Check your Data Network. It may need to be upgraded to support VoIP Check that a VoIP system can support Analog trunks - cheaply PRI Analog or SIP lines Worth checking SIP Trunks out. Could save you 30% to 60% Digital sets will be proprietary to one vendor and possibly one system IP Digital or Soft Phones Not all IP phones are SIP. Not all SIP are standard. Cloud uses SIP Take a look at leasing. Most vendors offer attractive lease rates to make a CAPEX buy look like OPEX Check Service Provider ability to deliver any new services on time Most manufacturers are not making TDM only systems anymore. Under 8 to 12 lines, analog may still make sense. PRI better for 12 or more lines Check if people prefer a soft phone for their PC or Smart Phone. Could save $ Duarte, Inc

5 Cloud or Premise? + Cloud or Premise + Explaining Terms + Cloud Systems High Level + Premise Based Systems High Level 01 Duarte, Inc

6 CLOUD OR PREMISE? Everyone is searching for new ways to consume technology and many are familiar with cloud apps already. Cloud telephony is here now and is a viable option for consideration. Cambells brought us the famous fork or spoon commercial, to show off their new chunky soups. The bottom line was that you could use either a fork or a spoon and the soup would taste just as good. Similarly with telephone systems, you now have two ways to consume your telephone needs a Cloud based system OR a Premises based system. Both will do the same thing but one of them may better suit your business. It makes sense to start with the Cloud or Premise question as it impacts all the other decisions you will need to make. Care must be taken not to jump to the conclusion that one will be less expensive than the other just because it is Cloud or Premise. We will talk about comparing price at the end, because it should be about fitting your business first. Have we been here before?. We ve actually been here before. Years ago Carriers offered CENTREX, from their Central Offices (Co). It provided limited PBX functionality and could be offered across cities. You paid monthly with varying charges by type of phone, how many buttons on the phone and other features. Large Banks and Government organizations used it as they preferred the monthly fee model. But PBXs offered more advanced functionality, like powerful ACDs, Unified Messaging and more and it became difficult for Centrex to compete. Cloud is the next generation Centrex, if you like, offering the same benefits but with more advanced capabilities.

7 EXPLAINING TERMS Cloud Premise With Cloud based Telephone Systems the control equipment is located in a Data Centre managed by the service provider while telephone sets will be on your premises. Internet Traditional Telephone Systems have a control unit or server that is located somewhere on your premises. It might be a closet, in an electrical or storage room or in a proper computer room. The server controlling everything, the applications and the carrier network connections are all in your service provider s Data Centre or in the Cloud. Any desk telephones and the data network to support them are on your site. Your Internet connection connects your data network and desk telephones to the Cloud Data Centre. Someone else worries about the server, updates, upgrades, maintenance, power and security. Usually the things that take the most effort to manage. Control Unit Or Application Server IP Telephones Your Site VS Traditional Telephone System (Your Site) Desktop or Laptop LAN Server Telco Line Or Trunk Connections Your telephones may be directly wired back to the control unit or are IP phones on your data network and the server is also on your data network, so it can control them. Finally, your telephone carrier will bring in your network connections that will be wired to the controller or server. You manage it all, the server, cabling, telephones, etc. Ensure updates happen, upgrade items when needed. Pay the carrier for your lines and LD. Yes, you can have your reseller do these for you, but it is all on your premises..

8 PLATFORM COMPARISONS Cloud is about flexibility more than anything else. And these capabilities show that flexibility off best. What other factors could impact your decision? Being in the Cloud does offer some other business advantages. Multi-Site Cloud isn t necessarily site specific. So if you have many sites, especially small ones, Cloud can make them look like one more easily. And it can do it nationally. Seasonal There is never a perfect way to handle seasonal requirements but Cloud may work best. You will have to acquire your Telephone sets up front but could negotiate scaling up line costs for a predetermined period. Scaling What if you are growing fast? You may not know what size system works best and Premise systems often have size caps. You don t want to invest in a large size cap system and incur the upfront cost until you are sure. So a Cloud system can scale up much better, matching cost to growth. No IT Department Again, Cloud will not completely eliminate this but it can dramatically reduce it. You won t have to deal with Carriers and their bills, nor worry about updating your telephone servers to keep them current. But you will have to worry about your Data Network but that is where choosing the right Cloud provider can help.

9 Applications + Applications, features and business needs< 25 Stations + Cloud based Applications + Premise based Applications + Key Applications Explained 02 Duarte, Inc

10 APPLICATIONS, FEATURES AND BUSINESS NEEDS Cloud is not a one-size-fits-all solution, the same as with Premise based solutions. So determining your business needs first, may impact your choice of solution Cloud or Premise. Years ago we talked features today we talk applications but fundamentally it is about making sure that whatever you are buying meets your business needs today and into the near future. It is hard to project where technology is going, when it changes so rapidly, so it is sometimes better to think in terms of where you want your business to be in 5 or 10 years time. Why? Because some systems may have size or application limits and you could be forced into another change. Or the system may have basic features and suddenly you need more advanced features and, again, have to change. In the end, you are only looking at capabilities because you have a business need that is now unmet with the current system. Even with Cloud systems, there are different options. This is because there is always a cost to provide advanced capabilities. Whether you are buying a complete system for your premises or a service from a cloud provider, someone has to buy the hardware, the software and any licensing costs that go with them. So sellers make a decision to provide different flavours that match to different business needs and price them accordingly. It could be pricing by shared or dedicated lines depending on how much calling volume you do or it could be by application or could be basic and advanced capabilities. Someone is trying to match the costs to the capabilities to provide as cost effective a solution as possible. But it can complicate decision making.

11 CLOUD BASED APPLICATIONS Cloud simplifies concerns over scale and locations. But choices will still be required for application availability Because Cloud is essentially about providing a service via the Internet to you, you don t have to worry about the size or scale of the system. One of the key benefits of Cloud is that it can generally scale better and manage multiple sites better, if that is something you need to consider. But they also tend to reduce the choice of applications. Often bundling everything in with whatever is being delivered to you, whether you need them all or not. But to manage pricing, they may have a couple of solutions, for example a basic solution that provides most of the common telephone features as well as some basic versions of advanced features. They may not have a full blown Contact Centre application but do provide a basic hunt group or basic ACD application. So they will allow several phones to be put into a group and a single incoming caller will get the next person or next available person. It may have limited statistics and messages. It may not match caller to agent best on their skills, for example, but it will make it easier to have incoming callers answered as fast as possible. You first have to think about features or applications that make it easier for your customers to interact with you and then about how you can help your staff interact and collaborate with each other to be more productive and efficient. Cloud based systems can often support mobile or Teleworkers much more easily than premise based solutions. And some newer Cloud systems are offering some very advanced capabilities. Common Apps Hunt Groups (ACD) Voice Mail Unified Messaging Conferencing (Bridge) Find Me/Follow Me Call Recording Auto Attendant Business Hour Rules Paging Music On Hold Soft Phones

12 PREMISE BASED APPLICATIONS Premise systems still offer more capability and flexibility when it comes to truly advanced features but it may come at a cost. Where Premise based solutions ruled, even in the days of the original Cloud service, Centrex, was that they offered very advanced capabilities, especially when it came to Contact Centre. However, Premise Telephone systems or PBXs, were also size sensitive. To match costs to customer size, manufacturers created different platforms or control units. The problem was if a customer outgrew its current system, it may require a large and costly change-out of hardware. On the other hand, you may have a bestof-breed approach and have already acquired a number of applications that integrate with your existing telephone system. For example, integrating and chat marketing into your traditional contact centre to maximize agent time. Generally speaking, advanced premise based systems will offer the most sophisticated applications with more options and variations. Just be clear that those are still your requirements today. It may be possible to upgrade your premise system from what you have today to something newer. But you should verify that the platform isn t going to be replaced with something newer in the near future and what are your options to retain value in existing licensing costs. Some vendors have platforms that offer exactly the same capabilities in Cloud or Premise flavours. You can choose Cloud to start and could go to a premise version if you feel that suits you, without having to relearn features or change telephones.

13 KEY APPLICATIONS Over time, the applications have become more sophisticated. Here we show you some key ones in order of sophistication Good Better Best Hunt Groups Hot Desking Allows incoming calls to hunt for the next available person. Can select how to hunt, simply go around the group, most idle person and so on. My allow people to queue or wait. Great where a business receives a lot of incoming calls for sales ore services. ACD / Contact Centre ACDs or Contact Centres increase sophistication, providing more ways to match callers to agents, for example by the skill level of the agent. Can provide more ways to queue callers or offer callers choices while queuing. ACDs also offer greater reporting for managers to determine how well they are running. Call Recording Often related to ACDs is the ability to record calls. It may even be a legal requirement if doing outbound sales. Allows someone to record calls for quality (manage agents effectiveness) as well as to prove a transaction or customer response. Voice Messaging At a system level you should be able to create an automated attendant so calls don t need answering by a live person. Advanced systems may offer speech recognition. Individuals should be able to create multiple greetings for callers, receive notification of new messages and access messages from desk phones or when away. Advanced systems can offer notification. Unified Messaging Unified messaging connects your voice mail to your system. Now you can receive your voice messages as text file attachments to your . This means only one inbox for all communications and makes it even easier to listen, transfer or even add to a message for instructions to another person. Some businesses are reducing their office footprint as many employees are mobile. Hot -desking allows an employee to sit anywhere and dial in a code and the phone on their desk is now their phone. The system knows how to route calls to them. Find Me/Follow Me If you have a lot of mobile employees then a Find Me/ Follow Me capability really helps. No longer do employees need to remember to set their phone to call forward, the system automatically sends calls or twins calls with their mobile phone. This can be turned on and off by time of day yet any message goes to a single mailbox. Soft Phone Apps If your employees have smart phones a lot of systems now offer soft phones or telephone applications that allow their smart phone to act as if it is their desk phone. Beyond forwarding calls they can do all the things they can do from their desk phone.

14 Connections & Devices + Connections and Devices + Cloud Based Connectivity + Cloud Connection Considerations + Premise Based Decisions TDM vs VoIP + Premise Based Decisions - Lines 03 Duarte, Inc

15 CONNECTIONS & DEVICES It s all about Connectivity, so making sure your system provides you the right choice of lines and devices is key But business has changed. Mobility and Teleworking support could impact your phone support and choices. The primary purpose of a communications system is to connect people together. Whether that be in real-time (talking to someone) or one-way (voic , ) and so on, they are all ways we try and connect with each other. The major factors determining how we communicate would be the urgency of the communications, where we are located and what devices we have available. All of the equipment are to support connectivity and the devices we need. In some cases it can all be done within the communications platform and in some cases it may require integration to another system. For example, it is quite common to have voice mails sent to you in an as an attachment today. The voice mail system understands how to provide the greeting, record the message and then send via the platform of choice. The path to deciding is slightly different between Cloud and Premise. All of the carrier connections are made at the Data Centre with Cloud. Cloud providers will offer you some number of simultaneous calls outside your employees and an LD package. This will be included in your monthly fee. Premise systems require you to coordinate your own carrier lines and LD and pay separately. Cloud generally only supports SIP phones. And not all are standard. But will include different choices. As well as Soft Phones. Premise systems can support Analog, Digital. IP, SIP phones & Soft Phones, but often from one manufacturer.

16 CLOUD BASED CONNECTIVITY Cloud simplifies concerns over scale and locations. But choices will still be required for application availability The core of the Cloud solution is in the Service Provider s Data Centre, and that is where all the Carrier connections are made. So you don t have to choose the type of connectivity only how much you will need. Lines Some Cloud providers offer you dedicated or shared connections. If you have a heavy volume of calls, you need dedicated lines to ensure all calls get through. If you are a low volume then you can save money with a shared connection. Long Distance (LD) Similarly the Cloud provider will have negotiated bulk LD rates for all its customers. Some will provide an LD cost, others include LD in the monthly fee. Check how much LD is included. Telephones Cloud based systems support SIP or Soft Phones. SIP is supposed to be a Standard but not all Cloud platforms support all SIP phones. They will advertise which ones they do support. Check if they will also work on premise solutions in case you decide to change later and want to re-use your phones. You will have to buy your telephones outright. Soft Phones are applications run on Laptops and Smart Phones. They vary in functionality but offer a great choice if working from home or on the road. Laptops require a USB headset but plenty are available. Smart phones just use the standard phone headset or microphone and speaker. It may require set up to work and some may require Wi-Fi for full functionality, so check with your provider. SIP Session Initiation Protocol Unfortunately there is a lot of tech jargon used in communications that can cause confusion and SIP is no different. SIP was a standard developed to allow IP type phones to be used on any communications platform, the way we could use touch tone phones on any system. Most manufacturers meet the basic SIP standard for answering calls, etc, but the more advanced features can still be proprietary. SIP is also the standard used to bring lines or trunks into a PBX over an Internet connection. Just check that your SIP phones are standard and can work on other systems

17 CLOUD CONNECTIONS CONSIDERATIONS At its most basic, this is a VoIP solution. So all the things you need to do to support a traditional system providing VoIP must also be done with Cloud. Self-install may not be so simple, so check your options in having someone help you set up. Even with Cloud there are some considerations for your office or premises. Cloud is brought into your office over your Internet connection and then your data network. So you will have to check both are sufficient to support. Internet or WAN There are sites that let you run Internet speed and bandwidth tests. They are not perfect but will give you a sense of whether it is sufficient to run the number of calls over the network on top of whatever else you use it for. It is a VoIP connection and so your telephone calls will be subject to the same technical issues that affect any VoIP call today, like Jitter, Delay, Packet Loss and so on. Data Network After coming in over your Internet connection the call will now run over your data network to your SIP telephone. This means that your Data Network needs to be set up appropriately to support VoIP. (This would be no different to putting an IP telephone on a Premise based PBX.) So ensuring you have a good quality date network switch that supports the ability to set up QoS (Quality of Service) where you can prioritize the voice calls over other data network traffic would be the bare minimum requirement. PoE (Power over Ethernet) would be another advantage so that the phones are powered from the switch rather than having to buy separate power adaptors.

18 PREMISE BASED CONNECTIONS TDM VS VOIP There are more decisions to make with a Premise solution including Carrier Connectivity Premise systems are all about choice. You get to own your system and dictate what is connected and how it is connected. And control everything about it. One of the key reasons people go this route. So you have a few more choices to make than with Cloud. TDM vs VoIP The traditional digital phones we use today are based on a standard called TDM (Time Division Multiplex). It works, is directly connected to your control unit, so you don t need a data switch in between or worry about other devices disrupting the connection. However the telephones are proprietary to each manufacturer. Some of the traditional manufacturers are still making TDM sets but they are migrating to IP systems. This means that the new controller will support the old hardware with the TMD telephone sets now, but this will not happen forever. And newer manufacturers don t offer TDM at all. You may have to choose a VoIP system VoIP or IP Telephones IP Telephones connect to your controller via your Data Network. They are just like any other data device and send packets over a shared data network. Because it is shared, it is subject to things like delay, jitter and packet loss and has to be set up properly to work effectively. Having a data network designed for VoIP is critica. Some IP telephones are based on SIP and so will work on different manufacturers systems, but not always.. TDM or VoIP (IP) TDM or Time Division Multiplexing has been around for 30 years and is rock solid. It used telephones directly connected to the telephone system and offers advanced features like call displays, soft keys and more. IP/SIP phones use a shared data network and care is needed to set up that data network properly. They can offer advantages of software downloads, can integrate to the web, although most businesses don t use these features. For TDM you have to pay for a board that supports 16, 24 or 32 telephones. For IP you have to account for the cost of the Data Network switch. It may be swings and roundabouts but they should be in your pricing decision

19 PREMISE BASED CONNECTIONS LINES SIP Trunks SIP has been explained earlier as a standard. But is also now used to provide carrier connectivity as well and is then known as SIP Trunking. The big advantage is in cost savings over Analog or Digital Trunks. It can save anywhere from 30% to 60% per month. It uses your Internet connection, so that connection may have to be increased and tested for speed and bandwidth. Many providers will require you use a Session Border Controller - a device that sits between your telephone system and the Internet for testing in case of problems. You may also want to consider a security service to protect your data network with so much dependent on it. The biggest difference between Cloud and Premise will be your line or trunk connections to the outside world. There are far more choices today than ever before, and many different pricing considerations. Analog vs PRI vs SIP Trunks Pricing forces a lot of small businesses to continue with Analog trunks. They can support Calling Line ID (CLID) where you can see the number of the caller. You just have to make sure your telephone system is equipped with the hardware to support CLID. Once you get to about 12 lines, PRI or Primary Rate, a digital line, starts to make sense as the pricing starts to get cheaper per line. It supports CLID and ANI and all the other features you may need. SIP Trunking is very new and used your Internet connection. Some Premise systems will directly support other require a hardware device. Most will ask for this to demarc from the Telco for testing. DID Direct Inward Dialling DID is a feature that lets callers dial your telephone extension directly not via an attendant live or auto. The last few digits of the number dialed is sent to your system to ring your phone. You pay for blocks of numbers, not just one number, and is charged on top of your line charge. 800 Services Finally, 800 services provide a single inbound calling number free to customers but charged to you. It can be brought in over any type of connection but best over PRI.

20 Comparisons & Summary + Pricing Considerations + Cloud Pricing + Premise Pricing + Pricing Comparison Summary + Final Thoughts 04 Duarte, Inc

21 PRICING CONSIDERATIONS Pricing needs to be done on an apples-to-apples basis. That way there are no hidden surprises because it was overlooked in the rush to buy something cheap At the beginning we said it was about using your business needs to determine the system requirements. Then using that to help choose between a premise or cloud system. Then to think about pricing. Why? Because most people jump to the conclusion that Cloud will be less expensive and start going down that path without properly considering if it will meet their business needs. In some cases, Cloud may meet it much better. For example, if you have many small locations, Cloud can make them look like one system much better. You have a high percentage of workers form home or on the road or you are growing fast and don t want to be locked into a premise based platform that may have a cap on how big it can grow. Or Monthly payments may simply be better than an upfront CAPEX cost. But it is good business sense to ensure it is an apples-to-apples comparison so that there are no unknown or overlooked costs. There are still some CAPEX costs with Cloud, like paying for any desk telephones and perhaps upgrading your data network. For Premise, there is the CAPEX for the initial system, telephones, etc, and the monthly recurring costs for Carrier and LD. As well as any maintenance fee. Plus, you may amortize the cost over say 5 years to get an equivalent monthly cost, but if you go beyond 5 years, additional upgrade costs may come into play. So there are several factors that can impact how you compare price.

22 CLOUD PRICING There is more to pricing comparison than the monthly fee versus CAPEX cost Opex Costs Capex Costs OPEX vs CAPEX & Leases The core Cloud service will be priced on a monthly basis. This can be based on the number of lines you need whether shared or dedicated. Or it could be based on the number of telephone users and perhaps even additional breakdown by groups of features being used. Either way, there will be some factor(s) used to determine the monthly cost. Internet Costs Most Cloud services expect you to pay for any desk telephones. Even if you change Cloud provider or go back to Premise, you own the sets. As a rule of thumb, telephone sets are about 30% of the total cost of a system. Data Network You may have to upgrade your Data Network to support the SIP telephones. While it isn t a cost of the telephone system it is still part of the overall cost of your new system.. Operational Expenditures or OPEX are often preferred because the full cost can be fully deducted in that year, whereas a Capital Expenditure or CAPEX can only have a portion written down in a year, depending on what it is. Deducted meaning subtracted from revenues when calculating profit. This may be attractive if it can directly reduce tax payments in that year. OPEX also allows businesses to match their costs better to their income. While the line costs you normally have to worry about are handled by the Cloud provider, you will have to work out if you have sufficient Internet bandwidth. If not, there will be an incremental monthly fee to be considered. Finally, CAPEX can be turned into OPEX by leasing the equipment. As you do not own the Asset, the payments are tax deductible and an Fair Market Value (FMV) lease can provide even lower monthly payment costs.

23 PREMISE PRICING Hybrid the 3 rd Option There is actually a 3 rd option Hybrid. By Hybrid we mean buying all the equipment just as if it was going on your premises but having a service provider host your control equipment offpremise in a high-availability Data Centre. The provider worries about the daily management and care of your controller power, cooling ensuring it is always available while you simply worry about using it. It can even be turned into an OPEX expense if needed. This often referred to as Private Cloud and offers many of the advantages of both models, with additional security. The bulk of the cost of a premise based system will be a Capital Expenditure or CAPEX. You will own all the equipment or Assets. There will be controllers and other hardware, perhaps racking, cabling (of which some is an asset and some isn t) and finally the devices. You will also have to manage the network carrier and the monthly recurring network costs. This will be good or bad, depending on what level of control you feel you need over your business. Good if you want that control, bad if you don t want the hassle to manage it all. You may feel you need this approach for the security of your system, although when you look at your service provider s Data Centre, it will be hard to match it for power, cooling and physical security. You should ensure you have priced in any costs required to get future software upgrades. Otherwise your system will slowly get dated. Many manufacturers offer this option for an annual fee. It may even be tied to your maintenance contract. You will also have to include maintenance costs, especially if leasing as the leasing company will demand it. You will have to determine the monthly carrier line costs and LD costs. These will not be included in the hardware price. And if you are going VoIP for the telephones, you should also consider the cost of any networking upgrade to support it.

24 PRICING COMPARISON SUMMARY Cloud Pricing Components Per Line/Phone Monthly fee Monthly Application fees? 1 Telephone set costs Installation (if needed) Cabling Data Network LD Costs above package? 2 Internet (Upgrade) monthly 1 May not be a separate fee 2 Does it included unlimited LD or is there an overage cost? 3 New equipment may only be rack mounted and you may need to install We covered a lot on the prior pages, so here is a summary of all the possible cost implications in selecting a new system. Monthly Fee CAPEX One-Time Cost Annual Fee Premise Pricing Components Total Equipment Costs Software Maintenance fee Installation Cabling Room Renovations (Rack?) 3 Data Network Integration Costs Hardware Maintenance Monthly Line/Trunk costs Monthly LD costs

25 FINAL THOUGHTS Your business communications solution is too vital to leave it to a Service Provider that can t come on site when needed A provider that offers both Cloud AND Premise solutions can offer a more balanced view of what is best for you. Support Features The biggest decision of all may be the company selling you the equipment or service. Many Cloud providers sell it as a DIY project. You order the lines and the telephones, the telephones are shipped to site, and then you set it up yourself. Many are based out of the USA. So there are no operations in Canada. Could be a risk too far. So perhaps look to a company that can offer you both choices, Cloud or Premise, that can be on site to set up both for you and operates a 24x7x365 help desk that is proficient in solving all the business telephone problems you have and that can have a technician in truck come to your site. 24 x 7 x 365 Network Operations Centre Full remote support Canada / USA access with live answer Full warranty on all equipment for any failure resulting from normal failure Warranty lasts as long as you have contract Warranty includes Advanced Set Replacement Web portal access for moves, adds, changes Access to online user training at any time On-Site support, if needed

26 WANT EVEN MORE INFORMATION? For more information, as well as detailed explanations of the industry-specific language used, please visit our website: If you are reconsidering your telephone system and need some help understanding how to go about the decision, we have a guide that can help you there: Using Cloud to Simplify Your Move