Eliminating cost and complexity with hosted VoIP

Transcription

1 Eliminating cost and complexity with hosted VoIP Hosted VoIP providers offer the equipment, software, and technical expertise to deploy VoIP without the risk associated with launching an in- house solution. Leave challenges like design and integration to the provider, along with management and maintenance. Find out whether hosted or managed VoIP is a good fit for your business. This article pinpoints the questions you should be asking yourself and your potential provider that could make or break the case for hosted VoIP as it relates to your organization s needs. Page 1

2 Business communications from the network a good thing, ready now What if you could get the latest in voice communications solutions for your company, right now, for a monthly fee per user - - and without: Hiring or training any technicians Allocating space Taking out a loan or signing a lease Buying and setting up a phone system, PBX, or servers Buying maintenance contracts Licensing software Installing and testing the system Tracking down the bugs Patching the software Upgrading the software and hardware Worrying about end of life of what you owned Whew, sounds pretty good, right? Especially if you are busy doing what your company does for your customers and don t want to spend time on technology. Well, this is now possible thanks to a growing number of innovative companies such as DCDIAL. Just as you can get your , sales software, accounting software, payroll services, and other business services from the network, you can now get top- quality voice communications from network- based providers, too. You may hear these applications called hosted services or Software as a Service (SaaS), which means that you don t have to do all that heavy lifting listed above. Instead, a skilled staff runs the service for you, 24/7, and shares the cost with hundreds or even thousands of other companies that also buy the service from the network. Since these new voice services run on Internet Protocol (IP), they are often called voice over IP (VoIP), thus the phrases hosted VoIP or SaaS VoIP. The phones in your office connect to the hosted VoIP service via your company s standard Internet connection. This is all possible because the Internet connection to your business is now a proven, solid service, as reliable as phone lines have been for years. In fact, midsized and larger businesses usually buy the Internet connection from the same companies that provide phone lines and trunks. Page 2

3 The price is right, too. With a simple three- year cost comparison between the monthly expense of a hosted VoIP service and all the costs and expenses represented by the list above, most businesses will find the hosted VoIP service to have lower costs, by as much as 50%, as well as offering more flexibility. This is especially true if your company is changing or growing on a seasonal or annual basis; hosted VoIP (and Unified Communications) user subscriptions can be turned on or off as needed, while on- premise systems have to be configured, installed and maintained for the maximum anticipated number of users. Sounds pretty good, right? Maybe you re thinking there must be a catch? Well, it s hard to think of one. Let s look at all hosted VoIP against the list of communications features your business wants and needs. Phones and features: Of course, you want to have attractive, functional and easy- to- use phones. You ll find that hosted VoIP companies have a solid selection of phones, in a range of sizes, numbers of lines, and types of displays. The features for these phones - - Caller ID and name, call waiting, call transfer, Do Not Disturb (DND), call forwarding with rules, and so on - - rival the latest in on- site IP Key Systems or IP PBXs. In fact, the hosted VoIP companies often use current versions of VoIP software from the likes of Cisco, Asterisk, Siemens and other leading VoIP product companies. You may also need PBX features such as operator stations, hunt groups, call park/call pickup, or music on hold, as well as fax lines and incoming toll- free (800) numbers. These types of features are now available from hosted VoIP providers, either included in the deal or for a small add- on charge. Auto- attendant, voic , conferencing, and other voice applications: Your operations will also need these applications to support your business operations. The good news is that the hosted VoIP companies include these features as part of the package, i.e., nothing more to buy and no additional appliances to install. Also, the administration is usually done via a simple Web browser interface, so you can quickly change or update the hosted VoIP system to add users or change an automated attendant script. Most hosted VoIP services do not offer advanced contact- center features, but a few do. If they don t, most have partnerships with hosted call center firms to provide them when needed. Inexpensive long- distance: Once the basic feature requirements are met, you can focus on additional cost reductions, starting with long- distance fees. If your business is a multi- location company, you will usually get all your calling between locations at no additional charge; so if you have been paying for those calls, that s a 100% savings. Calls outside your company take advantage of the same low- rate VoIP technologies that are available from on- premise systems and from consumer Internet phone services, i.e., routing the calls over the Internet. For this reason, you can usually choose between a plan with a low per- minute calling rate and a plan that has a large number of minutes, or even unlimited calling, in a single flat rate per month. In most cases, this can produce significant savings, probably around 50% or so. Finally, if your firm has much international calling, the savings just keep coming. Often, the hosted VoIP services offer calls to all the world's major countries for less than 20% of usual calling- card or direct- dial rates, a potential 80% savings. Page 3

4 Unified communications: In addition to traditional voice (PBX- type) communications, you may want the advanced features and benefits of UC. This can include basic features such as find me/follow me so that incoming callers can reach you wherever you are, or a soft- phone client so your PC can be your phone from any network- connected location. Many hosted VoIP services also offer advanced services such as sending voic alerts to (and thereby to mobile devices, too), enabling mobile devices to make inexpensive long- distance or international calls, and integration to selected business applications such as Salesforce.com (so sales users can call directly from their customer records and will see customer name pop- ups for incoming calls). Increasingly, the hosted VoIP providers are beginning to incorporate the advanced UC features into their services at a modest fee. Work from any location: One of the greatest things about the hosted VoIP service is that the users can have all the same features from anywhere. They can use their VoIP phone from essentially anywhere on the Internet, so that employees who work from home or other remote locations can have all the features they would have in the office. The flexibility is a wonderful benefit, and the money saved by avoiding additional office space and mileage reimbursement costs can really add up. In summary, hosted VoIP services are a good thing for your business, and they are now ready for serious business operations. If you are shopping for voice communications for your entire business, for a new location, or even for just small groups of employees such as remote- location or international workers, then hosted VoIP services, such as those outlined in this report, are definitely worthy of careful consideration. Page 4

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