Tech it or leave it: does your business phone system need new hardware?
As technology is becoming more and more prevalent in business, there has been a movement away from the traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system to a hosted phone system. In the present situation, the right phone software can mean everything for your customer service and the accessibility of your everyday work.
If you are new to the jargon of the telephony industry, here is a breakdown of advantages and disadvantages of the traditional PBX and hosted phone system so you can decide whether your business phone system needs new hardware.
Table of contents
- Leave it: Traditional PBX
- Tech it: Hosted phone system
- Final thoughts
Leave it: Traditional PBX
The traditional office phone system sparks something of nostalgia, in the same way that dial up internet does. It has always worked, and it is what we have always used - if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it, right? Well, let us break it down:
Advantages
- Switch calls on local lines between company users
- It is what we know and have used for years
- Share a number of external phone lines
- Connects internal phones
Disadvantages
- Maximum number of outside lines
- Maximum number of internal devices
- Maximum number of internal extensions
- Shared outside lines for external calls
- Physical installation
- Not particularly affordable
Tech it: Hosted Phone System
The virtual system that gives 24/7 support has taken over the telephony market as the new favourite. It does everything the PBX can do, but over the internet, or the ‘cloud’. This makes it more cost-efficient. This system is particularly interesting at the current time, as it allows businesses to work remotely from home with no technological changes needed.
Advantages
- All organisation’s communications can be managed by one interface
- Good audio quality
- Ability to work remotely
- Cloud-based phone system
- No transfer costs for moving premises
- Significant potential savings
- Features with no additional cost allowing 24/7 user support
- No need to purchase equipment
- Presents a professional image without the need for office premises
- Automatic upgrades
Disadvantages
- Potential for interference as requires internet
- Potential time lag when transferring calls to mobile phones
Final Thoughts
Although, in 2020, the majority of your business is done online, through email, social media and messenger apps, phones are still vital to companies’ day to day running. Whether it’s liaising with colleagues or closing that business deal, phones matter. This year has seen a lot of our office work transferred to virtual working and the technological nightmare that can become.
Hosted phone systems allow you to easily work from home, whilst still calling your colleagues and customers as if you were in the office. As long as you have an internet connection, you can make a phone call. And the internet is everywhere these days.
In the end, it is important for businesses to decide what phone system works best for them. The right phone system can really make a difference to customer relations and the ease of being able to work to your best ability as a team.
