Business VoIP and the Small Business: A Winning Combination
Business VoIP was made for the small business. Some might call business VoIP a hosted or cloud solution. That’s what we are talking about - using the cloud for your small business. Laying out a capital expense can be hard for a small business. You do not always have the cash to plunk down for an office phone system. That is when hosted is your answer. There is no need for a large capital outlay; in fact you pay just a monthly fee. So let’s learn more about why business VoIP for small business is a winning combination.
Business VoIP was made for the small business. Some might call business VoIP a hosted or cloud solution. That’s what we are talking about - using the cloud for your small business. Laying out a capital expense can be hard for a small business. You do not always have the cash to plunk down for an office phone system. That is when hosted is your answer. There is no need for a large capital outlay; in fact you pay just a monthly fee. So let’s learn more about why business VoIP for small business is a winning combination. Buy what you want, when you want
Maybe you are growing, and in the next 6 months anticipate adding 3 to 4 people, even a person every 2 months. With a traditional phone system you would be asked for your growth and sold a system that you can grow into for the next 3 to 5 years, requiring you to pay for that system upfront. Don’t get me wrong, a traditional system is great for many small businesses, but the big difference with a hosted/cloud solution is that you can buy just the 4 lines now and grow as you want; many times without the commitments of having to buy more. Just make sure you work with a provider who understands and prices you for starting small and growing at a slow pace.
Get big company features for a fraction of the cost
Maybe you are a small business who has 20 phones, but only 5 of them are used by sales folks. You have decided you need to record the calls of these 5 people. When you purchase a hosted business VoIP solution you have the ability to purchase a la carte options for your staff. One of these options can be recording. So now, instead of spending money to record all staff you only pay for the 5. Other options include contact center and on-demand conferencing. So look at what features you need for your business and then see if the cloud solution is the best one for you.
Still not sure if business VoIP is right for your small business office phone systems? Contact us for a demo or just to talk about a hosted system. We are here to talk to you about the options and we are a vendor that can provide you the right solution at the right time.
About Us
Gaynor Telesystems Inc. has been proudly serving the North State Communities of Chico, Yuba City, Marysville, Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Redding, and Red Bluff for more than 40 years. We hope the information you found in this blog was useful. To learn more about how Gaynor Telesystems Inc. can help you install, maintain or service business communication solutions, please contact us at 877-Gaynor1.
What’s the Difference Between a Hosted Solution and Business VoIP?
In the world of telecom words have different meanings. At Gaynor Telesystems we understand we talk a funny language, and we are here to help you navigate the differences and choose the right solutions for you and your company. When it comes to a hosted solution and business VoIP you may be talking apples to apples or you may be talking watermelon to kiwi. So let’s discuss hosted and business VoIP.
In the world of telecom words have different meanings. At Gaynor Telesystems we understand we talk a funny language, and we are here to help you navigate the differences and choose the right solutions for you and your company. When it comes to a hosted solution and business VoIP you may be talking apples to apples or you may be talking watermelon to kiwi. So let’s discuss hosted and business VoIP.
It is not wrong if you call a hosted solution a business VoIP solution, but saying business VoIP is hosted would not be correct. On the most basic level, business VoIP simply refers to using different protocols to run business phone systems. Hosted is having your phone system in the cloud, and only paying a monthly expense for the use.
Now the nuts and bolts. It’s okay if even after this you have questions. This is not a simple topic.
Business VoIP
As the industry is changing so is the meaning of the words. If you go up to a business associate and say business VoIP, you are talking a premise based solution. This is normally a capital expenditure and is a long term investment. It is also a solution that works with your network. It becomes a part of your network and uses network equipment. There are security measures in place to allow for business communications to happen without disrupting your data network.
When you decide you want a business VoIP solution, your vendor will ask for a network diagram, maybe even see if you want to have a network assessment done. These are important since you are integrating your phone system into your data network. Normally, your telecom vendor will work very closely with your onsite or even remote IT manager to make sure the new business communication solution does not negatively impact the data operations.
Hosted Solution
This is also known as a Cloud Solution. It really is that simple. The features and functions all happen in the cloud. As the business owner you pay a monthly contract fee to have telephone service. Depending on the service provider (ShoreTel Sky or NEC UCaaS) you can choose your dial tone type, rental of handsets, features and more. The set up and management of the system is done mainly remotely. The equipment that is located in your office is a couple pieces of networking equipment and the handsets on the desks of your staff.
Your bandwidth is the critical factor in your deployment of a hosted solution. Your bandwidth requirements will increase based on the number of handsets and your call volume. You are no longer having to buy/pay monthly for phone lines, you pay for bandwidth.
The reason why hosted is becoming such a wonderful choice for businesses is simply because it is an on-going expense, not a capital purchase. Since it is a monthly fee, there is no large upfront purchase price. The costs of good, reliable internet service has gone down, thus allowing this new type of communication solution to become affordable for clients big and small.
Our hope is to educate you on the basic differences of business VoIP and a hosted solution. We know you may still have more questions, and we are here to answer those! Feel free to fill out the form below!
About Us
Gaynor Telesystems Inc. has been proudly serving the North State Communities of Chico, Yuba City, Marysville, Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Redding, and Red Bluff for more than 40 years. We hope the information you found in this blog was useful. To learn more about how Gaynor Telesystems Inc. can help you install, maintain or service business communication solutions, please contact us at 877-Gaynor1.
3 Good Reasons You Should Consider a Hosted VoIP Phone System Today
Hosted VoIP is a phrase that has been thrown around a lot these last couple of years. Reports are coming out daily on who are the leaders in the industry and why you should go hosted for your business. There are many reasons why a business should look at a hosted solution for VoIP phone service. Let’s break it down for you.
Hosted VoIP is a phrase that has been thrown around a lot these last couple of years. Reports are coming out daily on who are the leaders in the industry and why you should go hosted for your business. There are many reasons why a business should look at a hosted solution for VoIP phone service. Let’s break it down for you.
You want a set monthly price
You are great at your business, but you are not a telecom person. You want a set price in your budget so you know what your costs will be. It is much easier for you to allocate monthly funds than it is to do a capital purchase and years of support plans. Let’s make it a package deal and pay each month. This is great for many businesses.
You have limited IT staff
Like many small businesses, you have a part time IT person. Well, really you have an on-call IT person. Yes, you have upgraded your cabling in your building to CAT 5 or CAT 6, and you have PoE Switches from Adtran, but you still can’t justify hiring a full-time IT position.
You have seasonal staff
Maybe you are a tax preparation business and have about 15 people year round, but starting in February to April 15th, you grow another 22 people. You do not want to pay monthly expenses for these folks, when you do not need them.
These are just three reasons to go for a hosted VoIP solution. Hosted simply means the main brain of the system is not housed at your location. You can have a VoIP system, and have the brains at your own location.
The biggest concern a business should have about using a hosted solution is the bandwidth required for the operations on the phone system. Since each and every phone call and operation is handled in the cloud, your business communication system relies on business grade internet service. There are measurements that are needed to ensure you have enough resources for a quality phone call.
With all the hosted vendors and options available it may be very confusing to really understand hosted and why or why not to invest in this type of phone solution. At Gaynor we sell the ShoreTel Sky Hosted Solution and the NEC UCaaS solution. Just like a traditional VoIP solution each of these comes with different flavors and different models with different features. We recommend working with a local vendor who can walk you through the different options. Even though you will not own the brains of the system, it is always a good idea to work with a local company.
About Us
Gaynor Telesystems Inc. has been proudly serving the North State Communities of Chico, Yuba City, Marysville, Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Redding, and Red Bluff for more than 40 years. We hope the information you found in this blog was useful. To learn more about how Gaynor Telesystems Inc. can help you install, maintain or service business communication solutions, please contact us at 877-Gaynor1.
Related Articles:
What's the Difference Between a Hosted Solution and Business VoIP?
How Multi-Site Phone Systems Can Benefit from Hosted VoIP Solutions
You may be a big company with 12 branches and 200 employees or you may be a small company with 4 offices and 20 employees. Either way, you need a multi-site phone system and hosted VoIP might be right for you.
You may be a big company with 12 branches and 200 employees or you may be a small company with 4 offices and 20 employees. Either way, you need a multi-site phone system and hosted VoIP might be right for you.
As a company with many offices, you try and appear as one company with one image. You may also want to share duties between offices. Here are 3 reasons why hosted VoIP might be right for your business.
Upfront Costs
With a hosted VoIP system you don’t have a large upfront cost for each of your sites. In the traditional world, you would buy a phone system for each site and maybe even voicemail for each site. With hosted you are all one site in the cloud. You simply advise what the address is for the locations and within days you can have a system up and running.
Time
Deployment of 6 locations may be a little much for a company to take on. This problem is solved with hosted VoIP because the hosted or Cloud Company does much of the programming and fine tuning. Yes, you have to actively be involved and provide addresses and phones numbers for each multi-site phone system, but once that is all programmed, it really is about sending the phones to each location and plugging into routers/switches. Simple and easy. No need to send IT to each location, saving you time and having your deployment go faster.
Ease of Changes
Maybe your business is seasonal, such as a tax business, and one of your locations grows from 5 people to 20 then shrinks again. With a hosted VoIP solution you can pay per month for those seats/phones you want. You can set up your monthly cost for the multi-site phone system knowing you will grow and shrink. You would then keep the phone handsets for each busy season, but the recurring pricing would change with the seasons.
Worried that hosted VoIP is too costly for a multi-site phone system? Give us a call today, and we can show you a demo or send you a quote. We can show you how much it will cost on a monthly basis and help you decide the best route for your company.
About Us
Gaynor Telesystems Inc. has been proudly serving the North State Communities of Chico, Yuba City, Marysville, Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Redding, and Red Bluff for more than 40 years. We hope the information you found in this blog was useful. To learn more about how we can help you install, maintain or service business communication solutions, please contact us at 877-Gaynor1.