In our last two articles about cloud-based phone systems, we discussed the “business sense” and “financial sense” of choosing a hosted phone system. While we made some good points to consider cloud as an option, there were also scenarios we discussed that warranted an on-premise system.
In this last and final article of this series, we want to pause for a moment to ask some questions, in regard to, choosing a hosted phone system. Why are you currently looking for a new phone system? What problem or problems are you trying to solve?
This is where the rubber meets the road when selecting a phone system that best suits your business. It can either give you traction for the next 3-5 years or cause you to lose traction and slide into a ditch.
What Really Matters to Your Business?
Ignore all the hype you hear with the newest cloud technology, the bells, and whistles that come with it. Because truth is, new technology exists for both on-premise and cloud solutions. The questions you should ask is what makes the most sense for your business? What is your current technology strategy? Are there business problems you’re trying to solve and more importantly, what will happen if you don’t fix them?
What is Driving Your Business Decision
The reason we started this series with “The Business Sense” of choosing a cloud phone system is really two-fold. Firstly, we know that when we start with a business strategy mindset, it sets you up to make better and more informed decisions, and secondly, we believe and know to be true that choosing a phone system, no matter the solution, is a business decision.
The “Business Sense” of a hosted phone system is understanding the implications it has on your business and how it should align with the rest of your technology goals
Does a Hosted Phone System Financially Make Sense?
A couple of financial advantages of a hosted phone system that we covered in our last article are the fact that software upgrades and maintenance are built into the monthly expense. Also, the monthly fixed rate can be very attractive for businesses who want to know what they will be spending every month for their telecom.
However, monthly fixed rates, software upgrades, and maintenance agreements are not only available for purely hosted environments. At Unified Technologies, through our Managed Services Agreement, we can provide this same financial flexibility for on-premise, hybrid, hosted and private cloud solutions. So, to solely make a decision based on the need for a consistent bill and software upgrade would not be the right move. Your question should be, are you a CapEx or OpEx company. A pure cloud-based phone system cannot be set up as a capital expenditure and an on-premise, hybrid and private cloud can be set up as both a CapEx or OpEx.
What about Common Sense for Cloud-Based Phone Systems?
Take everything you know about your business; your technology strategy, your goals, your operational procedures, your financial policies and make a decision based on that. Whether you want a cloud-based phone system, an on-premise, hybrid, or private cloud system, we can engineer it. In today’s tech economy, your options are numerous. If a cloud-based phone system is a direction you want to take your communications environment, then there are solutions and applications to accomplish it.
