Business Phone System ( Managed VOIP PBX)
Phone systems for business is no longer just a tool for making and receiving calls. It's an important tool to connect and collaborate with team members and customers using audio, video, text, file sharing, conference calls and more with flexibility to be able to communicate while at office, working from home or off-site or at away location.
For most businesses, their phone is their primary point of contact with their customers. Any disconnection or call drops or issues with the phone system means your business is missing out from current and potential customers, and you are at the complete mercy of the traditional telecom service provider while you wait for your service to be restored.
Typically, businesses implement a phone system in the work environment to connect and collaborate. For the longest time businesses have been choosing what's available or been referred or been approached at that given time and once a working system is installed, money is spent they pay recurring operating fees irrespective of services and prices.
With change in technology there many new business phone systems have emerged in form for VOIP PBX systems which provide more features, functionality and reliable connection(with fall back options) while reducing your over telephone services cost as well as recurring costs. They come with all basic features from traditional telephony plus advanced features as well as many features from wireless cellular phone systems with ability to extend/forward call management to mobile based telephony applications.
If you are a business and still using a traditional non-VOIP business phone system or haven’t upgraded or revived your phone system in more than 5 years, it’s probably a right time to get your phone system and phone bill audited and reviewed to identify how you can benefit with advanced features while saving money by upgrading your existing phone system.
The new business phone system, especially VOIP PBX system allows to use feature rich telephony for more organized communication, manage multiple calls, voice mails, call forwarding and tons of features and more but at much lower cost than traditional business phone systems. Some of the advanced features available are Mobile App, Find me follow, voicemail to email, offline phone mode, auto attendant mode, remote voicemail access and almost 100s of more additional features.
How does a VOIP office phone system work?
A VOIP Phone System (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is any phone system which uses your internet connection(Fiber/DSL/Cable) to communicate to telecom provider’s phone exchange to send , receive and manage calls instead of traditional analog phone connection.
Calls are routed using SIP(Session Internet Protocol) using SIP Server which is connected to ISDN(Integrated Services Digital Network) to create a diverse interconnected phone network
There are three primary types of VOIP phone systems used by businesses around the world: Premise Hosted, Cloud Hosted and Hybrid systems.
A premise-hosted phone system uses a piece of equipment called a PBX (public branch exchange), which is installed within your office. The PBX is the equipment that gives you features such as extension dialling, voicemail-to-email and call conferencing and other features. When you choose to go with an on-premise system you own all the hardware; it’s yours to buy, sell, upgrade, discard and maintain as you so choose.
Secondly, a cloud hosted system can provide all the same features as a PBX but is hosted in the cloud by a third-party vendor. In this scenario, initial installation cost is low and you don’t need to invest in buying as much hardware upfront, but it also locks you into a monthly recurring hosting fee and any changes you need to make to your system (ex. adding or removing users and numbers) will need to be done through your vendor.
Lastly, hybrid System is combination in-premises and cloud hosted system to offer more features and flexibilities from both type of system as well as extra layer of security, connection fall back to reduce and down-time, provide back -up, alternate connection path, 24x7 support to manage, monitor and troubleshoot your system if any hardware or software issue arises and more.
How much does an business phone system cost?
For any business the cost of phone system would vary based on current infrastructure, number of active phone lines, number of users, type of phone system, choice of hardware, choice of features and various other factors.
Typical cost can be broken down into :
One-time Cost
Cost of cabling or wireless infrastructure for each desktop phone (wired/mobile)
Cost of Hardware (Phones, PBX, POE Switch, Wireless Transceiver)
Cost of Installation and User training
Recurring Cost
Cost of phone services- monthly
Cost of Internet services - monthly
Based on averages one-time costing for a 5 user business phone system will be in range of $3000-$5000 and monthly fee around $100-$250.depending on services and additional features
But for 12-15 user business phone system will be in range of $6000-$10000 and monthly fee around $250-$500 depending on services and additional features.
As you can see pricing per users vary based on number of users and types of services but as a golden rule per user cost ranges between $250-$600/user while more the users, lesser the cost.
Should I upgrade or replace existing phone system?
There are many factors which can dictate your decisions on whether to buy a full featured or upgrade existing system but most critical factor would be - reliability of existing system(repair cost can add up quickly), Monthly recurring cost (non-competitive cost can add up over time), productivity (advanced system would increase productivity by better collaboration and communication with customer and coworkers), Long term goals( Advanced system can assist to achieve them by preventing from shutdown or no support of existing system or hardware used) and flexibility (system supports work from home, remote access, connection from remote work sites and more).
But there are few other scenarios which allows easy decisions :
The first situation is moving to/starting a new office space. When starting fresh in a new office, it only makes sense to take the opportunity to upgrade your telephony capabilities at the same time to avail advanced system.Cost of moving an old system to new space can cost as much as installing a new system.
The second situation involves recognizing that your current phone system is no longer meeting either the needs of your business or the needs of your customers.
Perhaps your current system was top notch at time of installation but it’s been long time now, it’s lagging features, missing capabilities, causing regular repairs and servicing, unreliable connection, un-upgradeable, damaged or outdated hardware or having high cost of operation and services. Telephony is very important tool as it affect business growth and prosperity.
Finally, each business phone system incurs monthly fee for basic services as well as added features and associated services, which look smaller as individual but combined together as yearly expense. Upgrading your phone system might be an excellent way of reducing your monthly/yearly phone bill. Often switch traditional system to VOIP system can reduce monthly cost by 30% and choosing a right VOIP system provider and solution can offer you 100s additional advance features at same prices to VOIP phone system.
Unsure about upgrading your phone system?
Upgrading your phone system is a big decision, whether it is small business or big business - cost, delay and user training is often most common thoughts which arises.
Making any decision of spending is difficult but fortunately a phone system is more of an investment which will bring return in forms of business growth, cost saving, better collaboration, reliable connection, ability to pick up missed customer connection, flexibility to connect and communicate in difficult scenarios like pandemic where remote working affects collaboration.
You’ve evaluated the pros and cons of a new phone system, but how do you know it’s the right call for your business? Will it truly reduce your monthly phone bill? What will be the ROI over the next two or three years?
An professional business telephone provider can assist with that by simply auditing your phone system and phone bill to provide you insight on current cost and capabilities of your system as well as advise you with benefits and cost savings with new potential system if there are any.
Self-Audit Questionnaire
Phone System
1. How many phones do you have?
2. Do you have a receptionist? Do they have a different phone style than the rest of the staff?
3. How many phone lines do you have coming into the building today (not including fax)?
4. How many people typically are on the phone at the same time?
5. Do you have any toll free numbers?
6. Do you currently have a conference bridge?
7. Do you supply your employees with cell phones? Do they make long distance calls? 8. Do you have branch offices? Where are they located?
9. Do you have home remote workers? Where are they located?
Broadband Internet
1. Do you have DSL or Cable or Fiber for Internet today?
2. What do you pay monthly for your Broadband connection?
Present Telecom Costs
1. What monthly amount do you pay for your phone lines?
2. What monthly amount do you pay for your toll free lines (usually this is per minute)? For how many minutes?
3. On average, how much do you spend on monthly long distance? For how many minutes?
4. Do you subscribe to a conference bridge service for tele-meetings? If so, what does this cost per month? If not, is there a cost associated for travel and expenses to bring remote employees together for weekly meetings?
5. Do you pay for employees cell phones?
6. Do you have a phone system service contract? If not, what do you do when you are having problems with your phones? Do you pay someone to come in by the hour? If so, how often do you use them and what is the average duration of their visits?
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