Many businesses still use cost heavy on-premise VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephone systems, though trends are evolving into Cloud-based management for their lower operating cost and ease of maintenance.
On-Premise Phone Systems
An on-premise phone system uses hardware and software located within your building to manage, operate, and secure the voice infrastructure. You are the sole owner of your environment which means that as the host you’re responsible for power, HVAC, LAN (Local Area Network) port capacity, maintenance, staff/support, installation, security, software, upgrades and troubleshooting when the phone system is down. This implies a much higher initial operating cost, while you have more control over physical aspects of the operation. This environment is also subject to local outages if you do not have backup power sources, which can potentially take communications offline. If your staff works remotely, it poses more of a challenge because your Network Administrator will have to set up MRA (Mobile and Remote Access) connectivity or an alternative VPN to access the network.
Cloud-Based Phone Systems
In a Cloud-based VoIP system the hardware and software are managed off-premises in a datacenter, and you do not invest in the entire infrastructure but harness the existing operating model of a Saas (Software as a service) provider to manage and store data. This alleviates companies from having to worry about heavy upfront investments and the costs associated with maintenance and support because data services are typically charged in a monthly payment plan. Any upgrades and maintenance of the Cloud-based VoIP system are done by the system vendor; equates to zero-dollar upgrade cost and no down time moving forward. Additional benefits to managing off-premise Cloud-based VoIP system is if you lose your local power source Communications will remain online in a datacenter, without interruption. You can save money through a Co-managed IT (Information Technology) partnership because instead of paying a full-time administrator, you have access to staff as needed only when you need it. A notable advantage with working with a Cloud-based VoIP system is if your team works remotely employees can access the business phone system from anywhere in the world, all they need is an internet connection to make and receive calls. The Co-managed IT partner will take care of configuring your MRA (Mobile and Remote Access) without necessarily requiring a VPN.
Unified Communications Solution
If you are deciding on how to evolve your voice communications environment, NTG’s experts can help you migrate from an on-premise phone system to a cloud-based service, then unify it with your other types of communications devices. Users can collaborate in real time without dependency on being in the same office building, city, state, or country, which improves productivity and lowers cost.
