Are You looking for a Business Phone System? Try a Virtual PBX

Today’s demanding business economy calls for small companies to think more like large enterprises.  As cutting costs is essential, many of them have upgraded from PBX to VoIP with virtual or hosted VoIP PBX solutions. 

Traditionally, businesses had to purchase their own telephone systems.  Unfortunately, several were forced to learn hard, expensive lessons.  First and foremost, these systems have to be installed by vendors who charge healthy fees for doing so.  This price goes up when they are forced to purchase a maintenance contract that is usually anywhere from 15% to 20% of the price of the phone system.  The biggest lesson learned as that even though it appears as if the company invested into a state of the art system, they are essentially locked into an older technology.  These are only a handful of factors that have lead more organizations to VoIP virtual PBX systems. 

What is Hosted VoIP PBX?

Hosted VoIP PBX describes an instance where your phone system is outsourced to a business VoIP provider.  You subscribe for service, generally pay a fixed monthly or annual fee, and get only the features that benefit your business.  With a hosted VoIP PBX solution you have the utmost flexibility, able to scale up or down according to your staffing situation.  Most providers allow you to design the package of your choice, add service for all extensions in the office or just one.  Host VoIP PBX services generally come with free customer support and no additional cost for ongoing maintenance.  These solutions are far more advanced and robust than traditional PBX systems.  Best of all, they offer more features and customization than less effective high-end systems costing hundreds to thousands of dollars. 

The Big Difference

The biggest difference between hosted VoIP PBX and traditional systems is the installation.  These business VoIP solutions are not installed on the company’s premises like their older counterparts.  Instead, business VoIP service providers maintain them on their own sites.  Because the devices are incorporated into a virtual environment, these systems are often referred to as VoIP virtual PBX. 

VoIP virtual PBX systems are for more advantageous in comparison to traditional systems.  Some of the benefits include the following:

• Quick and Easy Installation
• No costly switching hardware required
• Low cost of operation
• Easy administration
• Greater flexibility and scalability

Features and Capabilities

Hosted VoIP PBX systems come standard with all the essential features to power your business, such as virtual receptionist, auto attendant, call forwarding, voice mail, fax mail and much more.  VoIP virtual PBX technology makes it possible to have a single phone number designated for the entire organization, even if the company has several branches spread amongst different geographical locations.  If there is not a central premises for your business, this business VoIP solution allows you to enjoy the same benefits on the road or in the home office.
With VoIP virtual PBX, extensions can be associated with individuals rather than devices.  This setup is what allows users to receive calls regardless of location.  Most systems provide the ability to program a list of telephone numbers which may include mobile phone and residential numbers where the user can be reached.  Hosted VoIP PBX associates these numbers with the user’s company extension number, enabling all calls made to the extension to be routed to alternate numbers by way of the call forwarding feature.   This functionality gives small companies the power to effectively run their business from anywhere.   

An Affordable, Scalable Solution 

VoIP virtual PBX systems are highly scalable, often supporting additional phone lines and extensions.  Because the hosted service is typically shared by a large number of users, this solution tends to be very affordable, even without volume discount offers.

Is Hosted PBX VoIP Easy to Install? Is it Complicated?

With an estimated five million small businesses in United States alone, the potential for advanced telephone systems is tremendous.  However, many of today’s small business VoIP solutions still revolve around installing and configuring complex hardware.  Although vendors have worked to simplify business installations, complications remain.  Fortunately, there is a happy medium for those looking to make the most of VoIP business phones - the answer - hosted VoIP PBX. 

As almost every small company has a limited number of employees and lack the resources to spend on IT and communications tasks, any business VoIP solution that involves keeping equipment onsite can be viewed as unpractical.  According to Savatar, a well known business VoIP consultant company, organizations suffer due to time constraint and lack of knowledge despite having more administrative control with a VoIP business phone system.  Most small businesses rely on third-party consultants to install and provide support for onsite equipment.  Lacking onsite resources for IT related tasks, these companies stand to be out of their business VoIP services for extended periods of time.  As issues can occur with network hubs, firewall blocked ports and so forth, a business VoIP business solution needs to be easy to install and manage in order to be considered an efficient solution.