It can be daunting looking at all the different business communication systems on the market. In the digital age, is it best to switch over to cloud based phone system or stick with a traditional PBX phone system for your small business? Here is a comparison of the two systems and what each will do for your business communications.
Mark Weigelt, a senior applications engineer at Usherwood, detailed some of the factors he looks at when analyzing a business’ communications requirements. For one, he looks at the size of the organization. Then, once he determines the number of lines needed, he can dig in to look at the finer details that will tell him the best system to implement.
Does the business use analog devices that sync with existing phones? How easy will it be to install a new system? What are the daily call volumes? Is there a need for call center functionality? Does the client need metrics from the phone system? These are just some of the details he collects before making a recommendation to any business.
PBX is an abbreviation for “private branch exchange”, otherwise known as a private telephone network. . This is a physical piece of hardware installed in the office that manages the phone system's internal (private) functions and routing.
PBX phone systems are a more traditional approach to multi line phone systems. However, they're still relevant for certain types of businesses. These include healthcare, manufacturing, big enterprises with many users, and fire or burglary detection services. Emergency detection hardware is required to dial out to emergency services, so they would need traditional systems or cellular dialing services.
There are few benefits to a small business with an on-premises PBX phone system. If the company is in an area where fast, reliable internet bandwidth is unavailable, an analog PBX system may be the only option. If the investment for an analog PBX system was made years ago and the system still meets all the needs, there may not be a compelling reason to change.
However, it may be cheaper in the long run to move to a hosted phone system with continued support after installation. After all is said and done, this may be cheaper than the cost of phone numbers and associated fees from traditional phone carriers.
As one can imagine, physical multi line phone systems do not carry the same capabilities as cloud based phone systems. The workforce is moving towards work-from-anywhere culture. Traditional systems anchored to office desks aren’t exactly portable to accommodate this. Traditional PBX systems also don’t offer videoconferencing, which has become a staple of the remote workforce.
Phone conference calls have long been a thing of the past. The list of cloud service features is continually growing, which has outpaced PBX systems by a mile.
Many on-premises PBX systems have been around for so long that there no longer supported with firmware upgrades. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation with PBX Toll fraud and eavesdropping. Read more about how other smart devices can be hacked in our article Can My Printer Be Hacked?
Cloud based phone systems are a newer method of business communications. These systems require no hardware to be installed in the office location (other than a desk phone if you choose to use one). The PBX is hosted in a data center and the users connect via the internet. One of the best cloud phone systems for small business is Microsoft Teams. This is because of the security features and all-in-one communications tools, including:
Cloud based communications systems offer portability, security and user-friendliness for organizations. These systems are often used because they translate well into the work-from-anywhere workforce. This is because applications like Microsoft Teams can be installed on mobile phones and portable devices for use on the go. Employees will enjoy this feature as it increases their availability throughout their workday.
VoIP, or Voice Over Internet , is the way cloud based services transmit the data in a phone call. VoIP for your voice into a digital signal that travels via the internet. This is routed to your chosen cloud based provider, and converted back into a voice signal and transmitted to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)to the person on the other end of the line. This blurs the line between analog and internet calls, meaning your computer can be your phone. This makes business phone calls more convenient. It also eliminates the need for employees to hand out their personal phone numbers, which will likely be more comfortable for them.
These systems can also make great call management systems for small business, Weigelt explained. When many outside calls are coming in, they should be routed to different departments via call routing. This ensures your customers, clients or vendors can speak to a real person on your end. Cloud services allow you to manage these call flows, which will improve your customer service capabilities.
Cybersecurity is often much stronger for cloud based systems. This is because these hosting companies have robust infrastructure and policies to increase cybersecurity. This would be too costly for a small company. For example, Microsoft Teams enforces strict cybersecurity measures for every organization. These features include multifactor authentication encryption of data in transit and at rest. Features like Safe Link and Safe Attachment scan and detect malicious links or attachments. This makes cloud based phone services more secure than ever.
The biggest downside to cloud based phone systems would be their reliance on the internet. When a network of devices communicate via the internet, an internet outage will shut down the whole system. The good news is, internet outages are often brief if they ever do happen. However, Cloud based systems can also cause issues if there are remote employees that don’t have a strong internet connection. Many companies get around this by supplying internet routers to remote workers. Many now offer a stipend for staff to set up routers in their home offices.
Cloud based systems may not work well for very large enterprise organizations with a large number of users. The cost advantages of a hosted system can lessen on a large scale and user administration can be cumbersome with some providers.
Though it's tempting to set up a new system on your own, there are many details that you might miss. Weigelt talked about these “gotcha” problems that can arise. These might include interference with fire and alarm systems when changing phone numbers. This is because your traditional phones may be linked to these emergency systems. This is why it's important to consult an expert when you're considering a change over to cloud phone systems.