The right phone solution plays an important role in the success
of your business. There are two options to consider for your
business phone solution: on-premises or cloud-based.
Understanding the key differences between the two options
can help you make the right decision for your business and to
get the most value from your investment.
Your phone system is at your location and you are responsible for installing and maintaining.
Your phone system resides in the cloud using your Internet connection with no on-premises hardware or software to install or maintain except for phones.
Up to 40% more costly than cloud-based, requiring cabling, hardware, closet space, electric & cooling
Pay in advance for planned growth
Multiple locations require multiple phone systems
Pay for all upgrades & maintenance
No hardware costs except the phones themselves
Pay ONLY for what you need & use
Multiple locations are supported by one phone system in the cloud
Most features & upgrades are included in cost
Time-intensive setup, requiring installing significant hardware
Quick & easy setup and installation
Harder to scale, requiring thorough planning
(and a crystal ball)
Takes weeks or months to add or delete phone lines
Scales to your needs as you grow, using exactly what you need, when you need it
Phone lines can be added or deleted in a matter of minutes
Requires an IT specialist to manage & make changes
Other than phones, no maintenance required
Time to market = Varies
Upgrades require manual updates from an IT specialist
Time to market = Immediate
All upgrades are made available automatically through the cloud
No mobile compatibility, making it more difficult to accommodate a mobile workforce
Anyone can connect from multiple devices with an Internet connection, making it easy to extend to a remote workforce
Redundancy is possible, but costly
Recovery is typically slower, negatively impacting customer experience
Built-in failover in the event of Internet or power loss
Calls automatically rerouted to other data centers so customer experience is not affected
Faster setup
