Hosted PBX: What You Need For Your Business
Management Insight
Most of us have an intuitive understanding that the old landline telephones are giving way to newer kinds of telecommunications structures, but not everyone is following precisely how this is happening. One of the big building blocks in the transition toward more modern telephony is called PBX or private branch exchange. Private branch exchange basically involves a system where instead of paying for multiple phone lines, a business pays for a single phone line and ‘splits that line’ virtually into many different extensions within an office or space.
Using Hosted PBX for Business: Logistics
Using a specific kind of PBX called hosted PBX can allow companies to upgrade their telecommunications systems with less cost and effort. The principle behind this is that hosted services put much more of the burden of logistics onto the supplier, rather than the client. People who are talking about hosted services often refer to “the cloud” which is a remote data storage destination maintained by a supplier.
The bottom line here is that hosted PBX allows businesses to work smarter without getting caught up in a lot of the issues with installing physical hardware in a location. This includes outsourcing items like system upgrades, patches, line changes, etc. In a sense, hosted PBX means less wrangling with hardware and less in-house work on calibrating these systems or maintaining them.
Hosted PBX and Financial Business Models
Hosted PBX solutions also help businesses to fit these expenses into their balance sheets in precise ways that can help make these acquisitions efficient. For example, where buying a lot of actual hardware for use in an office may be an expense that needs to be depreciated over time on tax filings, purchasing hosted services is usually something that can be written off immediately as an operating expense. Not to mention that hosted services are easier to adjust in terms of scale: someone who purchased X number of hard phones will have a physical surplus if needs change, but someone who ordered X number of lines in a hosted PBX setup can often just call and have their service adjusted accordingly, in order to avoid wasting money or tying up capital in underutilized assets.
Hosted PBX and Neat Extras
Another selling point of hosted PBX systems is that many of these come with additional functionality that can make a big difference in how an office works day to day. One of these is the CRM module or interface, an advanced business intelligence tool that presents clear data about customers to salespeople, support workers, or other employees. These solutions allow businesses to “know their clients” and to handle sales and customer outreach more effectively. Companies like Ringio that offer services like hosted CRM are giving clients the tools that they need to really break out of an outdated business model and into the future of enterprise telecom.
For many of the small to midsized businesses that have not enhanced their data and voice communications for a while, it makes a lot of sense to take another look at how newer service models can actually add a ton of value at relatively low prices. Rather than adding complexity, web-delivered or hosted services can take a lot of hassle out of what it takes to maintain the core operations of an office. Look for vendors offering affordable, easy to use products and services that will push productivity without breaking the bank.
Justin Stoltzfus is a freelance writer covering technology and business solutions at Techopedia, Business Finance Store and Ringio, focusing on emerging trends in IT services.
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