Reasons to Buy Hosted VoIP

By Robin Wilding
Updated: July 12, 2011

There is a reason that Hosted VoIP is the fastest growing element of telecommunications since the invention of the short-wave radio. It's cheap, it's high-tech, and readily available. It also works in a variety of verticals.

Small to medium businesses across the world are leveraging the technology that has been used by enterprise corporations for years, thanks to the cost-effective, easy implementation of Hosted VoIP. Multiple verticals are leveraging the expandable/collapsible technology:

• Medical
• Industrial
• Commercial
• Retail
• Offices
• Call Centers/Contact Centers
• Education
• Financial Services
• B2B
• Consumer
• Insurance
• Telecommunications
• Transportation

Each company and vertical choose Hosted VoIP for their own plethora of reasons, which range from costs to implementation to skill to maintenance.

Costs

Let's start with the big one, cost. Hosted VoIP solutions have a low total cost of ownership, but more importantly have low-cost implementations (no need to buy an expensive IP-PBX), which allows businesses to get state-of-the-art technology without the upfront price tag.

Another selling point on price is the pay-as-you-grow model. The ability to pay for additional users as they join your network is a godsend. The expandable/collapsible services can grow or shrink with your business, without buying expensive trunk lines. Also you don't have to spend so much money on manpower trying to track down who the mystery employees are making long-distance phone calls on the company dime.

Apart from TCO, Hosted VoIP solutions also provide a steady, reliable cost structure that can be budgeted for.

Space Saving

Despite the cheap real estate made available by the real estate market collapse post-recession—its still expensive. Many offices have a small footprint which means you need technology with the same—so avoid the space-hogging PBXs.

Setup

Many small and medium businesses do not have the technical know-how to install their own services, not even mentioning the maintenance know how (oops, too late). Hosted solutions require little setup, and its all done for you. Poof, its done. Usually in just a few days.

Maintenance

After setup comes maintenance. Maintaining your own system takes valuable resources, often causes unneeded downtime, and means delays in technology upgrades.

State-of-the-art-ness

Being on the cutting-edge of technology is critical, but who has the time to keep track of new and emerging technologies for your phones...and computers...and phones...and essentially everything else. Much simpler to leave it to the experts.

Future Proof

Technologies grow exponentially. Many Hosted companies will not only keep you abreast of new technologies coming to market, but will also automatically upgrade you. Hosted solutions insulate you from buying an expensive system, only to have to re-haul it a few years down the road—that's the hosted company's problem.