Which is better Landline or Hosted PBX?

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PBX or Private Branch Exchange is a type of telephone network that is designed to use within a company. With PBX, a business can connect more telephones as compared to physical telephone lines. In addition, calls placed within an organisation are free. It is also known as the Virtual PBX and the benefits which businesses that use the service experience include elimination of setup, operation and upgrade and maintenance charges of their PBX since the service provider hosts their PBX solution for them. A Private Branch Exchange system can also offer some additional features like transfers, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), voicemail, automatic call distributor queues (ACD) and call recording.

Since a hosted PBX system provides a lot more features as compared to the physical telephone lines or site-based solutions and is very cost-effective, and large numbers of small businesses are employing them. If you are thinking about employing a PBX system for your own business, then it is significant to know which kind of PBX is suitable and best for you. Hosted or a Cloud PBX? But before you can decide you should have a basic understanding of both type of phone system.

What is a Cloud Phone System?

Following are the characteristics of a Cloud Phone System:

  • Usually cloud phone system is pay-per-seat: for instance, if you 25 employees then you will pay for the number of server space and the infrastructure usage required for 25 employees.
  • All of the hardware runs off-site: A PBX service provider or the host runs ever necessary server at a remote site and the service provider handles all important equipment and you do not have to invest your money in any hardware.
  • All of the servers can be accessed through a direct network connection: In simple terms, the cloud phone service is provided through the internet.
  • All the features provided are uniform: Since the service is scaled to a predetermined size, there is no flexibility for you to scale up or scale down. But, this also means that the service is consistent.

What is a Cloud PBX?

Even though the cloud PBX system if similar to the Hosted PBX, it is not totally the same. Following are the characteristics of a Cloud PBX:

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  • The service is accessed through a direct network connection
  • The service provider will run servers in the cloud
  • Increase in demand can affect service 
  •  It is generally pay-per-usage
  • It is scalable
  • The Storage capacity might be limited

What are the Differences between Hosted PBX and Cloud PBX?

After understanding the most basic characteristics of the cloud PBX and the hosted PBX, it is comparatively simple to recognise the similarities and differences among them. Neither of the VoIP PBX solutions is on-site or need you to invest money in any equipment. In addition, both solutions are accessed through an internet connection. However, that is where the similarities between the two end. A hosted PBX has uniform features and the service cannot be scaled up or scaled down and it is pay-per-seat. All of this makes hosted PBX a good option for a well-established business which has a fixed number of workers and generates a fixed volume of data. On the other hand, a cloud PBX is scalable, and it is pay-per-usage. All of this makes cloud PBX a good option for start-up businesses and small businesses which are growing.

 Does the PBX Solution really effective?

Yes, there are. A PBX service can be referred to hosted, site-based, virtual, cloud or even a hybrid.

Cloud On-Premise
Service provider will host hardware, software and will maintain your phone system. Your business will need to connect handsets to their network. All the hardware is at your office location and the calls are passed through your service over a dedicated voice network connection.
Monthly charges Upfront charges for installation and hardware.
Little setup Lower TCO
Monthly charges increase when new phones are added Maintenance charges to hardware
No maintenance Support and service from in-house IT department
Fast implementation Long Implementation
Service provide will handle all the maintenance and upgrade More customisable and flexible
Call quality might vary based on network connection It can manage call quality
Conclusion
It is best for SMBs that are effective in growth and especially for those companies who want a scalable solution. Best for SMBs whose IT department can support expenses and equipment.