THE BUSINESS OWNER’S CLOUD PHONE FAQ
Unsure about how cloud communications differ from legacy on-premises phones, and why you should move your business phones to the cloud? We’ve assembled and answered some common questions that business owners ask.
On-Premises Phone System
Cloud communications system
HOW DOES A CLOUD-BASED SERVICE SCALE WITH MY BUSINESS VS. AN ON-PREMISES PHONE?
Requires a server called a private-branch exchange (or PBX).
Some are scalable (you can add more capacity) and others
simply will not scale beyond a certain number of users. In some
situations, you have to purchase phone lines in modules, e.g.,
you buy capacity for 12 users when you only need 9 lines.
Shuts down when the power goes out or the phone lines are
disrupted – your customers get a busy signal. Not very reliable.
They’re also subject to whatever disaster strikes your office
location, e.g., fire, flooding, severe weather, or theft can render
your phones unusable or offline.
Usually requires annual contracts and additional charges for
feature changes, moving or adding lines, maintenance, and
more. Plus, you have to pay the phone company for phone
lines and long distance.
Scales with your business, so you are never paying for users
you don’t need. You purchase service for the exact number
of users you have. Adding a new employee is as simple as
ordering service and plugging in another phone.
TAKEAWAY
Look for a provider that gives you flexibility with no long-term contracts and mix and match packages. This
ensures that the provider earns your business today while adapting to any changes needed for tomorrow.
On-Premises Phone System
Cloud communications system
CAN MY BUSINESS DEPEND ON THE CLOUD? HOW RELIABLE IS IT?
Runs on your provider’s network, which should have multiregion
datacenters and built-in redundancy that ensures an
outage in one server or datacenter doesn’t bring the whole
system down. Electricity or internet outages may impact your
office’s phones, but not the cloud phone system, which in the
event of an outage would reroute calls to your mobile phone.
In that regard, they are highly reliable.
TAKEAWAY
Look for a provider that offers financially backed service level agreements with uptime as high as 99.999% (which means less than 26 seconds of downtime per month). So long as you don’t settle for anything less, your business can definitely depend on cloud reliability.
On-Premises Phone System
Cloud communications system
IT SOUNDS COMPLEX. HOW DO I SET IT UP, AND WHAT’S INVOLVED IN TRAINING?
Usually requires a specialized technician to install, set up,
maintain, and make changes. And you’ll have to schedule
the service, which can take weeks. Employees may be given
a phone system ‘cheat sheet’ that tells them how to transfer
calls, conference someone in, and so on.
Is easy to implement and usually doesn’t even require a visit
from your vendor. Every phone is shipped to you with simple
instructions for how to plug them into your existing internet
connection. And support agents or your IT partner can talk you
through how to use the online dashboard to configure phone
numbers, assign call forwarding, and more. The process takes
just hours, not weeks.
TAKEAWAY
Look for an easy-to-use cloud phone system whose provider offers 24/7 support.
On-Premises Phone System
Cloud communications system
HOW IS A CLOUD-BASED SYSTEM PRICED?
Is priced on a flat monthly fee per user and generally includes
local and long-distance calling. Business features like voicemail,
call forwarding, conferencing, video, and other communication
features are all included in the cost.
TAKEAWAY
Traditional onsite phone systems can have a hard to estimated average cost per year vs A cloud communications system.
HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO WORRY ABOUT CALL QUALITY OVER THE INTERNET? LIKE STATIC, ECHOES, AND CHOPPY AUDIO?
You shouldn’t have to worry about this at all – your provider or IT partner should run network tests and pre-qualify your network before any kind of deployment to ensure call quality and clarity. Cloud phone system call quality should be as good as that on land lines.
TAKEAWAY
Since cloud phones rely on your internet connection and network setup, you’ll want to look for a provider that rigorously tests your network (e.g., does a multi-day vs. a 15-second test) for bandwidth and redundancy and advises whether it should be upgraded to support voice calls.
Cloud communications system
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST BUSINESS BENEFIT TO A CLOUD PHONE SYSTEM?
“Biggest” depends on what matters to you. But cloud phone systems in general are more affordable, more reliable, and easier to set up than on-premises phones. They also scale with your business more flexibly and deliver communication and collaboration features that your customers and employees are used to having on their mobile devices. Last, they are usually integrated with a mobile app that gives your employees the ability to make and receive business calls from their mobile device, so connecting with customers or other employees isn’t dependent on employees sitting at a desk all day.
TAKEAWAY
Consider a cloud communications service from a company that delivers fully unified communication and collaboration features like chat, video conferencing, and screen sharing. You’ll be glad you did even if you don’t use the features right away.
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY EXISTING BUSINESSPHONE NUMBERS IF I SWITCH? AND WHAT ABOUT 1800 NUMBERS?
You keep your existing phone numbers when you change phone systems. Moving phone numbers is called ‘porting’. Porting local phone numbers takes about 2-4 weeks depending on how quickly your current service provider responds, and porting tollfree numbers typically takes about 1-2 weeks. There is usually a bit of overlap time where your phone numbers are active on both services.
TAKEAWAY
Make sure you follow the provider’s instructions for a smooth number porting experience.
NEC’S UNIVERGE BLUE CONNECT
NEC’S UNIVERGE BLUE CONNECT is a leading cloud-based business phone system from an on-premises and cloud communications
provider with over 120+ years' experience delivering quality solutions and cloud services to over a million users. CONNECT delivers:
24/7 support from our certified team of experts available via phone or chat
Industry-leading 99.999% uptime service level agreement that's financially backed
No contracts, because we work hard to earn your business each month
One predictable bill
Integrated video/web conferencing, screen sharing, team chat, file sharing and backup, and more, with the desktop and mobile
apps that keep you connected no matter where you are or what mobile device you're using