Hosted VOIP Solutions have been gaining consideration in the past several years due to the low upfront cost of deployment. A Hosted provider will sell or direct the customer to buy Generic SIP phones that are relatively inexpensive. These phones are then configured by the customer to register to the Hosted VOIP providers Soft switch. This process can present difficulties for customers because their network has not been prepared to handle all of the additional devices that must be implemented when using a Hosted Solution. Such devices use up bandwidth and private IP addresses on the LAN causing network difficulties and call quality issues. A Premise Based provider, such as Patriot Communications, would prevent such problems by designing and implementing the proper network infrastructure to support VOIP technology on the customer’s network.
In most cases, the companies that provide these Hosted Solutions advise the customer to “plug and play” and to not worry about such issues. However, customers quickly find out the condition of their network, and the state of their internet connection is not able to handle the additional stresses of deploying the Hosted Solution phones. When such issues arise, the customer is forced to call a representative of the Hosted Solution’s technical support team; who in turn instructs the customer that such problems are the customer’s responsibility and instructs them to consult with an IT specialist to troubleshoot them.
Patriot Communications works with its customers to evaluate the customer’s network and implement the necessary changes that would be required for all devices on the network to function properly. Additionally, Premise Based Phone Systems meets the industries standard of five-nines reliable (99.999). A Hosted Solution does not come close to achieving that level of reliability.
The main reason companies look at a Hosted Solution is the low upfront cost of deployment! Premise Based Phone Systems are far more reliable and deliver far more capability than any Hosted System on the market today. The initial upfront cost of a Premise Based Phone System, when compared to a Hosted Solution, is higher; however, the overall cost of ownership is far less. Here is an example of the cost difference for a customer who is in the market to purchase 25 phones. The average cost for a Hosted Solution is $25.00 per phone per month for a total of $625.00 per month for the life of the contract.
In contrast, the Premise Based Phone System will initially cost about $12,000.00; however, you can lease it for 60 months with a payment of $252.00 plus the cost of 8 SIP trunks. The SIP trunks will add $120.00 per month. So your total for the Premised Based PBX solution will be $372.00 per month. Additionally, after 60 months you OWN the equipment, and your monthly payment goes down to $120.00. In summary, for the first five years, a customer would be saving $253.00 per month with the Premise Based Phone System. Then after 60 months, the customer would be saving $505.00 per month all while using a superior system that is five-nines reliable!
The Allworx Premise Based Phone System has its own DHCP server as well as a built-in Firewall. Even in the smallest size offices a Premise Based Phones System still makes more sense than a Hosted Solution when considering the long term cost of ownership. By the time a customer’s three year Hosted Solution contract is up for renewal the customer will have spent enough money to buy two Premise Based Phone Systems and will have received a fraction of the quality and features of a Premised Based Phone System.
If you have any further questions about Premise Based VOIP VS Hosted VOIP systems or want a quote for your business, please contact us.