Voice-over-IP technology increases overall capacity and reliability by enabling an organization to utilize existing and inexpensive internet services rather than relying on conventional local telephone trunk providers. VoIP “Trunks” or “Lines” are typically portable and more cost-effective as they do not require a local telecommunications company to maintain and provide the expensive equipment and labor needed to bring the service into the phone system.

Many of our customers are opting to have their phone systems hosted in a cloud environment or via a hybrid hosted configuration where minimal on-site equipment is in place for failover situations. Remotely-hosted solutions offer a unique set of advantages:

• Cloud Reliability – A PBX System hosted in a cloud environment is less suspectable to failure. Managing on-site equipment and relying on local power grids and internet service can increase your risk of downtime. Modern data facilities have redundant services in place to ensure connectivity and reliability are always in place. Cloud communications bring disaster recovery and redundancy to a new level offering continued communications even in the event of a total local power or internet failure.
• Mobility – Mobile integrations in a cloud environment as much more straight forward. Remote extensions and mobile-friendly integrations are faster and easier.
• Cost – This is a major factor for most of our customers when it comes to phone system integration, no one wants more overhead. Remotely hosting your phone system means less management of on-site hardware and opens up even more opportunities when it comes to remote management (Both paid and self-supported).
• Network Limitations – Overcome internal network restrictions such as firewall and internet provider limitations.

Not All VoIP Systems Are Created Equal

To the left is a diagram of a typical system we would install in a small office or retail environment with two separate locations. In this diagram, both a PSTN, Remote network and portable network are involved (web client). VoIP systems are versatile enough that almost any environment that can access the internet can support VoIP as long as the internet connection quality is high enough.

Please remember, this diagram does not express the limitations of a VoIP System. With the massive amounts of options, do not limit yourself creatively regarding what your phone system can actually provide. From Voice to Video and text messaging, do not hesitate to contact us today to start building your very own custom designed communications system.

Free vs. Paid PBX

The Free PBX systems such as Asterisk and Freeswitch are leading the way as far as cutting edge features in the open source world, but more stable commercialized platforms such as 3CX and PBXact are providing business with what it needs today as far as a balance of reliability to functionality.

We always recommend selecting a paid and commercially supported solution to any client wanting to deploy a production system that will rely on it for business. Both 3CX and FreePBX (Sangoma) offer solutions that will help grow with your business such as free licensing for low call volume businesses and low cost commercial modules that add functionality as you need it. It is important you pay attention to what features are offered by each system before making your decision, to help further guide you please see our feature comparison below:

• 3CX Feature Comparison Chart
• FreePBX Feature Chart
• PBXact Feature Chart