Are you in the Marquette area looking for options or information on what option are available for a business phone system?
In today’s world it may seem like there are endless options available to choose from regarding a business telephone system. And you would be correct. Lets dive deep into the subject and explore the options.
Digital Phone System
Digital phone system manufacturers in recent years have died down or in other words eliminated that type of phone system from their line altogether. There are a few heavy hitters such as Avaya that still have and support their digital phone system product line. Other smaller players such as NEC and Vertical are good options also. Samsung Phone Systems and Panasonic digital phone systems are deemed “End of Life” and are no longer supported. This lies a problem when parts start to fail. Yes, you can probably find some used parts on the internet, but they are likely to be as old and prone to problems as the part you are replacing. You can put “band aids” on the system for so long. But, its bound to fail at the least opportune time (AKA Murphy’s Law).
In some situation a digital business phone system maybe the only viable option. Mainly because of the wiring infrastructure that is currently in place. Digital phone systems for the most part use 1 pair of wires (two conductor). Second, network wire is not required to use these phones. Cat3 telephone wire is perfectly acceptable (Cat5 or higher for VoIP). If your building or facility’s wiring hasn’t been updated in 20 years this maybe the most cost effective solution short term. We tend to see digital phone systems more in manufacturing plant type businesses. This is because, there are at times, long phone runs and splices along the way. Digital phone systems are solid. They tend not to be as user friendly as maybe a VoIP system, but Avaya, NEC and Vertical are reliable and great options.
VoIP (Voice Over IP)
VoIP has been by far the most popular business phone system technology now and in recent years. Our Marquette area clients primarily use some type of VoIP business phone system. VoIP continues double its share in the market since 2012. It looks to double again by 2024.
With VoIP, it comes in a few different flavors. We will expand on Hybrid Digital/VoIP system, On premise VoIP PBX system and Cloud PBX/Cloud phone solutions.
Hybrid VoIP
First, the Hybrid Digital/VoIP PBX business phone systems. Quite a few schools in Marquette County have these types of phone system. Marquette, Gwinn and Hancock have a hybrid phone system. This hybrid phone systems are great where a business, school or any organization has or had a digital phone system. Where all the phones were digital and now they needed to connect remote phones, or connect remote buildings. The manufactures would have some licensing that they would require to allow for VoIP. This can get pretty pricing with some of the manufactures.
On Premise VoIP PBX
Next is On-Premise VoIP phone system or PBX. This is where the VoIP server (just like a digital or hybrid phone system) would reside at the business location. Usually in the main IT room where all the network wiring is.
VoIP requires Cat5 network wiring or better. If you have one data wire running to a computer, most VoIP phones have a built in switch that allows the network wire to plug into the phone. Then you can run a patch cord out the phone to the computer. VoIP doesn’t require much bandwidth (100kbs G711 or around 30KBS G729 Codecs). So running through the phone shouldn’t cause any disturbance for the computer. Just make sure if you are running a gigabit network, you have gigabit phones.
An on premise VoIP pbx is a great option for businesses in Marquette for a couple reasons. One is, it grows as you grow. usually all you need to add a user is a phone. With digital systems they were more hardware driven where voip is more software based. Basically the phones are little computers. Second, if your business is required to abide by some security risks such as some government agency’s an on premise VoIP system or digital system may be the right solution. Depending on the manufacture of on premise VoIP PBX the cost comparisons can be all over the place.
Marquette Cloud PBX
Cloud phone systems have really taken off in the past 5 years. This is where the phone system is hosted in the “cloud”. The phone system and all its features are not on premise but on a server, typically in a data center or collocation. Because the server is not on premise removes the need to store a phone system or VoIP server on premise using up space, power and the need to maintain another piece of technology in house.
With a Cloud business phone system, this keeps upfront cost down. Mainly because there is less equipment to install and maintain. Its a good idea to take a look at the big picture of the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). There are many advantages of Cloud Hosted business phone system and price isn’t the only one.
With Cloud Business Phone System, the redundancy built in to our cloud infrastructure is second to none. For example, our Cloud hosted phone system solution is monitored 24/7/365. It has redundant power and internet. If your company were to lose power or internet the calls would still arrive to the cloud phone system. Now from there, there is are different options you could do. Such as redirect to another number or a cell phone. You could utilize a smartphone app and have you extension right on your phone. Calls will still hit the auto attendant or voicemail.
I would say 90% of the business telephone solutions we provide in Marquette and the whole Upper Peninsula go with the Cloud Phone System.
If you would like more information. Or if you would like to test drive our Cloud Phone Solution for Free, please Call Us at 906-485-6080 or email info@superioreagle.com
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