There are primarily two types of phone solutions for businesses to choose from: cloud based (sometimes referred to as 'hosted voice') or on-site phone systems. These solutions can be over the standard telephone network, either standard PSTN lines or digital ISDN services; or the Internet network.

A cloud solution is delivered as a service by the provider and usually is billed on a monthly basis. The equipment on the customer’s site is limited to phones and some routing devices only, and the rest of it is managed by the service provider.

Buyers frequently choose a cloud solution for the following reasons:

  • Focus on competencies: allows a business to focus more on its core competencies rather than managing the complex business communication infrastructure
  • Easily scalable: increase/decrease the number of lines as needed without concern for infrastructure
  • Seamless around-the-clock service
  • No burden of maintenance/upgrades
  • Flexible pricing model: add and drop features to suit business needs and remain within an allocated budget

By contrast, an on-site solution requires complete PBX infrastructure to be present on the customer’s site. This solution accounts for more start-up costs as the organisation must install, manage and upgrade the PBX system.