These myths are not to dissuade potential buyers of a hosted pbx service. They are merely a list of answers to questions and perceptions we see when talking to customers.

 

  1. There is no hardware to purchase – This is true if you discount the routers, the network switches and the telephones. Some will argue that the routers and the network switches are required for the computer network so they really shouldn’t count toward the phone system budget. While it is true that these are required for the data network, it is the type of equipment required that changes. If a company tries to use consumer grade equipment for their computer network, more than likely the computers will work fine. Sure they could work better but probably enough for most small businesses. The phones on the other hand will have issues. Dropped calls, jittery calls, rebooting phones will happen much more often. So, the network switches and routers must be upgraded in order for the phones to perform at an acceptable level on par with a traditional pbx.

  2. Any phone will work. Most hosted companies’ phone services work with a wide range of phones. Certainly more so than a proprietary PBX that will only use its brand of phones. However, not all combination of brands have the same features. Nor do they offer the same performance. A service with one type of phone (and a specific firmware on that phone) might work great. The same service with a different phone, not so much. Each service provider can give a recommendation on which equipment to use. This puts hosted right back into the same bucket as a proprietary phone system.

  3. The cloud is always available. Most phone systems in the cloud rely on the internet to make their connection. That means if any part of the internet connection – at your office, in the data center, somewhere in between – has an issue, phones are down. Hopefully the service provider has redundancy built into their network but there is really no way to know how the network performs.

  4. It will work just my old small business system. No, it probably will not. In some ways it will better. In other ways it may not fit in the style you are used to it working. For example, you may be used to line appearances: line 1, line 2, line 3, put someone on hold and pick up a line. Many hosted systems do not have that functionality.
  5. Hosted companies have the support staff in case of trouble. In most cases, the answer is no they don’t. Like the cable company, they have levels of tech support and often times will rely on your IT staff to work on phone issues.

  6. Features are features, every phone system has them. For the most part this is true, but will you know how to use them? How to extend them to achieve a result the feature might not have been designed to do. Most hosted systems are supported by people who know the basics. And most of the time that is ok. However, when it comes to experts, you may be left searching the internet for answers.

  7. I have cable internet, that’s enough for decent phone service. Maybe, maybe not. There are many factors to will go into day to day performance. Each phone takes bandwidth along with music and video streaming, downloads, email and everything else. An examination and test of your network is in order to really determine if a hosted system will work.

  8. We can install it ourselves. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The web management interfaces make configuring features much easier. The phone themselves, may be another matter. Whether you elect to have expert help or not, be prepared to set aside some time for the transition.