Considering the options of VoIP deployment

It has become fairly well known in the corporate world that legacy-based phone systems simply are not evolving with the needs of the modern workplace. While a fixed and rigid business phone system may make sense for a home office that requires few sophisticated features and has little time or resources for tech maintenance, the lack of features and scalability make it an unappealing option for most other users.

An excellent alternative being adopted in a variety of ways across the enterprise spectrum is IP-based telephony systems such as Voice over IP (VoIP). For companies that have sufficient internal resources to hire a full-time VoIP expert, a hybrid fixed line/VoIP program could potentially work. This platform would require less in the way of transition and has certain innovative features, but requires internal maintenance.

Additionally, it requires upgrades once every few years, potentially making it a less appealing option for business officials that want a phone system that can run on autopilot.

Another alternative is to engage in premise-based VoIP deployment in which an infrastructure transitions entirely to an IP-based platform that is both managed and maintained internally. This system has modern features including voicemail to email and the ability to have calls ring multiple phones simultaneously. However, it requires constant maintenance from an internal VoIP expert and cannot be moved easily should a business change its location.

Consequently, one of the best options for companies new to IP-based telephony is partnering with a Columbus phone company for a hosted VoIP solution. In this instance, IT consultants can provide all the same benefits of call forwarding, voice-to-text and adding additional phone lines at a very low cost and negate the stress of internal maintenance.

From our offices in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland, PRO OnCall is your single-source technology consulting service, offering managed IT support, unified communications solutions and on-call IT support.