‘Hybrid PBX’ Telephone System
I speak with a large number of UK businesses with regards to telephone system upgrade options.
Every-time I have a conversation with clients, they mention ‘hosted’ telephone systems along with all the benefits they have been sold on by a salesman, that include:
- Free local, national and inter-site calls
- Reduced call rate to UK mobiles
- Flexible number choice (have a London number in Colchester)
- Resilient disaster recovery plan and business continuity
However, in reality, you get all these benefits with a Hybrid PBX.
Several key points to remember when looking at a Hosted system is the fact that you will continue to pay for it, as long as you have it. You will never own it.
A Hybrid PBX has the same benefits as a Hosted system, but with the reliability of a traditional PBX. It also has a cost benefit too.
On average, we find businesses keep their phone system for 10 years. When you work out how much a Hosted system costs you over 10 years, you will be surprised how much you would have spent.
For example, at £14.99 per seat per month, a 25 extension Hosted system will cost you £44,970.00 over a 10 year period. In comparison, a 25 extension Hybrid system would cost roughly £13,600.00 (including SIP trunk rental over a 10 year period). A broadband connection would be required for both solutions.
Other reasons to buy a Hybrid PBX are:
- Equipment uniformity – Hybrid PBX handsets (NEC, Panasonic, Avaya) are designed to work with the Hybrid system, and therefore features are easily accessible, and is a more elegant solution. Hosted tends to require that you use short codes to access features, as the handsets (Cisco/Yealink/Polycom) are a different manufacturer to the hosted platform. The router and switches are also made by different manufacturers.
- Call Management – Hosted call management is basic, and will allow you to search particular calls, and certain criteria, and that’s it. NEC or OAK call management offers dozens of reports and layouts specifically to suit your type of business, such as allowing you to schedule reports which email automatically to different members of staff at the required intervals. You can connect wallboards to show the performance of your staff on tiles for example. The system will work around your requirements.
- Call Recording – NEC or OAK offer a bolt-on enabling PCI compliant call recording which can be used in a court of law. Hosted cannot offer this, and it’s standard call recording is very expensive.
- Hybrid Working – Hosted works entirely upon IP connectivity. If the ADSL fails or is of a poor grade, there are no other options for resilience. The Hybrid system will allow analogue, digital and IP extensions and lines, so you always have an alternative way to connect if necessary.
- Software Upgrades – With Hosted, you are bound by upgrades regardless of whether you want them or not. An example is where you can integrate your CRM to the telephony system. An upgrade could render this integration unworkable. With the Hybrid telephone system you can upgrade to suit you, and it can still be done remotely and free of charge.
- Hosted only offers a one system fits all approach– This means that if you don’t like the way something works you are stuck with it. The Hybrid system can be tailored to work exactly how your company wishes to work, and can adapt as your business evolves.
For more information on our Hybrid PBX offering, please call us on 0333 003 5700 or visit our website www.turnkeytele.com.
Jack Martin – Director – Turnkey Telecom Group.
