There is a growing choice of technologies for business telecoms and Internet provision nowadays. Technology is constantly evolving and whilst there is no doubt that customers still favour the phone for all but the most basic queries, the type of phone system and lines you choose, can say a lot about your business. Today you can choose from a range of systems, each with their own benefits:
PSTN analogue services are what most of us have in our homes. They connect to a standard telephone handset or a phone system with analogue line ports. PSTN is a well-known technology, with built-in reliability, security and emergency location services.
ISDN supports voice and allows multiple channels on one connection. It offers the very highest level of resilience and quality available for connection to the telephone network. That said, BT have announced they are to switch off ISDN network in 2025, with most thought to be replaced by IP telephony.
SIP Trunking replaces standard phone lines with an internet-style connection, connecting your phone system to the public network providing a flexible and low-cost alternative to ISDN for inbound and outbound voice calls.
Hosted Telephony is “cloud based” IP telephony that uses the internet to connect all your extensions to each other and the public phone network. With hosted phone systems, you would still buy the telephones, setup and training, but instead of purchasing the telephone system processor, you simply pay a monthly rental for ports on the platform. Hosted VoIP cloud phone systems are also considerably cheaper to run, and these cost savings are largely due to a lack of physical infrastructure. Just as sending an email eliminates postage fees, so hosted systems do away with trunking and exchanges, as well as expensive maintenance contracts.
For more information and free expert advice, please give us a call on 0800 50 533 50. Alternatively, you can visit our Cloud Phone Systems page to find out more about how Cloud could improve your business or download our telephone systems buyers guide as useful reference material. You can even run a Quick Quote to obtain a budget cost for a new telephone system in less than 60 seconds.
