| There are two major ways to purchase VoIP | | | | On Premises VoIP |
| services, and both have advantages and will yield | | | | An on premises VoIP system places all the equipment, |
| good results in terms of cost savings and increased | | | | including the IP PBX, cables, routers, and other devices |
| features. Once you have made the decision to move | | | | directly on your premises. This option is more often |
| to VoIP, then it's time to decide whether you want a | | | | used by larger companies that have skilled in-house |
| hosted service, or wish to deploy on site. The | | | | staff capable of maintaining the equipment on a |
| decision-making process is not always cut and dried, | | | | day-to-day basis. From a cost perspective, an on |
| so it pays to know in advance how each one works. | | | | premises system will be more expensive up front |
| Hosted VoIP | | | | because of the capital expenditures, although on a |
| A hosted VoIP implementation is the simplest, and can | | | | month to month basis, it will be less costly than a |
| often be provisioned in a single day. Because the | | | | hosted system. |
| actual equipment (except for your phones) is hosted at | | | | When installing your VoIP equipment, some companies |
| a third party facility, you don't have to worry about | | | | will have skilled internal staff to handle the installation, |
| installing and maintaining a PBX. As a result, up-front | | | | but more often the equipment will be purchased from |
| costs are minimal. Month-to-month costs may still be | | | | a value added reseller or integrator, who will handle the |
| slightly higher than if you were to run an on-premises | | | | installation process for you. This of course, will add to |
| system, but still less expensive than using the public | | | | the overall cost. |
| switched telephone network (PSTN). | | | | The advantage to an on premises system is that you |
| Because a hosted VoIP system relies on your service | | | | retain the maximum amount of control, and can modify |
| provider's PBX system rather than your own in-house | | | | and customize your VoIP system to meet your very |
| system, you are much more likely to have a | | | | specific needs instead of being limited to a menu of |
| higher-end, powerful, and more feature-rich system | | | | options from a third party hosted provider. An open |
| handling your calls, and one that is being managed | | | | source system will be especially useful in this regard |
| 24x7 by skilled staff. Another advantage is that you | | | | since your in-house developers will have access to the |
| are also likely to have a service level agreement and a | | | | source code for easier modification. |
| guaranteed level of performance and minimal | | | | A variation of on premises VoIP is a managed VoIP |
| downtime, which to any business is quite valuable. | | | | service, where a third party provider, which may be |
| When your internal PBX fails, downtime could result in | | | | the VAR who did the installation or another provider, |
| dramatic losses-but your hosted provider is more likely | | | | handles all of the management of your on premises |
| to have a redundant backup, and the ability to get up | | | | system, including day-to-day management such as |
| and running very quickly in the event of a failure. | | | | adds/changes/moves, ongoing maintenance, and |
| Another key advantage to hosted VoIP is the ability to | | | | remote monitoring. Although this will add to your |
| scale quickly in response to changing needs, or | | | | monthly cost, you will have the advantage of having |
| alternately, to scale downward if you find that you | | | | access to skilled personnel who can handle everything |
| need fewer services and have less capacity | | | | on a remote basis 24 hours a day, and typically will |
| requirements. | | | | provide you with a service level agreement. |