When you make the move to a hosted voice solution, you are entrusting a service provider with your vital business communications. However, there are many types of providers offering hosted services that range from resellers of Internet-based hosted service, to service providers who own and operate their own nationwide networks. As a result, the services and features they offer vary greatly.
A thorough evaluation of potential service providers and their hosted offerings will help you make an informed decision so that you can better realize the benefits of hosted communications. These benefits include: eliminating capital expenses, operational savings, access to Unified Communications features, freeing up IT resources, and centralized control of your calling features across locations.
A checklist features key questions to ask when evaluating Hosted PBX providers, and includes an explanation of why these questions are critical in selecting the right Hosted PBX solution for your business.
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Hosted PBX Service Provider Checklist
1. Solutions you want. Support you need.
Hosted PBX Provider Evaluation Checklist:
10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Cloud Provider
When you make the move to a hosted voice solution, you are entrusting a service provider with your vital
business communications. However there are many types of providers offering hosted services today,
ranging from resellers of Internet-based hosted services to service providers who own and operate their
own nationwide networks. As a result, the hosted service and features they offer also varies greatly.
A thorough evaluation of potential service providers and their hosted offerings will help you make an
informed decision, enabling your business to realize the benefits of hosted communications. These ben-
efits include: eliminating capital expense, operational savings, access to Unified Communications features,
freeing up IT resources, and centralized control of your calling features across locations. The following
checklist provides key questions to ask a provider when evaluating Hosted PBX providers, and it explains
why these questions are crucial for selecting the right Hosted PBX solution for your business. By utilizing
this checklist, you will learn the type of simple but critical questions to ask in the pre-buying stage.
Questions to Ask Service Providers What this tells you about their Hosted PBX service…
1. Do you operate your own network, or lease it from another
provider?
Some providers offer hosted services combined with
another provider’s network. In some cases they overlay the
services on top of the network you have in place; in others,
they bundle the services together with network services
they resell from a service provider. This may allow them to
focus on the hosted PBX component but can be problem-
atic for troubleshooting and resolving service issues. Other
Hosted PBX providers, such as XO, own the underlying
transport network, which allows for a more seamless ser-
vice experience and cost savings that can be passed along
to customers.
2. What is the true Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your
Hosted PBX solution, including the costs associated with
the following key factors?
• Staff costs
• Acquisition costs (e.g., capital expense)
• Long distance and other usage charges
• Maintenance (e.g., cost and frequency of system
upgrades)
• Moves, adds and changes
• Network access
• Vendor management
• Training
Nothing could be more disastrous than finding out that you
are spending more on capital expense items and operating
expenses than you would have with premise-based options.
Consider these key factors when comparing the TCO of
premise-based PBXs, Hosted PBX solutions from “over-
the-top” providers, and Hosted PBX solutions from service
providers.
3. Are there installation fees? Most Hosted PBX providers charge for seat licenses, but
there can often be additional charges, such as setup and
equipment fees.
4. Can you accommodate growth in our number of locations
and/or seats? How quickly could they be added and what
are the associated costs?
Determine what costs you will incur if your business grows
by adding new sites or new users.