Cloud v. Premise Comparison

Before you buy VoIP-voice over internet protocol, Cloud Voice, Cloud Communications, internet telephony or other telephone/PBX system we ask you to call Boulder Phone at 303-444-4687 (voip) and let us walk you through the issues without obligation to buy from us,

This is a comparison of two approaches to business voice communications today: in-office or in-the-cloud. We’ll try our best to limit the techno-babble language while listing dozens of factors involved. Traditionally, businesses had PBXs (private branch exchanges) and key phone systems which were the interface between your business and the telephone company. These systems allowed intercom dialing between users, transfers of any call, call control to limit long distance calling, billing management to track calls, voice mail messages, and more. Today, with internet telephones, users can make calls via the internet using office computers, generic IP telephones while using the bandwidth you already have for your data networking.

In reviewing more than 20 papers on this topic and drawing on two decades of experience, we have found that there is great confusion on cloud, hosted, VoIP, internet telephone, CTI-computer telephony integration and other terms used. Essentially, each of these concepts uses the internet for voice just like your web searches, cat videos, and email. That is, the same internet bandwidth “pipe” can be used for voice, data, video, web surfing and everything else. Instead of having two or more pipes for voice, data, POS-point of sale, security, FAX and other communications, you consolidate your uses into fewer of them. Separate pipes can be good for route diversity, a separate FAX line and/or an emergency when the internet and/or power fail.

Here is a running list of Cloud versus Premises based voice services. They are presented in random order as your priorities and preferences are not the same for any order we would present:

Bottom-line – Every business is different with specialized needs. Manufacturing, education, hospitals, and other business environments can have very complex and even regulatory-driven requirements. Cloud or Customer Premises based voice communications are designed for specific applications based on the cost, benefit, need, and want. Each offers unified communications (UC) that have been evolving over the past 20 years and promise only to get better. With more than 500 UC providers & carriers, you can get your UC from another continent! But everything has to work across the enterprise from the desk, to the computer, to the mobile phone, to the IT integration. The critical factor in cars, mobile devices, computers, phones and other devices is getting them installed properly so that they can grow/contract and change as you do, with the ability to get them serviced in a timely fashion.

Footnote:

(1)  Bandwidth for UC is often overlooked as customers generally already have bandwidth they don’t completely use. Most UC providers leverage this expectation and let the customer figure it out when calls start to “jitter”, echo, or gargle. These QoS (Quality of Service) issues must be taken into account. Yes, UC can scale up and use that extra bandwidth but you don’t want the CEO to have a garbled call with an investor or customer.