There are contentions and parallels between all kinds of hosted telephony. Firstly, they’re all as cumbersome as each other, in terms of service flexibility and complexity. Secondly, their pricing can be pretty steep and hard to decipher for the buyer – try adding in the bonus features you’ll need and you’ll get the point. Thirdly, they tie users into long-term contracts and commitments. Finally, they’re usually closed and proprietary systems, making it expensive and complex to integrate with the wider world of personal communications of the sort that smartphone users take for granted.
It appears on the surface that the only difference between the traditional PBX or private branch exchange solution and hosted telephony is the location of the hardware. In short, until recently, these traditionally accepted hosted services made it easy for PBX vendors to compete and that’s reflected in the early market statistics.
However, in the context of the modern communications environment, both PBX solutions and old-style hosted telephony systems are competing not just with each other, but with a new breed of cloud telephony.
Real cloud telephony services are disrupting similar, if not the same, offerings. The main difference is in the business models and personas of the services. For example, there’s flat-end user pricing, which delivers the simple and the sophisticated features, plus desktop and mobile options within a single, affordable licence. Not only that, the multi-tenancy nature of cloud telephony facilitates a scalable future-proof service with a raft of integration capabilities. All services and updates are immediately accessible at the point of activation across all customer bases. And the end of the extended contract can also be seen. For example, NFON’s customers benefit from being able to renew their licences on a month-by-month basis, scaling up and down effortlessly.
The UK is experiencing huge market demand for cloud telephony and with NFON you can be assured of a world-class service
Could you refer to cloud telephony as just another app on the network? Yes, on reflection you could say just that because to the end user that’s exactly how it feels. However, if you are selling a PBX solution, then you can sell cloud telephony as a standalone, without having to also sell other cloud or hosting solutions. It just becomes your IPT (internet protocol telephony) or UC (unified communications) app, enhancing your portfolio of telephony services. And if you are a data-solution reseller, then you can sell it to standalone as your telephony solution, which nests very nicely with your other cloud and hosted services.
It’s also worth pointing out that while cloud telephony does pretty well as a standalone, as we mentioned, it’s also brilliant at integrating. For instance, NFON’s system integrates effortlessly with Skype for Business (formally Microsoft Lync). This means that the business users’ favourite communication client uses NFON’s cloud telephone system for calls with the outside world, using full PBX functions and features, and the Skype for Business cloud to reach other Skype users.
And is there enough choice of base platform? Maybe that’s a question better suited to the traditional hosted vendor. The beauty of cloud telephony is that you don’t need to invest in any kind of platform. Ongoing costs are significantly reduced too. No outlay on expensive hardware, very competitive calling costs and the ability to grow with your business are just some of the main reasons why cloud telephony is taking the march over traditional PBX.
The UK is experiencing huge market demand for cloud telephony and with NFON you can be assured of a world-class service. NFON is one of Europe’s leading cloud telephony providers and always puts its customer first. Our standards-based technology was developed with customer service in mind. We have more than 150 built-in functions, as well as a wide range of value-added services, and we offer real-time live technical support, all for a great price. Now’s the time to make the switch to the cloud and the NFON Cloud Telephone System makes it painless to do so.
NFON
The next-generation telephone system
For more information call 0203 740 6740 or e-mail uk-info@nfon.com
Find us on the web at www.nfon.com, or follow us @NFONUKLTD
