When Money Matters – Hosted PBX For Small Businesses And Start-Ups

You’ve heard the saying that goes, “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” While that is true most of the time, there are exciting exceptions to this rule. Consider hosted PBX for small businesses – a little something that is being hailed as the saviour of start-ups and SMEs everywhere.

What Is Hosted PBX?

In simple terms, hosted PBX (also called cloud telephony) makes use of your internet connection to make and receive calls, as opposed to using hardwired landlines and clunky physical PBX hardware. You are essentially placing your phone system in the cloud where you connect via mobile phone or by using physical handsets connected to your LAN.

So now we know what it is, why is hosted PBX the obvious way forward for SMEs and start-ups? How can a simple virtual telephone system change the way you do business?

The Real Benefits of Hosted PBX for Small Businesses

Start-up Costs

When it comes down to it, the success of a small business hinges on cash flow. Money in versus money out. Small businesses are most vulnerable during start-up, and even SMEs are susceptible to the cash-flow beast if their income is fairly small. One bad sales month can cripple a small company if their outgoings are too high.

And this is exactly where hosted PBX really shines.

Traditionally, when you start a business you need premises and you need a phone. Many SME owners use their mobile phones to keep costs down, but, depending on your business, this has been shown to present an unprofessional and somewhat amateur image to the public. However, for those of you that have already done your homework, a physical landline connection along with the monthly rental, the individual phones required for each desk, a costly physical PBX, installation, setup, and monthly maintenance adds up frighteningly fast. Either you’re left with an uncomfortably large bill weighing your fledgling business down, or you are compelled sign a lengthy contract which essentially means that you spend a large portion of your contract with a technically inferior switchboard.

Hosted PBX suffers from none of these disappointing difficulties. As a virtual service, there are no hardware costs, unless you choose to use a couple of handsets connected to your LAN. No hardware costs equals no installation and monthly maintenance fee and no additional tedious landline connections with disinterested telecoms providers!

Monthly Costs

So, you’re not shackled to a long-term PBX contract now that you’re in the cloud. What else can you expect? Your monthly service fees are low, predictable, and all through one service provider. Moving premises? That’s fine, off you go. Your hosted PBX follows you like a faithful puppy and can be set up without interruption with all the same credentials – and without incurring moving, wiring and installation costs.

Monthly costs on this virtual system are incredibly easy to manage with call recording, call blocking, abuse monitoring and other comprehensive management options which allow you to track and log everything – literally.

Call Costs

Interoffice calls are free on your hosted PBX, no matter their physical location. Outgoing calls are routed through your internet connection and, depending on the recipient, are free (data) calls, or at incredibly reduced rates. Calls can be directed to mobile phones, an answering service with a custom greeting, or queued on hunting lines – all depending on your requirements. Your hosted PBX can be configured to accept fax messages if that is a requirement of your business. Essentially, the well-designed software of a virtual PBX gives you so much more than even the most high-end physical PBX systems – at a fraction of the price.

Maintenance Costs

Your monthly service fee includes maintenance of the software, which can be done remotely. No expensive (and inconvenient) technical call-outs, just a quick call to a friendly technical expert and your problems are solved – super-fast. Security, updates and enhancements are no longer your day-to-day problem.

Sound too good to be true?

We’d like to challenge you to contact the professional team at Huge Connect and find out exactly how we can take your business from floundering to fantastic with our selection of hosted PBX packages, designed especially for small businesses.