Hosted Telephony
While it may be tempting to stick to the familiarity of a more traditional phone system, the reality is that a hosted phone system can offer everything a PBX can and a great deal more besides. Hosted phone systems like Ringover’s utilise Cloud-hosting to boost everything from cost-efficiency to security. They offer everything you know your company needs as well as a host of additional features you didn’t.
Enter the new age of communication with a hosted phone system
While the benefits are clear, some businesses and call centres stay away from the switch to a hosted phone system simply because they are not clear what it is. In very basic terms, a hosted phone system is a phone system that operates through the internet. This means that the excessive costs involved in setting up a more traditional in-house phone system are avoided as bulky, complex and expensive equipment is not necessary. These functions are carried out and created within Ringover’s servers. All you need to do is log in with an individualised login of your making.
Hosted Phone System Pricing
- Unlimited calls to 110 destinations
- Local number from 43 countries
- Mobile, web, and desktop applications
- IVR and call forwarding
- Call logs and recordings
- Call and voicemail transcription and summary
- Click-to-call
- Video conference, instant messaging
- Access to our API
- Local number from 65 countries
- Advanced IVR (smart routing, call groups, call queues…)
- 2 integrations
- Advanced analytics
- Coaching (double listening, whispering…)
- Text message campaigns
- Access to our webhooks
- Call campaigns
- Power Dialler
- Call scripts
- Voicemail drop
- Local Presence Dialling
- 3 integrations
- Single Sign-On
How exactly does a hosted phone system work?
While the minutiae of each individual step are complex and a little technical, the basic steps are not.
- You connect to the Cloud PBX of Ringover.
- When someone calls you, that goes to the host system.
- Ringover’s hosted system converts the call into digital packets that can be transferred via the internet.
- Your phone rings, you pick it up and the digital packets are translated back into voice output. In short, the hosted system is a middle man that you never notice working!
Why should you be looking at a hosted phone system for your company?
While the most obvious reasons for choosing a hosted phone system over a traditional in-house set up are the savings, there are also a large number of other benefits and features that have caused it to become the go-to for almost all new and expanding business. These relate to a number of different factors, including mobile workers, advanced security, and scalability when it comes to an expanding workforce and more. Whether you are a service call centre or sales focused, hosted phone systems can work to enhance the customer experience you wish to provide.
A closer look at some of the benefits of a hosted phone system
Mobility
Ringover’s hosted phone system allows for a more seamless experience for remote or mobile workers. For instance, it allows you to link your business phone easily with any third-party apps you wish to use.
Data integration
Your hosted system should integrate seamlessly with your CRM. Ringover’s service synchronises with your CRM to make tasks like logging call data, recordings and notes a breeze.
Flexibility
Our phone system allows you to log on to your account from anywhere, meaning any computer can be your business phone.
The pros of a hosted phone system for new businesses
Get started faster
Compared to the work involved in a traditional phone setup, Ringover’s couldn’t be easier. You can be set up in 65 different countries in a matter of minutes.
Lower costs
Take every piece of equipment you need and reduce it all down to one single service cost. Now take away installation costs and the money lost if that installation is delayed for any reason and you’ll start to see why our hosted phone system is the cost-efficient option.
Scalability
A new company means a growing workforce. With a hosted phone system, installing a new phone is almost instantaneous, meaning your new workers get to work right away.
The Value of security
Customer confidence
A data breach can have a major impact on your customer’s confidence in your company. Ringover’s hosted phone system offers security over and beyond even other similar products ensuring continued customer satisfaction.
Hacker resistant
Inbuilt identity management tools making it much harder for hackers to access privileged information.
Encrypted call data
With strong encrypting throughout the call you are protected from the possibility of eavesdroppers.
Hosted Phone System FAQ
- What is a hosted phone system?
- What are the advantages of a Hosted Phone System?
- Can I integrate Hosted Phone System software into my CRM?
- What are the benefits of a Hosted Phone System for my sales people?
- What is a Hosted PBX?
- What is the best cloud phone system?
- What is the difference between VoIP and hosted PBX?
What is a hosted phone system?
Technically speaking, the term hosted phone system refers to any phone system in which the servers, hardware, and equipment are located outside your business location. Unlike a localised phone system which is located within your business premises, it is hosted and managed by third parties in a remote or off-site location, for example, in the cloud.
Before, people generally used phone systems like Central Exchanges (Centrex) hosted by third parties and not internet-based. However, most hosted phone systems today operate in the cloud. As a result, the term hosted phone system has become a synonym for cloud-hosted systems.
A cloud-hosted phone system uses VoIP technology (Voice over Internet Protocol) to send and receive calls over the internet, so it is also called a VoIP phone system. It offers a wide range of functionalities other than internet-based calling, including internet fax, video conferencing, SMS, and several features for unified communications and collaboration.
What are the advantages of a Hosted Phone System?
Hosted Phone Systems offer a number of advantages over phone line setups. One is the speed and ease with which a system can be installed and customised. With Ringover, you can start making and receiving calls in a matter of minutes. Cost efficiency, flexibility and scalability are also some key benefits of the Hosted Phone System.
Can I integrate Hosted Phone System software into my CRM?
With Ringover, you can easily integrate and synchronise the data gathered by your phone system with your call centre software or call management software. This includes the ability to automatically enter important call information such as date and time of call, tags, SMS, notes by the agent and even audio recordings into your CRM database where it can be stored and made available for any future calls enhancing your ability to deliver premium customer service.
What are the benefits of a Hosted Phone System for my sales people?
Hosted Phone systems offer numerous benefits for all departments within a company. For sales people in particular there is the benefit of mobility. The system can be integrated easily with any third-party apps which means any apps that are central to your sales people out in the field will still be viable. It can integrate with other features such as auto dialler and predictive dialler to create an enhanced customer experience.
In addition, the fact that users can login to their account on any computer means that they don’t even need their phone to access and utilise the system to make secure business calls. The encryption and identity security of the system also means the fact that agents are making calls outside the premises is no longer a data breach risk. Lastly, as sales teams are often subject to rapid expansion in high-sales seasons, the hosted system allows you to provide new phones quickly and easily when and as needed.
What is a Hosted PBX?
Hosted PBX is a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) hosted and managed by third-party business phone service providers. All modern hosted PBX systems are usually located in the cloud. They use VoIP technology to make and receive calls using internet connections rather than traditional copper wires or optical fibers.
While a traditional PBX is located on the premises of a business organisation, the cloud-hosted version is located in the off-site data centres of your service provider. As the servers and equipment are owned and managed by the vendor, you don’t have to install and maintain expensive infrastructure or hardware in your business location. Hence cloud-hosted PBX systems are more cost effective than traditional PBX.
You should note that we once had non-internet hosted PBX systems like the Centrex (Central Exchanges) that used telephone lines. However, modern hosted PBX systems are cloud-based and accessed entirely through the internet.
What is the best cloud phone system?
The answer to this question depends on a lot of factors – the size of your company, the scale of your operations, your call volume, the features you are looking for, and above all, your budget.
If you are looking for a feature-rich yet affordable cloud phone system for SMBs, the basic plan of Ringover is a good option, while the advanced plan suits growing businesses and large organisations. Being a unified communication platform, Ringover offers business functionalities other than voice calls, such as SMS, internet fax, video conferencing, call centre software solutions, and more.
Here is a list of some of the other popular cloud-hosted phone system providers that offer subscription-based plans:
- Ringover
- Quicktalk
- Nextiva
- Dialpad
- 8x8
- Ooma Office
- RingCentral
- Grasshopper Go-To Connect
- Aircall
- Vonage
- magicJack
- Zoom
- Google Voice
- Avaya OneCloud
- Phone.com
- CloudTalk
Switch to Ringover’s hosted phone system to enjoy unified business communications. It has all the features and functionalities of a traditional PBX system and offers functionalities beyond voice calling. Since the system is cloud-hosted, you don’t have to worry about setting up and maintaining expensive hardware and equipment. Subscribe to a plan and connect to Ringover’s cloud PBX to enjoy unmatched flexibility, mobility, and scalability.
What is the difference between VoIP and hosted PBX?
In business telephony, the terms VoIP and hosted PBX are used interchangeably to refer to a phone system that allows users to make and receive calls over the internet. However, VoIP and hosted PBX have some technical differences.
For starters, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that enables internet-based calling. It converts voice signals into data packets and transfers the packetised data over the internet. A cloud-hosted PBX is a Private Branch Exchange hosted in the cloud by third-party vendors, and it uses VoIP technology for calling.
Not all phone systems that use VoIP are cloud-hosted by third-party vendors. Organisations can have on-premise VoIP systems where the hardware is installed within the business premises. You can also connect your existing non-hosted PBX to VoIP using SIP trunks. However, all cloud-hosted PBX systems use VoIP in their operations and are owned, managed, and delivered by third-party service providers.