Hosted telephony system:
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What is a hosted telephone system?
As UK connectivity has undergone improvements, new IP telephony solutions have been made available. With these solutions, you’ll be able to adapt your desk phone needs as your business needs evolve.
When you choose RingCentral as the service provider for all your telephony needs, you afford yourself access to the very best VoIP and PBX solutions.
What is the difference between VoIP and PBX?
To understand the difference between VoIP and PBX, we’re going to look at the meaning of these acronyms.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) exists to allow users to make phone calls via the Internet. The term ‘voice over Internet’ refers to calls taking place over the Internet, without the need for cellular or landline connections.
Meanwhile, PBX (private branch exchange) refers to a kind of telephone system used within a given company. This system is private. It allows users to call others both within their company and outside of it. In other words, it’s a private business phone system.
While VoIP is a more recent invention, PBX is a more traditional phone system and has existed for years.
The key difference between the two is that PBX uses telephone lines to connect callers to one another, often through a PSTN (public switched telephone network). VoIP, however, relies on an Internet or broadband connection to do this. Either one can be used as an effective business telephone system, depending on your individual needs.
How does hosted telephony work?
A hosted telephone system operates by connecting to an office’s IP network using its internet connection. It carries information through that same Internet connection, using the router to communicate with the IP network. When users of the hosted phone system receive an incoming call, their phones connect them to the caller via the office’s IP network.
Since hosted phone systems rely on the internet to work, they’re considered a type of VoIP solution. This means that they’re compatible with any virtual phone or softphone, as these also rely on VoIP to place calls.
Hosted telephony operates best when it’s used in tandem with IP handsets. These are dedicated mobile phones that are installed together with a company’s hosted phone system. They connect to the Internet through hosted telephony and give users access to helpful features, such as increased broadband speeds.
The types of phone systems
There are many different options to consider when choosing a phone system. That’s why it’s crucial to know the difference between the three most prominent types, as listed and detailed below.
An on-premises phone system is installed on hardware located on the premises of the company using the software. In other words, the software isn’t run via a server farm, the cloud, or any other kind of remote facility.
In terms of phone systems, on-premise variants involve physical phones owned (or leased) by a company. The physical devices can include company landlines and mobile devices. While there are some advantages to this, it can make disaster recovery tricky since everything is in-house.
This type involves installing phone systems into a data centre that’s owned or rented by the company. The phone system is attached to a SIP trunk, a virtual version of an analogue phone line. These SIP trunks are then used to carry all calls using an internet connection.
While customer-hosted phone systems create cost savings due to not relying on phone line rentals, they do require the contact centre using them to have access to enough available space in a data centre.
Of the three types of phone systems, hosted telephony (or cloud telephony) is the most cost-effective option. It doesn’t require on-site equipment or data centre space, instead relying on vendors with cloud-based programs. It’s fantastic for ensuring business continuity, as no matter what happens to your contact centre, it can keep running.
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What are the benefits of using a hosted telephone system for business?
We’ve already begun to touch on these, but let’s take a closer look at the top benefits of using a hosted telephone system for your business.
As mentioned in the previous section, hosted telephony doesn’t rely on either data centre space or physical systems, meaning that you won’t need to pay for those.
Since your business’ call routing happens exclusively in the cloud with hosted VoIP, you will always know the future cost of your telephone system. This is simply the price the vendor charges for use of their cloud system, and that price is paid upfront each month or year, depending on your chosen plan.
Hosted telephone systems are the most scalable phone option for growing companies.
When your business expands, you won’t need to worry about securing more data centre space or having more physical phones or lines installed. At most, you may need to upgrade your plan. This is still an upfront charge, though, allowing for easy outlay calculations.
In other words, hosted telephony inherently has greater scalability than both customer hosted and on-premises systems.
Hosted telephone systems are feature-rich, meaning they come with a wide array of different functions and options. This makes them flexible and adaptable to your business’s specific needs.
In addition to the kind of functionality you might expect from a typical phone system, like the option for callers to leave voicemail messages, hosted telephone systems offer plenty of other valuable features. One example of these is call recording, a helpful tool for any business. Some might even be part of a unified communications package, allowing video conferencing or instant messaging too.
Since it’s the newest kind of business telephone system, hosted telephony is always growing and improving. New features are regularly made available.
It’s also compatible with any hardware your business might want to take advantage of, from the newest handset to your favourite headset.
Why move to a hosted telephone system with RingCentral?
RingCentral is the UK’s leading hosted telephone system provider. Our hosted telephony service provides you with all the features you're used to having on a traditional phone system, only without expensive installation fees and ongoing maintenance costs.
We also offer round-the-clock support 24/7. That way, on the rare occasion that you can’t get connected, we’ll be right there to help you get things running smoothly again in no time.
Our hosted solution is entirely cloud-based. This means there’s a much slimmer chance of system failure or downtime, while allowing users to access the telephony service from anywhere. This makes our service ideal for any company, whether they’re a single site business, entirely remote, one with many distributed teams, or multiple office locations.
RingCentral’s hosted telephone system can cater to the needs of any modern, agile business. That’s what makes us the best hosted telephony provider on the market.
What are RingCentral's best Hosted Telephone System features?
Reliable
Our connectivity is excellent, boasting a 99.999% uptime SLA. This means that our infrastructure works at all hours of the day and night, keeping you online 24/7.
Global
Our integrated platform supports global hosted PBX in over 40 countries worldwide, making us a globally accessible option.
Secure
RingCentral protects your data carefully and effectively. We’ve got enterprise-grade security to encrypt each of your meetings and conversations. Your privacy is of paramount importance to us.
Flexible
Since our system is based in the cloud, you can access it from any device, anytime you want. This makes it easy to work as a team, from anywhere in the world.
Scalable to meet business growth
When you need to scale your hosted system up or down, we’ll have your back. Anytime your needs change as your business grows, RingCentral’s hosted telephony solution will be able to scale with you.
Work smarter and faster
Say goodbye to the days of waiting for every team member’s connectivity issues to be resolved before you can connect. With RingCentral’s intuitive and user-friendly interface, team members around the world can collaborate instantly.
Work on any device
Whether you’re using a laptop, desktop, or mobile device, RingCentral’s hosted telephony solution can support you. We provide a mobile app, desktop app, and integrated service for phones and headsets.
Simple to use
We provide full support for our systems. Our phone system is simple and easy to use, so you’ll be able to handle it like a pro in no time.
Easy Application Integration
You can integrate all your regular workflows and apps into RingCentral’s system. We’ve even got an option for custom integration, just in case your preferred apps aren’t among the hundreds of integrations we currently offer.
Fits your budget
We have four different tiers of plans, ranging from Standard to Ultimate. Each one offers a free trial, so you can test out whether it’s suited to you and your needs. See our plans and pricing for more details.
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More to RingCentral’s features and services
Get the latest features
RingCentral’s telephony service allows you access to the newest features available on the market.
Unlimited messaging
Send as many messages as you want each month, with no added charge. You can get in touch with anyone around the world at no extra cost to either party.
Fixed monthly cost
With RingCentral, your fixed monthly cost covers the full price, with no surprise add-ons or bonus fees.
Unlimited meetings
RingCentral helps you host and attend as many meetings as you need using our hosted telephone service.
Keep your phone numbers
When you switch over to RingCentral, you can keep all of your old phone numbers, meaning that there’s no need to change your website or business cards.
24/7
We take pride in our excellent CRM (customer relationship management) abilities. You can contact us for help at all hours of the day or night, every day of the week.
Latest IP handsets
RingCentral includes the latest IP handsets when you set up a new hosted telephony system. So you’ll have access to the best call quality, even when you’re conferencing with many people.
Feature-rich phone system
As discussed, we grant you access to a large number of bonus features.
No installation cost
You can set up a new hosted telephone system with RingCentral right now without worrying about installation fees.