In celebration of our upcoming webinar, this month we are immersed in reviewing web apps… big ones, little ones, fat ones and skinny ones… so we can give you the skinny on what cool and not so cool.  Read on:

When we moved to our new offices, we wanted to leave the baggage behind.  One of those bags was our old PBX phone system.  In the process of opening up our new office, one of the first big decisions was deciding which phone systems we would implement.

We had been using a PBX system at The Launch Pad for quite some time very successfully, so my initial inclination was that we would probably use one again.  However, after looking at the cost to move or replace the old system, I decided to rethink that idea and take a good look at a hosted VOIP solution.  A few driving factors weighed heavily in the decision to go in that direction and leave the old phones behind.  

? We expected our team to grow very quickly
? We wanted the flexibility of remote users and unified messaging such as voicemail to email
? We coveted a large degree of flexibility in terms of how we are going to use the system/what features are included
? We didn’t want to manage any hardware ourselves or invest in phone equipment
? We are very concerned with cash flow (who isn’t?!)

Those driving factors lead me to a system by Telovations, a hosted VIOP provider and we have never looked back. The only equipment we have are the phones themselves and a single switch in our server room.  The hosted solution gives us a ton of flexibility, and is priced on a monthly basis per phone, making it easy to add or subtract users and add features such as a conference room phone.  In addition, we don’t have to purchase any of our own equipment, and there won’t be any annual maintenance contracts – a nice boost to the cash flow.  This is of course consistent with the greater overall trend of technology services being delivered from “the cloud” – something small businesses can take real advantage of.

When you are considering your next phone system, take a look at hosted options.  They may be ideal for your business, and your wallet.

Want to learn more about harnessing Cloud power? Join us for Part 3 of our RevITup TechEd™ Cloud Webinar Series on Thursday, March 31st, “Riding the Cloud: 10 Ways to Harness Cloud Power for Your Business.”

 For more information on the upcoming Webinar or Cloud Computing solutions, please contact Megan Meisner at mmeisner@launchpadonline.com or 813 920 0788 x210.