Metro Detroit VoIP has seen growth over the last few years, and continue to expand as more businesses see the benefits of VoIP over POTS (plain old telephone system). In a previous blog post, we talked about what you should ask your VoIP provider according to what you need.

In this post, we compare the most used phone solutions for businesses, VoIP included.

First, a review of phone systems for businesses:

  • POTS: plain old telephone system, your basic landline, one line, one phone.
  • Mobile phones: Employees each have a cell phone on a company phone plan.
  • PBX: private branch exchange, internal system with internal calling and a unified phone number for external calls. Switches calls between enterprise users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines.
  • IP-PBX: internet protocol PBX, a PBX running on VoIP.
  • VoIP: All the functionalities of POTS, PBX, and more, running on the internet instead of phone lines, externally hosted and managed by your provider

When it comes to hardware and software:

  • POTS – no hardware or software needed in addition to the usual connections
  • Mobile phones – needs hardware of course: cell phones, sim cards, etc.
  • PBX – needs a lot of hardware
  • IP-PBX – needs both hardware and software, or can be hardware-based OR software-based
  • VoIP: software only

Flexibility for scaling/customization and ease of setup/installation and management:

  • POTS – is easy, of course, with no flexibility at all
  • Mobile phones – are flexible, but not easy for the business to “install” or provide. So many numbers to keep track of, for instance. And phones need to be obtained.
  • PBX – no on both counts
  • IP-PBX – is flexible, though the easiness would depend on your provider
  • VoIP – YES on both counts!

Internal calls and international calls:

  • POTS – No on both counts
  • Mobile phones – No internal, YES to international calls–look for special rates if your business uses international calls a lot
  • PBX –  yes, PBX was made for internal calls, but not for international
  • IP-PBX – YES  on both counts
  • VoIP – YES on both counts! (if you have IP-PBX).

Affordable?

  • POTS – YES
  • Mobile phones – NO
  • PBX – NO
  • IP-PBX – YES
  • VoIP – YES

Reliable? I.e., emergencies, system failures, out of range, etc.

  • POTS – YES
  • Mobile phones – NO
  • PBX – YES
  • IP-PBX – YES (depending on your provider)
  • VoIP – YES

Small business or large enterprise?

With the matter of convenience, centralization and your business needs, the phone systems are ideal for either SMBs or larger businesses. VoIP has the flexibility to scale.

  • POTS – Small
  • Mobile phones – Small
  • PBX – Large
  • IP-PBX – Small and large
  • VoIP – Small and large

Except for the POTS, all four of the other phone systems have a lot of features to benefit your business. But VoIP is the only one with full service: customer support you can depend on, with all the management services and features of a hosted VoIP account in Metro Detroit. Talk to us!

About Simply Technology

Simply Technology has been providing technology solutions for businesses in the Metro-Detroit market since 2010.  We understand that technology can sometimes be very complex that’s why we believe in technology at its simplest form. We show this by offering our Voice and IT Services with all the features and industry leading customer service your business deserves.

We believe in thinking differently, we believe in people and what we can collectively achieve. We go to work every day to help our customers succeed!

248-885-5515
27801 Harper Ave. Suite 100
St. Clair Shores, MI 48080
sales@simplytechnology.com