In the absence of a dedicated IT and systems management team, it is often difficult for businesses (especially smaller businesses) to manage their own servers. Managing highly technical premise-based servers and safe guarding them from all potential internal and external threats is a time consuming and unnerving task. Businesses lacking dedicated teams of support staff for the office telecommunications system, including installation, repairs and ongoing maintenance have received many great returns after investing in cloud based PBX.
Leading cloud based phone system providers use secure, next-generation and reliable machinery for their telecommunications platforms – such as BroadConnect’s cloud system! Since deployment occurs from private and highly secured data centers, the probability of external and / or internal threats is significantly reduced. Most providers of cloud based PBX services install their cloud infrastructure behind advanced firewall and security systems to prevent malicious threats. The primary benefits of a cloud-based system come in the form of scalability and availability of features that were previous out of reach to businesses with moderate operating budgets. Should disaster ever render a business inaccessible, all communications services to the business will be shifted, in real-time, to redundant PBX clusters.
What is a cloud phone system?
The majority of Cloud PBX service providers (like BroadConnect USA) use advanced IP routing protocols in conjunction with VoIP.
Traditionally, PBXs deployed on premise, inside a business were subject to things like jitter, packet loss and latency. As soon as end-to-end delay exceeds 300 milliseconds, voice degradation occurs. To mitigate this, providers of cloud service utilize advanced routing algorithms in an attempt to minimize packet routing delay.
As part of their business continuity plan, many businesses are deploying cloud-based communications services as a fail-safe in the event of disaster. Should disaster strike, all data stored in the cloud remains secured since it is housed offsite in a secured location.
There are a few security issues that can be attributed to public cloud systems, however, most of these can be mitigated with advanced protocols like encryptions and firewalls.
Here is a brief overview of the advantages and the disadvantages of a self-hosted system versus a cloud-based system:
Advantages of a self-hosted system
- Complete control over all software and infrastructure configuration and management
- If a dedicated team exists, operations and management is quick
- Can be setup to manage maximum load
- Suitable for larger organizations with higher call volume and traffic needs
Disadvantages of a self-hosted system
- Scalability is extremely hard and can take a long time
- Typically deployed over shared Internet
- Typically does not have high quality Internet or the necessary QoS for VoIP
- Needs a qualified and dedicated team for operations and maintenance
- Needs round-the-clock monitoring
Advantages of a Cloud-based system
- Highly flexible, scales easily and quickly
- Typically has a very fast Internet
- Has the proper QoS applied at the core
- Comes with a dedicated, round-the-clock service team
- Utilizes top quality security protocols
Disadvantages of a Cloud-based system
- The technology used is still evolving
- Some providers have questionable security mechanisms
