Let’s start with the facts. Many businesses still need to upgrade their phone systems because they won’t have a choice in just a few years. Why? If you don’t know already, the UK’s ISDN networks are being switched off in 2025, meaning any organisation that still relies on this soon to be defunct technology will be caught out.
So what options are available? And which is the best for your business?
There are three main options available: SIP trunking your existing PBX, public cloud-hosted telephony, and private hosted telephony solutions. There are, of course, hybrid combinations of these and different variations, but in this article, we will be discussing and comparing public vs private hosted telephony. You can read about SIP trunking
Let’s get started…
Public cloud UCaaS solutions
A public cloud telephony solution is a cloud VoIP system which a service provider or network provider hosts on their infrastructure. You then rent ports on the provider’s platform and use a partition of that public hosted or managed telephone system as a service.
Benefits of public cloud VoIP telephony:
- Low upfront costs and generally a lower total cost of ownership as you only pay a monthly subscription price per user
- Fast deployment meaning business as usual with no delays
- No security concerns as this is provided for you
- Great for phones distributed over many different locations using lots of different internet connections as security is already taken care of
- No capex, maintenance or support costs as you don’t own the infrastructure yourself; ports on the system are rented
- No software upgrade costs and always leading edge as updates are taken care of by the provider giving you instant access to new features at no extra cost
- Simple to test and/or deploy new applications and features as these options are built-in so you can add to your subscription when needed
A public cloud telephony solution will be best for you if:
- You have multiple locations or a high level of homeworkers
- Your workforce is widely distributed and you don’t want to manage your VoIP security
- You’re looking for an out-of-the-box solution which is simple to manage and quick to deploy
- You want to keep capex costs to a minimum and spread the cost via opex instead
- You don’t want/have your own in-house IT department to manage your voice systems
Looking for a public cloud telephony solution? Check out our OnlineUC Gamma solution >>
Private cloud UCaaS and hosted solutions
Benefits of private cloud VoIP telephony:
- Integrate your own third party applications
- The ability to create more complexed, bespoke and feature-rich solutions
- You want your own bespoke enhanced resiliency
- Greater control over security as it is a single customer environment with your own applications
- Reduced internal infrastructure costs
- Generally a lower total cost of ownership over extended periods than some public or managed VoIP solutions (though not in all cases)
- Many integration options with other network services have more flexible integration options that you may not get in many public cloud platforms. Using this type of solution, you can sometimes develop your own APIs if you have the resource
- Less change, as you may be able to migrate your existing solution to private cloud, retaining your existing handsets and reducing on-premise overheads
A private cloud telephony solution will be best if:
- You have large individual locations or multiple large locations
- You have an existing UC solution and you want to continue to use the software and licencing of your original investment by migrating it to cloud infrastructure
- You have an existing voice-led MPLS network with capacity
- You are looking for capex-based solutions with lower longer-term total operating costs
- You’d rather own your own systems with the choice and flexibility of service provider for external VoIP connections
- Were the need for enhanced connectivity security is required
Looking for a private cloud telephony solution? Check out our OnlineUC Mitelsolution >>
Having provided landline services for more than 20 years, Daisy knows how to look after your network, which means we also understand the challenges and opportunities businesses face when upgrading their voice solution. Daisy works with the top vendors and service providers in the voice space and can provide help and advice to any UK organisations considering either or a combination of the private and public hosted cloud VoIP telephony solutions.
To discuss the best options for your organisation, get in touch with one of our experts today and get a FREE health check on your phone systems and data networks.