Businesses today are faced with a challenge in how to integrate the desk and mobile phones of employees. Exacerbating the problem is that mid- to large-sized businesses already have significant capital and resources invested in PBX systems that require a drastic upgrade or overhaul to enable the latest telephony features. This is where a hosted unified communications service shines, since it does not require investment in hardware or software, making implementation simple and cost-effective.
The power of these systems rests in their customizable capabilities. For example, one can create an auto attendant (call tree) with an extension that forwards calls to a mobile phone, deskphone or both in a user-determined sequence. Individual users, rather than central gatekeepers, create and manage their own communication rules. Online PBX service configuration can be managed from anywhere, any time. This flexibility can be harder to achieve with a CPE-based phone system.
For travel-based businesses, employee mobility and connectivity is of utmost importance. Accessibility can be increased by calls being automatically routed to the phone of preference. This includes office, mobile, hotel and other numbers where the receiving party can be reached temporarily.
Another useful feature is the ability to deliver voicemails via email, and they can be forwarded to colleagues or other business contacts.
Since a hosted system relieves internal staff from managing a PBX as well as add/edits/deletes for employees, more time is available to focus on business and daily tasks. Another benefit is that all upgrades are transparent. Once an additional feature or enhancement is released it is immediately available to everyone. No longer must upgrades be deferred until an appropriate or convenient time.
Recently fixed mobile convergence (FMC) has been gaining attention as it addresses the dual phone conundrum at the handset and carrier level. Some services handle that challenge in a completely different manner, but are positioned to coexist with or complement FMC services and handsets if and when they become widespread.
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