Hosted PBX - Hosted PBX Service vs. Centrex
Hosted PBX Service |
Centrex |
|
| Management | Fully Managed |
Fully Managed |
| Capital Investment | Minimal, standards-based and re-deployable |
Minimal, standards-based and re-deployable |
| Phone Selection | Wide range of analog phones, IP phones, proprietary PBX phones (via PBX Trunking) and soft-phones. |
Analog phones only. |
| Moves/Adds/Changes | Instantly and free via DHCP, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or Web. Available anywhere with a LAN connection. Complete customer control. |
Requires costly service order and delay. In some cases, additional wiring is required. Minimal customer control. |
| Network Access | Supports either dedicated or internet connectivity. Single backup transport can protect both applications.
|
Dedicated voice and data network connectivity required. Dedicated backup transport for each application required. |
| In-building Wiring | Choice of analog, dedicated voice and data LAN, or shared voice/data LAN. |
Analog only. Separate voice/data wiring required. |
| Feature Content | Extremely rich feature set including phone features and web portal. Features usually offered as part of a service bundle. |
Limited feature set. No web portal. Features offered on an a la carte basis. |
| Work-at-home | Rich inbound and outbound feature capabilities using Remote service with analog/cell phone or using IP Phone over unmanaged Internet. |
Inbound via Call Forwarding only. |
| Mobility | Find-Me/Follow-Me, Web Portal accessibility, Take along the phone/soft-phone and the number moves anywhere with IP |
None |
| Billing | Usually, predictable consolidated billing for local, long distance, voice features, internet, data VPN. |
Multiple bills from voice and data providers. Complex billing due to a la carte offerings and usage charges. Unpredictable due to unwieldy usage. |
| Vendor Management | Single vendor, one-stop-shop eliminates finger-pointing and ensures accountability. |
Often, different vendors for local, long distance, and data services. |
| Growth / Downsizing | Easy growth, movement or downsizing by adding/removing users from the service bundle regardless of location. |
Easy growth, movement or downsizing by adding/removing users within a service location. Multi-location more complex. |
| Reliability / Disaster Recovery | Loss of connectivity causes inbound calls to automatically route to voicemail or alternate location (e.g., cell, home etc.). Mirror-site, mirror-seat services enable instant disaster recovery. Work-at-home using Remote service. |
No equipment at the customer site to be damaged. Configuration and provisioning information resides in a hardened facility. Mirror-site/mirror-seat services require service provider coordination. |