Thursday, February 13, 2020

What Type of Phone Service or Cloud VoIP Should You Use and Are You Paying too Much?



Carrier services such as Analog (POTS) lines, PRI, SIP Trunks and Cloud VoIP Phone Systems. Which is right for you, and are you paying too much monthly?

No matter what voice and internet carrier services (AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum Business, Logix, etc.) or cloud VoIP you have in your office, chances are you have an auto renewal clause in your contract (most agreements are 3 year terms) with the provider you currently have. In most cases, a written cancellation 60-90 days before your contract ends is required on your contract. If you do not address this prior to your contract expiration, your providers contract may auto renew you and you’ll be paying 30-50% more than you should for your services for another year, and even longer in some cases. This includes cloud or hosted VoIP phone systems (UCaaS), which are also offered in a contract term format.
Check your contract now. If your voice/internet services or cloud/hosted VoIP are coming out of contract, Office Telesystems could save you up to 50% or more on these services, which can also include faster internet, more inbound/outbound lines and other service enhancements. Many cloud VoIP phone systems also include voice/internet carrier services along with your desk phones, endpoints, and the features associated with them. If your phone system is a premise based VoIP design, reduced service provider costs can also help you afford that lease payment on a new system, perhaps even pay for the entire monthly payment! Office Telesystems works with several different providers so we can find the right one for your needs. Office Telesystems offers premise based VoIP phone systems as well as cloud based VoIP systems such as NetFortris cloud VoIP and NEC Univerge Blue.

Service Types Include:




Analog or “POTS” lines                                      Request a Quote

These are the type phone lines you have at home or in a small businesses. They are usually provided for premise based systems, but can be offered by cloud VoIP providers as well via an "ATA" or analog adapter. They use copper wire or may be delivered by VoIP. Many small businesses still use them if their needs are minimal. 2-6 lines with coax or ethernet type internet are still cheaper than dedicated fiber services designed for larger applications and many don't require a contract of 3-5 years. They are adequate for most offices with 2-12 employees.

PRI Service                                                    Request a Quote

PRI has been around for a while but is still very prominent in the marketplace. Each PRI circuit allows for up to 23 voice channels or “call paths” and can be sold as a “fractional” PRI, usually provided with 6 or 12 channels instead of a full PRI's 23 channels. You can even have multiple PRI's. Many larger premise based systems can hold 8 PRI's or more with 23 Channels each. There are some advantages of PRI services over analog lines. All carriers we partner with provide PRI type services as part of their carrier offerings. Systems will require one PRI card per PRI circuit. The cost to deliver PRI service to offices has decreased steadily over the last few years. As contracts come up for renewal, there is a good chance for a customer to save money on services renewal, enough to justify a new phone system or an increase in internet speed (bandwidth). PRI generally gives better sound quality throughout your system over analog lines, along with some offering direct dial numbers, a block of long distance minutes and less cost per line than analog lines when your needs require over 8 lines. PRI also can let your phone system provide additional features that are not available with analog lines, such as linking your mobile device and other features.

Cloud or Hosted VoIP systems                             Request a Quote  


If you have a cloud VoIP phone system, you usually have a contract term associated with your system. Evaluate your system 6 months or so before your contract expires to see if it is providing you the features you need, and if you are getting adequate support from the provider. In many cases, if you have purchased your VoIP desk phones, you can re-purpose these phones onto a new cloud or hosted provider, such as NetFortris or NEC Univerge Blue.  



SIP Trunks                                                             Request a Quote

Cloud or hosted VoIP systems utilize SIP trunking, but todays premise based VoIP systems can utilize this type of service as well. SIP Trunks are a VoIP type voice line, or “call path”, similar to PRI design but with a different delivery to your office. The number of SIP trunks can vary from just a few to a few hundred in one location, whether on cloud VoIP or premise based VoIP systems. The main advantage to SIP trunks is that multiple area codes can be provided in one location for centralized answering. If you're using a premise based VoIP phone system, you can usually add SIP licenses on the same card in your system that supports your VoIP phones. SIP licenses for an existing VoIP card will cost less than a PRI card in many cases. Also, SIP service per call path can be less than PRI.

Ask Office Telesystems how we can help get you the right services provider for your cloud/hosted VoIP or premise based VoIP system.  It could end up providing enough cost reduction monthly to pay for a whole new system! Call us today 972 484 4900, (817) 529-1700 or visit our website at www.officetelesystems.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment