Primus Business Services provides telecommunications solutions for Canadian businesses of all sizes, including Business DSL, Data Centre, Web Hosting, Server Colocation, Managed Services, Hosted Phone System, Local Business Phone, Long Distance.

For your Business  >  Hosted Phone System (Hosted PBX)  >  Hosted PBX vs. Centrex

Hosted Phone System (Hosted PBX)
Hosted PBX vs. Centrex



 
Hosted PBX
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 SoftPhones.

 Analog phones only.
Moves/Adds/Changes Instantly and free via DHCP, Auto Attendant (AA) 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 Hosted PBX 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.


Further Information

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Jul 21, 2010 -   Primus Offers Customers New Suite of Polycom Hosted PBX Phones

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