How Much Do Cloud Phone Systems Cost: A Guide to Virtual PBX Pricing

Anyone who has worked in business knows how invaluable a decent phone system can be. Telephony is essential for everyday operations, from calling customers to following up on leads. Without a sufficient business phone system, your business may experience a lack of efficiency and professionalism which could discourage leads from interacting with your business.

Small, medium and large businesses across the United Kingdom are beginning to realise that they are missing out on the latest in cloud-based telephone system technology. With the rapid developments in technology, these features are forever growing and have quickly made legacy, traditional on-premise PBX systems appear inferior.

A growing number of businesses are getting on board with cloud-based phone systems to gain access to these world-class features, reduce costs, and so they can spend less time worrying about outdated hardware and more time communicating with prospective customers. If you are wondering exactly what a cloud PBX system is and how much a cloud PBX costs, we have laid out the factors that determine hosted PBX pricing below.

What Is a Cloud-Hosted Telephone System?

A cloud phone system is a hosted phone system service that is stored and accessed on a private server that you pay for as part of a subscription service. Many businesses nowadays are pursuing a hosted PX system solution so that they don’t have to deal with any hardware related upgrades and maintenance.

Businesses needing to work from home, remotely or just requiring greater flexibility and functionality in their internal office telecommunications system are now considering VoIP PABX Systems as the way forward, these systems can be purchased outright or leased on a per user basis.

United Telecoms has exclusive hosted PBX packages and price plans to provide you with the best solution to fit your needs.

How Much do Cloud PBX Systems Cost?

Cloud PBX pricing depends on the size of your business or how many extensions you require and your specific needs in terms of its features. All virtual phone systems are charged on a monthly subscription basis where you pay per user, also known as an extension or seat. Hosted PBX providers have put together their own cloud phone system pricing packages that vary in terms of what features are included and excluded. Features that are not included in their standard packages are charged for at additional costs.

Below is a detailed guide for cloud PBX prices in the UK Market. Many business users can become overwhelmed when trying to decide on the correct hosted system for their organisation and understanding the associated hosted phone system costs. The below guide should give you a better understanding of a reasonable estimate around how much a hosted PBX phone system will cost your small, medium or large business.

What Does a Hosted Phone System Cost?

As you will note from the above table, the main features or services that are sometimes excluded from hosted packages, are the Mobile App, Call Recording, Number Porting and Setup Costs. The Extensions, Mobile Apps and Call recording are charged per month while the Number Porting fee and Setup costs are both once-off costs.

What Factors Determine Costs of a Hosted PBX

One of the biggest benefits of a cloud-based phone system is the limited up-front costs since most fees are paid on a subscription basis. The following considerations need to be taken into account when considering a virtual phone system as they will determine the total price of your system: 

1. The number of seats or extensions 
2. Your internet connectivity 
3. Hardware and setup

Pricing Consideration 1: Number of Seats or Extensions

The first factor to consider when pricing a virtual cloud-based system is the number of extensions or seats required for your phone system. Cloud PABX providers usually supply systems based on a per seat/extensions basis. An extension is typically one user on the system, so a company requiring 10 employees on their Cloud PABX Telephony system will require 10 x Extensions. In most cases, add-on features such as a mobile Smartphone extension can be added to the per extension price, increasing the price but also increasing functionality and features.

Virtual PBX systems offer the benefit of scalability as businesses are able to start with one mobile extension and expand incrementally from there. Cloud PABX Systems effectively have no limit to the number of extensions and this is seen as one of the big advantages of a hosted PBX system.

Pricing Consideration 2: Internet Connectivity For your Virtual PABX

Most businesses in the United Kingdom today have access to Broadband Internet connectivity with a stable, secure Internet connection. Hosted telephony systems can be installed almost instantly over a stable Broadband Internet connection, therefore companies that do currently have a stable broadband connection do not need to add this cost to their pricing considerations since their existing line may be used.

Businesses who require a separate connectivity option for their voice service can quickly and easily sign up for either LTE or fibre internet solutions. This separate Internet connectivity will be used to transmit voice calls for the business to the outside world and back again. Most businesses do request a standalone broadband connection to ensure quality of service (QOS) and we highly recommend this.

Larger organisations or those that require guaranteed uptime may wish to install a separate dedicated Enterprise-grade Internet broadband connection under a Service Level Agreement solely for their voice requirements. Dedicated connections ensure higher levels of quality control across the voice pipe and allow IT professionals to troubleshoot any voice quality issues that may occur quickly.

Failover/Redundancy Internet Connectivity

Certain mission-critical voice sites will request a failover connection. This connection ensures that should the primary connection fail, voice calls can continue to be made and received via the failover connection. Modern cloud PBX telephone systems have automatic failover detections to ensure that should a failure of the primary connection occur, automatic failover to the secondary connection will occur.

Pricing Consideration 3: Hardware, Installation and Setup of Your Cloud PABX 

Cloud Hosted PBX systems can be set up in several configurations which impact on their recurring and once-off pricing.

Smartphone and PC/MAC only Virtual PABX Setups

Customers who do not require desk-based IP phones are able to simply use their smartphone (iOS or Android) via an App designed for the system or their PC’s as an extension of the Virtual PABX. By doing this, businesses are able to save on the cost of onsite hardware such as IP Phones and office cabling.

Traditional On-Site Desktop Telephones

Most businesses however choose to install desk-based IP phones in their offices for a number of reasons, including; stability of hardware, quality of calls and to provide a standardised experience to employees. This hardware can be purchased either via rental or an outright cash purchase. Examples of IP phones offered by United Telecoms can be seen below. Existing network cabling and network switches can be used for IP phones on a Hosted Telephone System.

Choose Your Cloud Phone System Pricing Plan and Get Connected Today

Hosted Phone Systems are becoming increasingly popular with the advent of stronger, more reliable Internet. These systems ensure businesses and organisations have access to the latest and greatest telephony technology while at the same time ensuring organisations are able to maintain costs at fair and reasonable prices.

We can deploy our hosted system anywhere in the United Kingdom. If you are interested in getting a better idea on what it takes to make the switch to a cloud phone system, get a free quote or chat with the experts now on 020 3399 8011 or email info@unitedtelecoms.net