Investopedia.com describes a “startup” as a company in its first stage of operations attempting to capitalize on a product or service that they believe is in high demand. It also states that these companies usually have limited revenue, high costs and rely on continuous funding from outside sources and the entrepreneurial founders.
So in short, startups need to be very careful with their money and make sure it is invested wisely. Startup funds need to be focused in the development and promotion of their product/service. But every business needs certain operational features, some of which might not show a great ROI. Traditionally a company’s phone system was one of these features. But with the creation and evolution of the hosted phone system, startups are offered an affordable phone system that meets all of their telecommunication needs.
So we say a hosted phone system is perfect for startups but why is it exactly. We said it is affordable and has all the necessary features, but what do we actually mean here. Let’s take a deeper look into these and a few other reasons as to why your startup needs to go hosted.
Affordability
With hosted you do not own the phone system, your service provider owns and operates the system. You are not spending 1000s of dollars on equipment and technicians to install the system. Instead you are on a monthly charge that will meet your budgetary needs.
Also when you own a system you need someone to maintain the system. This means hiring an in-house IT professional which most startups do not have the funding for. With a hosted phone system all of your maintenance and upgrade needs are transferred to your service provider.
Feature Rich
A big reason why companies have been skeptical of hosted phone systems in the past is because they didn’t have the feature set of the on-premise systems. They lacked a lot of the key features business owners wanted in their phone system. Manufacturers have realized this and have brought these features over to their hosted phone system. Features such as call forwarding, call scheduling and caller menus.
Growth
Startups are interesting businesses, there is no telling how fast they might grow or by how much. This is a big aspect that makes hosted a perfect solution for startups. Expanding your phone system whenever you need is much simpler when you have a hosted system. You simply just call your service provider and tell them how much you need. No hassling with your IT team or taking up your own time in figuring out what you need to do to expand your system.
The IDC (I don’t care) Factor
Here is something that manufacturers and vendors have started to realize about small businesses and startups. They just really don’t care when it comes to their phone system. They know they need it but they want to have nothing to do with it. They don’t want to hassle with it, hire people to maintain it, etc. They want to focus on their business. Hosted is perfect for this mindset, all hassle is taken away and is on the shoulders of the provider. If you have issues or needs you just call them and they take care of it. You do what you have to do and build your business.
Some great providers are starting to put a major focus on hosted phone systems due to the desire of companies to be in the cloud and have virtualized technology. Companies such as ESI and ShoreTel are some of these manufacturers. So stop worrying about your phone system and focus on building the next startup sensation.