By now, you’ve either heard of or are interested in the modern day business phone system. You have a sense of the benefits it is proven to provide. But a major question many people have a tough time answering is whether they should get a system in the cloud or on-premise. Well, below we have put together some great information that will hopefully cement your understanding of each option, and quell any uncertainty you may have regarding each option so that you can start moving forward and invest in the right option for your business.
Why ShoreTel On-Prem?
ShoreTel’s on-premise UC system brings together IP telephony, instant messaging, video conferencing, mobility, presence and collaboration. It’s brilliantly simple to use and manage. The IP architecture is designed for 99.999% availability. ShoreTel’s UC system allows you to grow as needed, across sites or even countries. But no matter how big you grow, your IT staff can easily maintain the system from anywhere on the network.
1) On-Prem because…It’s how you’ve been doing it. Some companies may already have an IT company that manages their system and are comfortable relying on them. If this is how your business operates, then having an on-prem system would be most comfortable for your business.
2) On-Prem because…You want full integration. If you need to take advantage of full UC functionality, or want call-center capabilities, on-premise is what you’re looking for. On-prem allows establishments to integrate UC processes directly into their workflow,
3) On-Prem because…You want continuity and discretion for your business. All businesses need a reliable phone system, that’s a given. But how strict is your need to operate with discretion and without hindrances? An unplanned disruption, or leaked information could be catastrophic for some businesses like those in healthcare, for example. For businesses like this, an on-premise system would technically be the better option because it can ensure constant communications even when a disaster strikes.On-prem also provides protection and storage of sensitive customer 
information.
Why ShoreTel Sky?
With ShoreTel Sky, you can have a brilliantly simple unified communications system in the cloud. Whether you need a basic phone system or run a sophisticated call center, ShoreTel Sky can meet your needs. With ShoreTel Sky, call quality is excellent and it’s easy to integrate with your core business applications, like CRM. The transition to ShoreTel Sky is painless.
4) Sky because…You prefer predictability. With cloud, you typically pay a monthly fee based on the number of locations and users. In addition, schools, healthcare providers, and government agencies that can fund their communications costs through federal government subsidies, such as E-Rate, will find the opex cost model of a hosted UC system particularly appealing. You can also adjust your monthly costs without major capital expenses, whether your business is growing rapidly or needs to scale down.
5)Sky because…You want a dramatic improvement instantly. With a cloud-based system, you are saving a lot of time that would typically take weeks or months to install and configure if you were to go with on-premise. Cloud-based instantly gives your workers the tools they need to be productive. You can also easily add services as the needs of your business grows and changes over time, without having to interrupt operations.
6) Sky because…You want something simple. You want to focus on your business and your customers and leave everything else up to your phone system. With cloud-based UC, maintenance and support are vastly simplified and upgrades are automatic.
Why not both? – Hybrid!
With a hybrid plan, you have an on-premises server that supports your IP phones, while also delivering other services via the cloud, such as mobility. Many organizations are taking their first step into the cloud with a hybrid approach, using their current IP PBX for existing UC functionality, but then providing new services or provisioning new locations with a cloud service.
Also, check out our questionnaire for a more in-depth look at which option is right for you.
Interested? We know you are. Contact us!