Hosted Telephony: Where do I start?

What is hosted telephony?

A hosted telephony system is a cloud-based phone solution that removes the need for telephone system hardware by hosting in a remote location, and uses the same wiring as your company’s data network. Hosted telephony has a range of features and benefits that traditional analogue systems do not provide, including a flexible secure system that is disaster recovery-ready.

What are the benefits of hosted telephony?

There are a range of benefits that a hosted phone system such as Gamma Horizon offers. These include minimal capital expenditure, a simple futureproof system, potential savings and ongoing support. Find out more about how Gamma Horizon can work for your business.

What is the difference between hosted telephony and a traditional phone system?

Traditional telephony solutions are typically reliant on the integrated services digital network (ISDN). ISDN is a set of communication standards that allows for simultaneous transmission of voice, video, data etc. Openreach (BT) has announced it will be retiring ISDN, so this means adopting a hosted telephony system will not only serve as a catalyst for business modernisation but a necessity come 2025.

A traditional phone system can only offer so much. They can become costly and out of date, whereas a newer telephone system can be a more cost effective futureproofed solution.

A hosted telephony system differs in that it connects to the internet rather than to the ISDN. This means that all your business needs to be able to operate efficiently is an internet connection rather than relying solely on ISDN. In addition to this hosted telephony adds further security to your business as you’re no longer relying on a single point of connection but a cloud-based system accessible from anywhere.

Which hosted telephony provider should I choose?

TSG works with organisations across the UK deploying hosted telephony solutions and partners with award-winning supplier Gamma. Gamma is a leading supplier of voice, data and mobile products and services in the UK.
Together TSG and Gamma Horizon provide scalable, flexible and resilient solutions that deliver real business value.

Gamma Horizon can handle projects with requirements from base line solutions for smaller offices up to handling the complexity required in call centres.

Telephony: A timeline

1876: Telephony was invented

1877: First switchboards were created and with them, the ability to call different people through managed switchboards

1979: ISDN is formally defined by the CCITT, now known as the Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T)

2004: Voice over IP (VoIP) was created, this allows voice to travel over an internet connection and was the biggest major change since the 1800s

2015: BT announced its intention to retire ISDN in the UK by 2025

Since 2012 the amount of IP based telephony lines has increased from 1 million to 2.6 million in 2016. This is projected to grow again to 4.2 million by 2020.

Hosted Telephony options – next steps

TSG works with hundreds of companies across the UK delivering and upgrading telephone systems. There are different routes companies may take depending on business requirements, for companies with traditional telephony systems there are 2 options:

– Businesses can upgrade a current telephony system. However, not all systems can be upgraded so this would need to be investigated. Telephone system upgrades can be costly, often a new solution can be more cost effective.

– TSG can offer system replacements. By doing this companies can also rethink their voice-based strategy tailored to business needs. When we talk about a voice-based strategy it’s thinking about mobility, staff productivity and the experience that people get when calling into the business.
Finally, due to the ongoing demise of IDSN its important businesses investigate how to develop their in-house telephony. Our advice would be to act now and have something in place before 2025!

This blog is merely a taster of what you can expect to learn on our telephony webinar which takes place on 8th August. You can sign up for the webinar here.