3 Most Common Problems with Hosted PBX Provider Services

Have you ever tried to analyze what is it that stops small business enterprises from switching to the hosted communication systems? Every business firm plans its switch first and analyzes all the factors before it can finally start off with the Hosted PBX services. In this process, they come across certain problems that various business firms face. However, the fact is that these problems arise when the right provider is not chosen. Most commonly encountered issues include:

Issue 1: Services are not always charged as promised

There are certain Hosted PBX providers that offer you attractive offers to lure business customers. After signup, many different problems are revealed. These problems mainly include:

·         For every new feature that you intend to add, you have to pay a little extra.

·         Scalability options are restricted to the telecom plans that have been defined by the Hosted PBX providers.

·         The quality of service degrades day by day in case of contract based services. In case you wish to end the contract, you might have to pay some termination fee.

·         In some firms, customer services and troubleshooting is also chargeable and this adds up to greater costs.

·         While using toll free number service, sometimes the providers initiate the misdialed calls to your number in order to increase the calling volumes of the users and to charge them more.

Issue 2: Configuration and compatibility problems

When setting up a hosted communication interface, it becomes essential to find out the quality and the speed of internet that you intend to use for your services. Most of the problems are due to internet bandwidth.

·         The minimum requirement of internet for communication is 3G or Wi-Fi and most of the business organizations do not have this in their existing infrastructure. Hence, integration is not possible until the upgrade is successfully implemented.

·         Landline phones can be efficiently used by business firms that look at the cost-cutting side of business but they cannot provide all the functionality that the VOIP phones can offer. So, such enterprises usually complain about the under-utilization of services. Making an investment in the VOIP phones would add up to the capital expenses.

·         Configuration of the soft switch provided by Hosted PBX providers is also a major issue. The reason is that for first time users, the switch is a little complex and they find it difficult to configure features like call forwarding, voicemail, IVR and call transfer.

Issues 3: Call configuration and quality can be a major issue

Hosted PBX VOIP can be a major issue in the telecom sector. Most of the business enterprises find call quality as an issue. The various problems that they face include the following:

·         Sometimes, the calls are one-sided which means that the caller may hear the receiver’s voice but vice-versa does not happen.

·         The calls that are directed over 2G network face voice break issues that are not as a result of route quality but due to insufficient bandwidth.

·         Calls configuration in Hosted PBX systems to different numbers at different times of day is also a problematic area.

·         The use of CLI and non CLI routes can be issues sometimes when the ACD and ASR factors are below what is required for seamless flow of communication.

All these issues that business firms face are due to the Hosted PBX providers that these organizations choose. It is thus better to first screen the providers that do not bind you through any business phone contracts and them take a trail of the services to test the connection and to understand the interface better.