Blog

Hosted Email uses cloud technology to provide an efficient email service in the cloud thereby removing the need for on-site server hardware and associated management. With Hosted email all you need is internet access and a suitable device to access your email account via the Hosted platform.

If you don’t use email in your business, it’s safe to say you’re in the minority. It is currently estimated that 294 billion emails are sent every single day from nearly 3.9 billion email accounts.

100 billion of those are classed as business grade emails, and those are emails from hosted mail accounts.

76% of all worldwide email accounts are free. These are classed as consumer accounts. According to The Radicati Group, a technology market research firm, hosted email accounts currently stand at 929 million and growing at a rate of 5% per year.

But why should you pay for your email? After all isn’t email free?

Yes it can be free to you, but somebody has to pay for the service.

Maybe you receive a lower level of service than you should? At the height of the Conficker virus in 2010 it was stated that up to 20% of all traffic to free email services was dropped due to the load on their systems. These emails could have contained lucrative orders or important business information for you.

Maybe you’re concerned about privacy? In the past couple of years Google faced a law suit against their right to access and read all emails sent to or received by their 425 million users. The practice, something Google has done nearly since the launch of its email service, allowed the company to digest the contents of email messages and use them to deliver targeted ads within Gmail itself.

Hosted email, no matter if it’s on your premises or in the cloud, have guarantees attached to them. From their uptime, that’s how often they are available through to privacy, encryption and even where your data is stored. Maybe you work in an industry where you can only have your data stored within the UK or Europe? That level of service is available with hosted email.

Hosted Exchange gives you the opportunity to build on your customer service by enabling you to contact, collaborate and share data wherever you are whenever you need to. You are no longer tied to your desk! By switching to Hosted Email there are no limits to when or where you work meaning no matter where you or your employees are you retain productivity levels and ensure business continuity.

There are numerous benefits from hosted email that can be easily tailored to how you use it. These include, amongst others, remote working, mobile access or collaboration.

The underlying question you need to ask, is email important to you and your business?

If the answer is yes, then your business could benefit from what hosted email could bring to you and we’d love to discuss the various Hosted email solutions we can offer.

If not, you take the risk as to what ‘free email’ actually provides.

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a telecommunication system that offers an alternative to traditional systems based on a PBX – Private Branch Exchange – and an internal network that is separate to other networks in a building.

There are also two ways of implementing and managing a VOIP system;

In one corner, you have Hosted telephony, where you pay a service provider to host your system in the cloud. The provider of the hosted PBX charges a monthly fee that is inclusive of a minutes package and potentially certain features. Charges can also be at a per minute calling cost.

In the other corner is “On-Premise”, where you set up (or upgrade) the infrastructure on your own business premises. It is similar to a traditional PBX system that resides at a location, such as a computer equipment room or phone closet

But which is better? Actually, there is no clear winner! In the end, it really depends on a number of factors. Understanding benefits and limitations makes it easier to determine the best option for any particular organization

• Your business & operational needs
• Your internal resources & infrastructure
• Your financial preferences

Let’s take a look at 5 key factors that may make a hosted telephony solution a far better choice for your business:

1. Keep the up-front costs down

Paying a fixed monthly fee to a service provider makes budgeting more predictable and preserves capital for strategic investments.

2. Get the infrastructure off-premise

VOIP infrastructure Installation costs can add up quickly. With hosted VoIP, you can say goodbye to on-premise infrastructure. All you need is a suitable connection to your service provider, and phones for your users.

3. Make better use of your in-house IT team

With a hosted VoIP solution, the service provider takes care of system maintenance, upgrades, and other operational issues – leaving your IT team the time to concentrate on more strategic tasks.

4. Take advantage of the latest technologies

If your VoIP is hosted, your service provider is responsible for upgrades. They deploy the latest version to all your users.

5. Hosted solutions grow with your business.

With a hosted solution, you won’t face the cost and disruption of increasing network capacity. Just scale your level of service with your provider and you’ll have all the capacity you need, to suit your requirements.

If the above 5 points seem to fit your business, then a hosted VoIP solution is an excellent choice for you! Ultimately it comes down to satisfaction, which is the most important aspect of choosing a system, regardless of whether it is hosted or on-premise.

We would be delighted to assess your current phone system and advise which method of telecommunication system would suit your business best.