Business Phone Service in Northampton, MA

Picking The Best Phone Service for Your Northampton, MA Business

Due to the rising popularity of commercial VoIP, you will find there are a lot of providers eager to nab your business. Even though this could complicate the selection process, it can also be a useful advantage.

To begin, give some thought to your company's communication needs. Try to determine things like which functions you'll need to use during the day, how many extensions you'll need to buy, whether you have plans to develop your organization further in the foreseeable future, and what your phone budget looks like.

Then you'll be prepared to check on the plans available from the myriad of company VoIP providers in Northampton, MA. Take note of the packages they have available, their costs, and also the all-around trustworthiness of the provider. Using a functional phone service is an indispensable component in your business's success, so it's important to choose a provider with a favorable reputation for stability and fine customer support.

What is Traditional Business Phone Service in Northampton, MA?

Traditionally, companies use analog phones and communicate via the public switched telephone network. This system transmits voice and fax communications throughout the country. It consists of both underground and aboveground copper wires. Satellites also play an important role by transmitting long-distance calls from one region to another. The service provides high-quality sound and continues to function in most electrical outages.

This system has remained in place for more than 100 years. It was available before any other telephone service in Northampton, MA. Businesses generally pay more to communicate via the PSTN, especially if they also need high-speed Internet access. This is primarily true because the system has a lot of infrastructure that needs to be maintained regularly. Phone companies must add this cost to the monthly bill.

While local calls remain quite inexpensive, it can be costly to contact people in other counties, states or nations. Communications may pass through multiple facilities on the way to their destinations. Different telecom networks may own various infrastructure that is involved in this process, and they need to be paid to maintain the equipment. This often results in expensive long-distance calling for Northampton, MA businesses. VoIP is recommended over traditional business phone service.

PBX and Analog Phone Systems in Northampton, MA

The majority of Northampton, MA businesses will use a PBX, or private branch exchange, which allows different internal calling features like personal extensions or conference calls. This technology allows the organization of - and flow of - calls among internal and external users to your PBX, and improves the productivity of everyone as they're able to have their line.

A traditional PBX using traditional PSTN technology can be either located on your Northampton, MA premises or it can be hosted remotely at some other location - but keep in mind that this kind of infrastructure has a huge price tag. The various pieces of equipment and technology required to consume a PBX at your business will start in the $1000 range and go up from there depending on the depth and breadth of your needs - while installation, configuration, and maintenance are additional to these original costs. This manual labor can be achieved by your in-house asset - should you have one capable of such things - or this work can be outsourced to a third-party professional, but these charge $100 per hour or more.

Another major drawback of traditional PBX systems is that the hardware involved can limit the amount of lines and extensions that are available - meaning that, as your business grows, you'll be looking at a significant amount of additional costs to purchase and then install, configure and maintain even more expensive hardware.

Like all physical hardware, PBX systems are likely to experience breakdowns or other system issues that can be costly to have repaired on an emergency schedule. They may also face obsolescence every few years and need to be replaced by better, more efficient systems.