One big difference between PBX and VoIP is the cost. Setting up a PBX network is complex and expensive. For starters, you’ll need to invest in hardware like compatible headsets and handsets, adapters, routers, and a power supply—as well as covering the costs of installing the necessary supporting infrastructure.

VoIP, on the other hand, just requires a router that can handle high-quality calls, compatible phones and devices, and your software. Basically, you need good Internet. Unlike PBX, you don’t even need to call customer support or a technician to install the system. Ongoing costs after that are also low, since hosted VoIP requires minimal maintenance, and its subscription costs are comparatively modest.

Dialpad in particular helps businesses spend less money and time on setting up new office spaces, cutting new office setup time by more than 90%.

VoIP is highly reliable. As long as you have a stable, high-speed internet connection and a good VoIP service provider, you should have no problem with using a VoIP phone system.

Really, the only “more reliable” option is to use a landline phone or PBX system for small business that doesn’t use electricity so you’re not susceptible to power outages. Dialpad has 100% platform uptime for Enterprise customers, with features released directly to users without server maintenance or IT involvement.

PBX reliability will depend, to a large extent, on whether your IT team has the expertise to keep your system up and running at all times. If not, or if there’s a problem they’re unable to resolve for some reason, this is likely to result in unscheduled downtime.

If you don’t want to be working at your desk all day, or just need to step out of the office to run errands from time to time, then your business phone service should let you do that. (Hint: It’s not going to work with traditional PBX.)

Another big advantage of a business VoIP phone service is that it lets you work from anywhere.

With Dialpad, you can just use your existing mobile device to handle customer calls and texts—from your business number. You can’t do that with an on-premises PBX system, which is bound by complex physical infrastructure.

Scalability is another one of the major advantages of VoIP. Adding new users to (and removing users from) a VoIP system is simple and takes only a few seconds in your Dialpad account.

In contrast, with PBX systems, you might have to call your provider or hire IT help just to do little things like add users, change phone numbers, or adjust your voicemail settings.

The way that Dialpad is designed can easily scale up—and down—with your business. Ultimately, what that means is that you don’t have to overbuy your business communications services. With on-premises PBX, you have to plan ahead for future growth and capacity so that you have the infrastructure set up.

It’s more rigid and limiting, and is a big reason why PBX costs you more up front compared to VoIP.

Because VoIP systems allow you to make and receive calls from anywhere, they’re much more accessible than PBX phone systems.

You don’t have to go to the office to handle calls or sit in traffic during your commute, which is a benefit for employees who may not be able to physically come into an office five days a week.

VoIP phone calls have bandwidth requirements, so you’ll need to take this into account when choosing your business phone system. To handle 10 quality VoIP phone calls at any one time, for instance, you’ll need about one megabyte of dedicated bandwidth as a minimum. Generally, you should have at least 100 kbps of upload and download bandwidth for each VoIP line.

Yes! Unified communications, or Unified communications as a service (UCaaS), has been the focus of much attention among businesses, especially in recent years, and for good reason.

No one wants to have five different business communications tools on their phone, or have to open a different window for messaging, and telephony, and virtual meetings. Things get cluttered.

With platforms like Dialpad, you can get all these business communication channels whether you’re on a Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Chrome browser, or even a desk phone. You can flip a call between devices with no interruptions or switch from a messaging thread to a video call, and so on. Basically, with a unified communications tool, you’ve got options.

Not to mention that it also makes paying all those bills easier, since you just have to pay one subscription fee for one platform, as opposed to paying five different invoices for five different tools.

VoIP phone services do need a reliable, high-speed Internet connection to let you make and receive high-quality calls.

Businesses with good internet connectivity should have no problems using VoIP, and there are other considerations too. If you mainly have phone calls or voice-only calls, that’s easier on your Wi-Fi than if you have video meetings all day.

Of course, not every place has good Wi-Fi or free Wi-Fi, even. That was always the little asterisk with “working from anywhere.” Today, with 5G, you have a connection that’s often better than Wi-Fi when you’re on the go. Having a 5G is, in many ways, the “new Wi-Fi”—and what’s really going to be key for remote work in the future.

VoIP technology is generally very reliable. VoIP services tend to require minimal maintenance, since they’re provided via the cloud and the service provider takes responsibility for maintaining systems and ensuring uptime.

All you really need to actually use VoIP phone services is a robust and fast Internet connection, whether you’re in the office or working remotely.

VoIP systems actually offer numerous benefits for small businesses. In particular, they’re inexpensive, with modest monthly fees and practically no maintenance costs, as well as being reliable and easy to set up. VoIP can also be deployed over a local area network.

For small and medium-sized businesses that already have PBX systems, VoIP does everything that PBX does and more, since it offers many advanced features—without the accompanying installation and maintenance costs. VoIP phone systems can also scale much more easily with your business as you grow.

Traditional landlines use a technology known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) instead of the internet. Compared to VoIP calls, traditional phone calls require physical infrastructure, which means they cost more both to set up and maintain.

No! All VoIP phone systems should come with softphone apps that work on mobile phones and computers. (If they charge you for this app, run.)

This means you can make phone calls via the internet using the desktop or mobile apps without having to buy extra dedicated hardware.

(You might want to have an ethernet cable as a backup so that you can keep making VoIP calls if the Wi-Fi ever goes down.)

Okay, so we’re a little biased here, but we’d say that Dialpad knocks all other VoIP phone solutions out of the park. Why? Because it offers the best combination of excellent, practical features and affordable pricing, and better still, its architecture ensures that it provides consistently crystal-clear audio quality.

Dialpad brings VoIP phone calls, instant messaging, conference calling, and video together in the same comprehensive business communications solution. Not only that, it offers a plethora of integrations, including with Microsoft Office 365, Google, and CRM solutions like Salesforce.