Category Archives: Technical

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculation variables

Recently we had a company ask us about supplying Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculations over a 5 year period.  They were considering both premise-based and Hosted PBX options, and were having difficulties creating a model which would allow them to compare the two in an apples-to-apples fashion.  There are a number of semi-hidden costs when you go with a premise-based solution that need to be accounted for in a TCO model, and in response we created an Excel spreadsheet for them to capture that information.

Here is our model based on 20 seats.  As the number of seats go up, the monthly per-user cost for Hosted PBX goes down, so if you are looking at >50, >200 or >1000 seats it would make sense to contact us to make sure you get volume pricing information.  Also, the cost of the premise-based PBX goes up substantially as you add users.  Again, if you are looking for information on this we can provide ballpark pricing that we’ve received in our competitive analysis.

Without further ado, here is the model :

Total Cost of Ownership Model for Hosted PBX vs. Premise-based PBX

Click on the image for a larger view.  If you’d like this spreadsheet emailed to you so that you can make your own modifications to the model, just email our Sales department.

Some of the key take-aways are the cost of software upgrades and maintenance for premise-based systems that are not often made available to you up-front.  That’s usually a post-sales follow-up surprise.  Also, remember that Hosted PBX completely replaces the need for your telco (ie: Bell Canada, Telus, Rogers, etc…).  The bill you currently have for lines from one of those companies will be completely replaced by your Cloud-based PBX provider (ie: Versature).

Lastly, this model assumes a VoIP enabled Premise-based PBX.  If it is an analog system, then the costs go even higher for moves/adds/changes and maintenance.  If you are currently on Centrex from your telco, then the TCO is even more compelling and we need to talk ASAP.

The industry is changing very quickly.  Everything IT and Telecom related are moving to the cloud.  You wouldn’t consider hosting your own website or CRM system on premise, would you?  The substantial one-time costs, hassles, ongoing maintenance, required upgrades and security concerns of premise-based PBXs make for a very compelling case for Hosted PBX.

January 21, 2013 : Ottawa, ON – Versature today announced the immediate availability of the Polycom VVX 500 MultiMedia IP phone as an fully supported end-point option for Versature’s Hosted PBX service.  The VVX 500 was released last year, and Versature has had the phone in our lab and out with select customers on field trials over the past six months.

The VVX 500 is a really interesting telephone option for a number of reasons :

1. The price point is almost the same as our flagship phone, the SoundPoint IP550
2. The functionality of the phone matches and in some areas surpasses the IP550, specifically in the areas of call recording and integration with the PC.
3. The VVX 500 is field-upgradable to allow for video calling (USB), so it future-protects your investment.
4. The interface is a touch screen, almost iPhone-like, so working with the phone will be intuitive to most, right out of the box.

For more information on the Polycom VVX 500 Multimedia Phone, check out Polycom’s VVX 500 website or datasheet.  If you’d like to add the Polycom VVX 500 to your existing Versature installation, it is completely compatible with all the other Polycom offerings including the SoundPoint line of phones and conference phones.  Why not give Versature Sales a call to discuss your requirements?

Having spent the better part of the last decade buying, selling, and supporting hosted services to business I am very aware of the advantages hosted services can provide. One of those advantages which is often overlooked during the buying cycle is the concept of ongoing maintenance and security.

For those of you thinking about a Hosted Phone Service but not yet believers, ask your administrator when they last performed a security audit on your phone system, and then see the bottom of this post for an article which outlines the real possibility of a $100k loss as a result of simple PINs.

While most of the security work Versature’s technical staff perform is invisible to our clients (as it should be!), we have recently undertaken a PIN security audit to identify users with easy to guess PIN numbers.

This process produced a list of users which our technical support team is contacting. If you receive a call they will request a PIN change and direct you to the Versature Dashboard where you can update the PIN yourself.

For those interested, after the break, I share a link to a Toronto story from CBC, which outlines why having a secure PIN can save hundreds of thousands. The following is a great example from the Toronto area a couple years back:

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