How do you tell a long time customer with a Norstar and 15 remote sites working flawlessly via MCK's. That their new data company is gonna F@@@ them by tearing it down to go hosted? 120 sets in total. My original site contacts retired. New guys at the helm now.

Same thing just happened to us. Lost a 100+ phone to hosted.
Its been 4 months since they put it in and the IT guy is doing more phone stuff than his own job. The company sold it, and there you go.

Best one yet is that every day,in the morning he has to log in on his pc to take the system off night mode, and then put it on in the afternoon. No auto night mode WOW Everyday!!!!

Ask them to have a sit down and go over the features that they need and how they work on the Norstar vs Hosted. Sometimes just transferring a call on the Hosted will make customers rip their hair out.

Do a 10-year cost comparison of hosted vs. hardware. Ten years seems to be good number to a bean counter. Every time I've performed this exercise, hosted was more than double the price.

Customers are in the mind set of if it is off premises when they have multi sites it is the best disaster recovery plan

We have 2 cabinets in a data centre and have our own hosted PBX and for larger company's have hosted their system as well, we still maintain the systems and only one pbx to control makes it easier to move people across the sites.

My standard question is: "Why do you think hosted is better than owning your own equipment?"

The standard answer is "I don't have to purchase any equipment and I don't have to worry about servicing."

That will open up a rich and very interesting dialog which, if you know your product, will present a case for owning rather than hosted. The cost is always an issue, but you can get really creative with a leasing company that can make the 5 year cost the same and zero dollars after 5 years. If they go hosted, they pay forever.

They still have telephone instruments and they will need servicing no matter which way they go. So the only servicing issue is the control equipment either PBX or KSU. A well thought out maintenance plan with rewards for no "claims" and an upgrade plan for the telephone instruments after 5 years will help alleviate the concern regarding equipment service costs.

Finally, please keep in mind the tenuous situation regarding internet based services. Eventually, there will be government intervention and the costs will increase so that the future costs may be much greater than for what they sign on in the beginning. Well, you may say, the hosting company has to eat the increase. All I have to say is "Remember NorVergence."

Rcaman

I know we all want to keep hardware systems going. It's a uphill battle that we are quickly losing.

Hosted is not our foe, it can be a partner.

We've sold Hosted and service every one from a web portal. Just like remote programming on a hardware system.

There are very very many hosted providers. You must be very careful who you work with. Some truly work from there house.

We have replaced all the maintenance monthly income with recurring monthly payments plus servicing there portals for them.

With the decreasing hardware sales and the increasing Hosted I except 2017 to be a very good year.

Hosted is nothing more then a Telephone System. That's what we know and do.