The big hype today is cloud, cloud, cloud this cloud that, however is this case for TaaS Telephone as a Service as well? (Hosted VoIP)

If you have a technical person or you don't it makes no difference. You still have to make (MACs) or moves, adds, or changes to that system sometime, right? Well, is the hosted provider going to make those changes for you or are you going to make the changes. You have to have some level of understanding of that system. The crazy kick is that these hosted providers are telling us that because the system is in the cloud it's easier to maintain, easier to understand and manage. The truth is that a good on premise solution will do the same for a small to medium size business owner.

The user interface is a browser, the ease of management is the same, and you pay a lot less for the solution overall. The core reason for writing this article is to debunk the myths about hosted solutions being less expensive, easier to manage and understand.
Hosted Solution

911 services are not always present in your area
Yearly maintenance fee
There is an investment and quite an expensive investment.
Lumped into the same infrastructure as everyone else
They don't address local survivability (what happens if your internet goes down?) (Forwarding to cell phones is not the answer) If your business depends on your telephone than it's not much of a fail over is it?
You still have to have an internet connection or sip trunks to call out.
Pay a yearly fee for the maintenance of that service
PHONES ARE NOT FREE, LETS SAY THAT AGAIN... THE PHONES ARE NOT FREE. This line coming from a potential... "Oh they are giving me the phones for free" Uh... wake up they are not giving you the phones for free you are paying for the entire bill up front in most cases. (Some hosted providers don't but most do)
Advanced Applications and Routing, and integration are not easier there too many points of failure between your backend system and the application.
Predictive Dialing is not part of the service; don't be surprised if you have to go to a third party to get the service.
CRM integration or being part of the solution is not included
DTMF IVR only... no customer interaction tools unless you pay a third party.

On Premise solution

Here is the reality; an IP PBX today is so easy to understand that making changes to the system is a snap. The IP PBX web based interfaces and if you have half a brain in your head you will be able to make the changes, setup and mange your system very easily. You have to manage your system whether you are in the cloud or not.

911 services are automatically considered
Backup or fail over is considered as part of the solution
Any good provider will provide maintenance and support as part of the package offered

A hosted VoIP solution may or may not deliver the same features and functions as an in-house IP PBX, but each solution caters to a vastly different audience. One is not better than the other, and the decision on which one to use will be based on a very different set of needs.
Myths Debunked

The hosted VoIP solution is typically best-suited for smaller businesses that do not have the in-house expertise to install or maintain on-premises IP PBX equipment.

Rebuttal: The IP PBX systems cater to a small to medium size business has a fantastic user interface, easy to setup maintain and manage. You don't need to be an expert to manage your VoIP IP PBX on premise solution. Any organization providing an in house solution will provide the training as part of the solution.

Many smaller businesses start out with hosted VoIP as an easy path to low-cost telephony and access to sophisticated features, giving them the remarkable ability to operate to a degree, on a level playing field with much larger companies.

Rebuttal: you can get the same low cost telephony service and access to the same features even when in house, with no worries of being lumped together, or losing connectivity. Fact: internet goes down, but when it does how are you handling it. A good provider will give you avenues and options to handle such an endeavor.

The hosted VoIP option is remarkably easy to get started with, requiring no on-premises equipment, and usually getting provisioned within a day or two.

Rebuttal: It's not that simple... You still have to port numbers, and being provisioned in two days is a farce. Yes the PBX is off site but you still have to set up your phones, auto attendant etc... How are you going to do this???

The hosted VoIP requires no heavy investment, simple monthly payments...

Rebuttal: the cost of the hosted solution is usually required up front so that means taking the number of #USERS x COST x Length of the Contract. I am not saying all of them require it but when you do the math as a business owner, it's not less expensive than an on Premise VoIP Solution. They are both considered operational expenses.
In Summary,

In Summary, the on premise solution proves a better fail over scenario, 911 services and better control. It also allows you to interface better with back end applications.

Comcierge Group is a firm with over 25 years of expertise in telecom, complex ip solutions, http://www.comciergegroup.com