Waiting on CloudPBX to Mature?

You’re not alone.  The vast majority of firms are closely watching this development and the ability to move your phone system into Office365.  It’s an exciting time and having the ability to move one of the most mission critical aspects of our environments to a cloud that’s known to be extremely resilient with guaranteed SLAs is a huge win.  There are just a few more missing features before we’re there…

Here’s the secret, you don’t have to wait for CloudPBX to mature – and you shouldn’t. The reason is that most Skype for Business solutions involving telephony will have a hybrid component for years to come.  Planning your move now and starting with a hybrid approach will not only allow you to have a smooth controlled transition to the cloud, it will fill the short and long term feature gaps giving you the best of all worlds.

It’s important to understand that while most of the standard telephony features for day to day users will be available, there will still be aspects that aren’t on the roadmap for CloudPBX.  Infrastructure such as analog lines, customized solutions including many contact centers, and preferred telephony providers will only be available through hybrid deployments.

Hybrid makes migrations smooth. ­

Starting with a hybrid deployment allows you to connect your existing PBX to an on-premises infrastructure using your existing telephony provider.  From here, users can be migrated individually or in batches.  Users can call seamlessly between the two systems using the same dialing methods and extensions they’re used to and are comfortable with.  As you’re ready, the users can then be smoothly moved to the CloudPBX.

Hybrid simplifies licensing.

Licensing CloudPBX for your business allows users and phones to be hosted on-premise or in Office 365 without purchasing more than you need.  Scaling it up is as simple as adding more licensing.

Hybrid gives you flexible cost.

With a hybrid deployment, you have the ability to bring your own telephony provider, giving you greater control over your costs.  Adding users or even an entirely new office becomes as easy as adding new Active Directory accounts.

Hybrid really is the best of all worlds.

All of the features you need today are available in the hybrid model. On-premise users can be members of response groups or a part of contact centers, while users who fit well into the cloud model can leverage the scalability and resiliency of the cloud.  Cloud users with E5 or PSTN conferencing licensing can use Microsoft as a conference bridge for up to 250 callers, and any hybrid user can leverage broadcast meetings, allowing up to 10,000 participants to web meetings at no additional charge.

Hybrid is future proof.

As features are rolled into the cloud and we reach feature parity, more of your users will live there.  New features will be automatically added without you lifting a finger.  This is one of the great features of the cloud.  Once you’re in this environment, you don’t have to worry about costly upgrades to get the latest features that your users demand.  You’re future proof.

Ready to take the next steps?

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, contact BDO Digital to learn more about what hybrid strategies will work best for your business needs and goals.