For small business, investment in a phone system (be it VoIP or traditional) is critical and usually large. True, some VoIP systems can reduce this upfront cost, but you may end up sacrificing on feature set if you go with the wrong provider. There is an alternative; if you are just starting out or a branch office is just starting up in a new market, consider hosted PBX service.

There are many companies now providing hosted PBX services. These services are seamless and you still have a good VoIP phone at your desk. Usually these companies will give you a control panel where you can create extensions, handle call routing, messages and on hold music along with a host of other features.

You really don’t sacrifice feature set by going the hosted route. The thing to consider is how much does the service cost over a long period of time. Since hosted services come with a recurring fee, over time this could add up, but for a quick setup in a new market, I believe it’s a life saver.

There are a lot of companies out there providing hosted service, a Google search provides a lot of hits. I have had experience with Aptela and I can’t say their service has been flawless, but it’s been acceptable. Just remember, since hsoted VoIP requires internet access, if your internet goes down, so does your phone service.