Cost shape
On-premise means a capital purchase plus a maintenance contract, then a replacement cycle every seven to ten years. Hosted is an operating cost per user with upgrades included. The lifetime totals can be similar; the risk profile is not.
Practical differences
- Adding a user: a licence versus a card, a licence and an engineer
- Remote working: built in versus bolted on
- Multi-site: one system versus one system per site
- Failure: provider redundancy versus a box in your cupboard
Where on-premise still fits
Very large call volumes, unusual integrations, or sites with genuinely poor connectivity can still justify local hardware. Outside those cases, hosted is simpler and the switch-off has removed the traditional lines that fed most on-premise systems anyway.
Want this set up for you?
Plans start at £19 per user per month with UK calls included. See pricing or get a quote.