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True Cost of Cloud Communication Platforms

Aug 7, 2020

Q&A
 
Question: What is the true cost of cloud telephony platforms?
 
 
 
 
 
 
Answer: It’s a lot cheaper than legacy telephony systems.
 
 
One of the biggest differences is when cost are incurred.
 
 
An organization used to pay large sums of money upfront for the equipment, licenses, specific functionality, etc.
 
 
Doing this required accounting math (which I’m not good at by the way) to determine how long the telephony platform was held until reaching a break even point.
 
 
That changes with the cloud.
 
 
Moving to a subscription model allows that same organization to pay for the services they need.
 
 
Cloud telephony providers will give incentives for cheaper rates if a business commits to a long term contract.
 
 
But at least you’re not stuck with a platform that requires expensive upgrades to stay compliant with a vendors offering.
 

 

True cost example

 
As far as the true cost go, it depends on what’s being used.
 
 
Referring to my 8x8 cloud phone system as a starting point, let’s consider the following scenario for 10 telephony users at a small accounting firm.
 
 
They want to pay the least amount of money upfront to replace their aging telephony system.
 
 
 
10 user licenses at $25 per license per month.
 
10 desk phones (leased) at $5 per unit per month.
 
Total monthly service = $300
 
That’s pretty inexpensive considering this includes:
 
  • Mobile and desktop softphone apps

 

  • Direct inward Dial number for each phone

 

  • Unlimited calling to 47 countries and to other 8x8 in network users

 

  • Unlimited SMS messaging
 
If the small business wanted to save even more money, they could have some users skip the desk phone payments and use the free softphone app!
 
 
 
 
That’s it for cost using the most basic features.
 
 
The 8x8 example used real numbers that can be applied to your specific situation.
 
 
What you’ll be actually charge depends on the provider used and the features / services required for your business.
 
 
Also keep in mind that the expenses tied to managing telephony platform shifts to the cloud provider. So an organization needs to focus only on the local IT infrastructure.
 
 
The cost of cloud telephony today is significantly less expensive than legacy systems of old.