We get asked frequently by prospective clients why a VoIP-based PBX solution is the right choice for businesses in Japan. There are a lot of factors to consider, but the following points are well worth keeping in mind when shopping around for either a new phone system for your office, or when you are looking to cut costs by replacing an old analog or digital PBX system.

The main advantages that we see our Denphone PBX systems offering are:

1. Cost

There are significant savings to be made on both hardware and call charges, especially with a managed rental system. Hardware savings are driven by the use of standard PC hardware and because the hardware required by traditional PBX cards can be very expensive (to buy as well as to support). With a managed system, support is bundled into the cost. Our prices are extremely competitive.

Call charge savings can be quite dramatic depending on destination. We offer high quality calling for businesses that sends caller ID with the calls, so your customers can call back. With multiple offices there are large savings to be had as the inter-office calls can be placed securely over the internet and function much the same as calls made to extensions within an office.

2. Flexibility

With a traditional PBX what you buy is what you get. If later on you want to add features like call forwarding, or even extra users, the cost can be significant. With the PBX system we offer changes are generally just made on a web-based GUI, so are quick and inexpensive.

Adding functionality such as click to call, or an IVR (Integrated Voice Response - i.e. Press 1 for sales, Press 2 to be connected to a representative, Press 3 to leave a message etc.), does require programming, and in the case of an IVR system, voice recording (we offer professional voice recording in a number of languages including English and Japanese), but again is possible and not as expensive as for traditional PBX systems.

Phone calls can easily be routed to other staff, to a mobile phone (or phones) to voice mail (which can then be sent via email and "read" online) so there is a great deal of flexibility inherent in the way calls are handled.

3. Vendor Agnostic

Our PBX systems are based on the Asterisk open source PBX and as such are vendor agnostic, meaning clients can mix and match phones from other vendors to reduce costs. This also allows clients the luxury of shopping around for support should they so wish.

4. Integration with Video, Data and services such as Skype.

Using a VoIP phone system allows for easy integration with video conferencing systems such as those provided by Polycom, Cisco or Tandberg. It is also possible to integrate data into the phone system - i.e. for phone based alerts or as part of a disaster recovery program. We are currently involved with the Skype for Asterisk Closed Beta test and expect to be adding connectivity to Skype and Skype users later this year.

5. Portability

Unlike a traditional phone system, VoIP systems are portable, so it is possible to be in Kanazawa or Yorkshire and call out from your VoIP phone and have it send a 03 Tokyo number or a 06 Osaka number. Your clients can also call back to that 03 Tokyo number and never need know you aren't actually in Tokyo.

Of course with a VoIP system there are also disadvantages. The main things to consider here include:

1. Power

Traditional phone systems send power down the phone line, so if there is a power cut, the phones are not cut off. VoIP requires power as a computer does, so when the power goes out, there is no VoIP phone service. One solution to this problem is to use battery backups or power generators to provide electricity.

2. 119 and 110 Emergency Services

The flip side of portability (see 5 above) is that if the whole system is IP based emergency services will not be able to automatically locate emergency service calls. If a NTT ISDN line is used, then this is not a problem.

3. Higher Handset Cost

IP Phones are more expensive than traditional analog phones as they require their own processor. This cost is off-set by the reduced cost of the PBX hardware.

4. Network Issues

Without a stable network IP based phone systems do not function well, We recommend the use of separate cabling rather than daisy chaining phones. Other areas to be careful of are router configuration (especially NAT and ACL settings), monitoring and remote access for maintenance.