In a global marketplace, international calls are a necessary evil, but they can also be a hassle. As referenced in a recent Boosh News piece, the user has to select the right service provider to ensure they get the best deal in terms of tariffs charged for handling the call. To get the best results, companies must invest considerable time – but an overabundance of time is generally not something a company can spare. 

Instead, a number of companies are turning to a hosted PBX (News - Alert) solution as it allows for considerable flexibility in calling, as well as the design of the organization. It doesn’t matter if the company is large or small, located in one place or geographically dispersed, housed in a physical building or operating virtually. 

With a hosted PBX solution, the company can take advantage of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. When VoIP is in place and used for all communications, those calls made internationally can be done without worry about tariffs, distance, the country of call destination or the service provider.

With a traditional land line, calling an Asian country such as Pakistan from the United States would cost around $1.5 per minute. The call is also likely to have additional monthly charges attached, as well as fixed charges once the call is established. If the same call is made using a mobile line, the cost can vary from $2 to $5 per minute.

By using VoIP through a hosted PBX, however, calls are made over the Internet. This process significantly reduces the cost of the call and rates do not vary drastically based on the distance between users. The fixed cost per month is comparable to other offerings and the technology offers the ability to purchase a local phone number in another country. This would allow for local calling within that country, driving down cost and improving local perception.

There are a number of advantages to using VoIP through a hosted PBX, the most prominent is the cost savings. In addition, there are a number of features users can enjoy that are typically found in the fixed line environment. Features such as audio conferencing and voice messages are economic on the international scale, as demand for such capabilities continues to grow. 

Overall, for the company that needs to communicate on an international basis, hosted PBX and VoIP make sense for the available capabilities and the bottom line.