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During these tough economic times, many small businesses are looking for ways to save money that won’t distract them from doing what they do best: serving their customers and growing their business. In the past, small businesses have turned to cost-cutting to improve margins and liquidity. The easiest areas for companies to save money have been on printing, office supplies, and telecommunications, since replacing any of these with comparable and cheaper products and services won’t effect the course of business.  To save money on printing, many companies will buy used copiers and discontinue leasing. To reduce the expense of office products, companies will often shop around for the best prices and order from multiple vendors, instead of just ordering from one. And to save money on phone and internet bills, companies will often bundle their internet and phone services into a VOIP PBX system.  In the past, switching to a PBX system required small businesses to make (worthwhile) investments into expensive hardware: switchboards, infrastructure, etc. Now, thanks to the advent of the hosted phone system, companies can receive all the cost-reducing benefits of a PBX system – optimized use of phone lines and internal extension calling – without having to invest in otherwise costly equipment. This quiet revolution allows small businesses to reap cost savings usually only realized by businesses with 25 or more employees because the cost of implementing a PBX system is greatly reduced. As a result, thousands of businesses have saved tens of millions of dollars in telecom expenses, as a number of hosted phone system providers are now competing for their money. This is outstanding news for the small business owner who is looking to reduce telecom expenses, just as it is great news for the medium-sized business who no longer has the room or need for the expensive networking hardware required to host a PBX system on-site. Â
