Choosing
Keep the system in the closet, or move to the cloud?
The honest answer is that it depends on the age of what you have and what is behind it. A five-year-old system with expensive copper lines and a twelve-year-old one that drops calls need opposite advice.
Side by side
What actually differs.
| Keep the PBX, replace the lines | Move to EmpireUC | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | Hardware in your building | Our data centres |
| Handsets | Unchanged — no retraining | Often reused; we check the models first |
| Lines | SIP trunks replace the copper | Included, virtual |
| If the building loses power or internet | Calls fail over to another number or to cell phones | Calls ring on mobile apps |
| Adding a building | A second system and a second project | Add extensions to the same platform |
| Who maintains it | Your IT or a maintenance contract | Us |
| Making changes | A technician visit or a support ticket | Portal request, answered in under 5 minutes |
| Best when | The system is recent, stable and paid for | The system is old, unsupported or spread across sites |
The cost that decides it
It is usually the lines, not the licences.
Facilities tend to compare a per-seat cloud price against a system they already own and conclude that keeping it is cheaper. That maths misses what sits behind the system: the copper, the PRI, the maintenance contract and the engineer visit every time the menu changes.
Add those up honestly and the comparison often flips — or it does not, in which case keeping the system and replacing only the lines is the cheapest route and we will say so.
Questions
What operators ask us.
Our PBX still works fine. Why change anything?
Then do not change it. Replace the copper behind it with SIP trunks and keep everything on the desk exactly as it is. That is the cheapest outcome and it is a common recommendation from our audits.
What happens to our numbers?
They port. Our porting specialists move them, and the cutover is planned so calls keep arriving throughout.
Is cloud reliable enough for a healthcare building?
It depends on the connection as much as the platform, which is why we survey the internet at the same time and build a backup path where the building needs one.
What if we have several buildings on different systems?
That is usually the strongest case for moving: one platform means one call flow and one support line across every site.
Find out in two minutes
Which one is right for your building?
Eight questions. The assessment gives you the answer and the reasoning behind it.
The honest answer
Sometimes keeping it is right.
Age · Stability · Sites
Recent and stable
Keep it, replace the lines behind it.
Old or unsupported
Cloud is usually cheaper and calmer.
Several buildings
One platform wins almost every time.
