As a CPA, Ib ve been answering this question for the last 30 years.B The terms have changed a bitb &leasing is now typically referred to as b hostedb .B And, owning is sometimes referred to as b premise-based or on-premb .
While this discussion can apply to countless decisions, Ib m going to focus on video conferencing since that is our theme for the week.
There are many less obvious costs that are regularly missed when evaluating the purchase decision forB premise-based technology.B One of the most common is support.B With video conferencing, this can be the difference between widespread adoption and major resistance.
While you may plan to use your existing support staff for the video conferencing platform, have you planned to train them appropriately?B And, more importantly, will they be available when needed?
You wonb t know you have a problem joining a video conference call until you try to join.B At that moment, support is an b emergencyb .B If the users donb t have a good experience, they will be less likely to commit to using it.B Any money that has been spent making video conferencing available will have been wasted!
Even if you think youb ll likely want to purchase a premise-based system, we suggest that you start with a hosted solution.B You can work out the b bugsb with support that specializes in video conferencingb &and your cost is fixed in advance.
We have several hosted solutions with options that can be suited to most organizations.B If youb d like to explore video conferencing for your organization, web ll be happy to set-up a demonstration at your convenience.
