On-Premise Telephony & NEC Phone Systems
Not every business wants its phone system in someone else’s data centre. NEC on-premise systems put the equipment — and the control — in your building.
Request a quoteWhen Owning the System Makes More Sense
A hosted platform is rented month by month and lives in the cloud. An on-premise system is bought once and sits in your comms room, giving you dedicated lines with no shared traffic and an IT team that can configure it directly. The cost sits up front rather than on the monthly bill, and over a long enough life that usually works out cheaper.
NEC has been building communications equipment since 1898 and is among the world’s largest phone system manufacturers, so the platform is well supported and heavily developed — you are not betting on a niche vendor.
The case for on-premise is strongest where the numbers are large and stable. A business with a hundred handsets that expects to have a hundred handsets in five years is buying an asset with a long life, and over that period the arithmetic frequently favours owning it. The case weakens sharply where headcount moves, where sites open and close, or where staff work from home — because everything that makes a hosted platform flexible is exactly what an owned system is not.
It is also worth naming the parts people forget when comparing prices. An owned system needs a maintenance agreement, backup power, somewhere to put it and eventually a replacement, and the lines feeding it are a separate purchase. Compared honestly against a hosted platform where all of that is included, the gap narrows — which does not make on-premise wrong, but it does make the headline saving smaller than it first appears.
The NEC Range
UNIVERGE 3C
The flagship system: a full unified communications feature set working across multiple devices and sites at once. Built for large, multi-site organisations that need continuity of communications wherever people are.
SV9100
The workhorse. Scales from around 10 to 800 users with straightforward licensing and a range of advanced software applications — the most popular choice across business sizes.
DT920 Handsets
Backlit display and line keys, 12 to 32 programmable keys, hands-free full duplex, gigabit Ethernet and XML open interface support for integrating with your own systems.
Who we work with
We are independent of any single network or vendor, so the recommendation follows the requirement.
Telephony platforms
Hosted, on-premise or Microsoft Teams — the right answer depends on the building, not on what we prefer to sell.
Network and vendor names and logos are the trademarks of their respective owners, shown to describe the services SCG Solutions supplies.
What an On-Premise System Gives You
- SIP and ISDN connectivity options
- Equipment you own outright, not rent
- Dedicated lines with no external traffic
- Direct on-site control for your IT team
- Web portal and dashboards for day-to-day admin
- Presence flags — see who is free and who is on a call
- Automated and ad-hoc performance reporting
- Costs weighted up front, lower monthly spend after
On-Premise Telephony & NEC Phone Systems — Common Questions
What is the difference between on-premise and hosted?
A hosted system lives in the provider’s data centre and you pay monthly. An on-premise system lives in your building, you own the hardware, and the cost sits up front. On-premise gives you dedicated lines and direct control; hosted gives you no hardware to maintain.
Which businesses suit an on-premise system?
Typically medium to large organisations with enough IT resource to administer it day to day, and finance teams who would rather buy the equipment than rent it. Below that, hosted is usually the better fit.
What do I need in place to install one?
Cabinet space for the main unit and suitable power. We would also always specify backup power, so that a mains failure does not take your phones down with it — an owned system in a cupboard with a single unprotected feed is a single point of failure for the whole business, and it is the omission we see most often on systems installed by somebody else.
Are NEC systems hosted or on-premise?
On-premise. They carry much of the advanced functionality people associate with hosted platforms, but the equipment sits in your building rather than in a data centre, which is the real distinction — it changes who owns it, who maintains it, what happens when it needs replacing, and how easily it follows you if you move premises.
More Telephony Solutions
- Evonex Hosted Telephony
- Microsoft Teams Calling with Fuse 2
- Microsoft Teams Calling Costs: Direct Routing vs an Operator Licence
- SIP Trunking
- SIP Trunking vs Cloud Telephony
- Gamma Horizon Hosted Telephony
- Evonex vs Gamma Horizon
- The Big Switch Off — PSTN & ISDN
- Switching Business Telecoms Provider
- Business Telecoms Contract Renewal: What to Check Before You Sign Again
- Bundling Phone, Mobile and Internet: Is One Supplier Actually Cheaper?
- Contact Centre Solutions
- Call Recording for Business
- Number Porting: Keeping Your Number When You Change Supplier
- Out-of-Hours and On-Call Call Routing
- Hunt Groups and Call Queues
- Auto Attendant and IVR Menus
- Phone Systems Across Multiple Sites
- Alarm, Lift and Emergency Lines After the Switch Off
- Call Analytics and Reporting
- Seasonal Capacity: Paying for Your Peak Only in the Peak
Hosted or On-Premise?
The honest answer depends on your size, your IT resource and how your finances are structured. Tell us those three things and we will tell you which way we would go.