For many users, a cloud-based hosting service like Host Virtual is used for, well – mostly hosting websites! We can’t really blame them — there’s a lot of people who are used to thinking that web servers and virtual private servers have merely one or two uses.
But as the last few years of internet-connected products have shown, the clear definition of a product isn’t so clear anymore. Take a smartphone, for example. Is it a communications device? Is it a web browser? Is it a portable game console? Actually, it can perform all of those tasks, like a vps or cloud server.
In the same way, Host Virtual offers hosting servers — but it offers these servers in the cloud. The same flexibility that allows our users to deploy their hosting servers, also allows it to run operating systems and applications like PBX servers and VoIP. Installation with a few clicks and full root access in minutes, no installing CDs or awaiting for dedicated servers to be built anymore. With Host Virtual’s instantly built cloud servers, you no longer need to depend or rent a dedicated server for VoIP hosting.
We’ve written about the advantages of migrating your phone service from POTS (or plain ‘ol telephone service) to premises-based VoIP services. To recap, moving to a cloud-based VoIP system brings costs down dramatically, even for premises-based VoIP services and telephones. There’s no VoIP equipment to upgrade and no need to train your IT staff in managing and maintaining the infrastructure. It’s all done in the same cloud that powers the websites of our hosting customers.
One of the most popular VOIP installations we offer is FreePBX. While it’s primarily designed for use as a business phone system, it can also power a phone network for a very active household that requires multiple lines (a home office, for example).
FreePBX is a graphic user interface that’s meant to be used with Asterisk, a robust open source VoIP solution that’s been around since 1999. It’s been downloaded over 5 million times and is currently in use in over 500,000 phone systems. FreePBX + Asterisk includes all the features you’d expect from a VoIP phone system and even has enough options to power an entire call center with the flexibility to choose from hundreds of telephone providers.
Like all our linux-based images, installing FreePBX is fast and easy. We feature the latest stable version as well as older versions, just in case you need to install from a backup and upgrade. When you’re ready to install, our wizard will install an image of FreePBX to any of our 16 cloud locations around the world.
Try us out today, or start by checking speeds and latency to and from any of our locations from our Looking Glass, we’re sure you’ll be impressed.