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Giving Thanks for Cloud Phone Services: Reliable Communication Year-Round

November 21st, 2025

During a season of gratitude, a quiet hero emerges: dependable communication.

November has a way of putting things into perspective and kicking off a time of reflection. If you’re a business owner or IT leader, you tend to think about the people who keep your company moving and the tools that help them do it. What should be near the top of that list? Well, cloud phone services, of course!

For us, it’s an easy choice because it’s a tool you can rely on day in and day out. It’s unwavering during the holiday rush, through winter storms, and even when you and your staff are traveling. We can say with the utmost confidence that a cloud-based phone system must be a part of your next year’s growth plans.

This piece is a simple note of recognition to the technology that makes connection feel easy, from a partner who stands behind it and sings its praises. We’ll explain what cloud phone services are, why they matter for uptime, flexibility, and team connection, and how they’re brought together into a Unified Communications platform.

Why business phone system reliability is worth giving thanks for

A missed call can mean a missed sale, a missed opportunity to solve a frustrated client’s issue, or, flat out, a safety risk. That’s why having a dependable phone system is so crucial to your success. Business cloud phone systems allow you to consolidate tools, enable hybrid work, and provide all the features needed to support customers for years to come.

Our take on business communication is pretty straightforward: it should “just work.” That’s exactly what Statewide offers with ongoing local support by real people who answer when you need help. That’s not just a tagline, it’s how we operate, and our customers say so.

What are cloud phone services, and why do they matter year-round?

Cloud phone services move calling, voicemail, meetings, and messaging from traditional on-premise hardware to a secure cloud platform. That shift unlocks three everyday benefits:

- Uptime you can plan around. Cloud platforms use distributed infrastructure, smart failover, and continuous updates, so outages are rarer and shorter.
- Flexibility for your people. Users can place and take calls from a desk phone, web app, or mobile device and keep a consistent business identity without providing personal numbers.
- Connected teams. Presence, chat, voicemail-to-email, and video bring conversations into one place, improving speed to resolution and customer experience.

If you’re comparing options, here’s a quick view of what changes when you leave the old PBX behind.

Everyday Need	On-Prem PBX	Cloud Phone Services
Keep calls flowing during an ISP or power issue	Single path; manual failover	Multiple paths + LTE/branch survivability options
Add users/locations	Expensive truck rolls, weeks of lead time	Self-service additions in minutes
Support hybrid work	VPN complexity, limited features	Full softphone and mobile apps
See what’s happening	Limited or add-on reporting	Built-in analytics dashboards
Stay secure and compliant	Manual patching, uneven controls	Encrypted media, MFA, policy guardrails

Statewide configures these features with you and supports them for the life of your contract.

How cloud-based systems keep teams connected, even when plans change

Regardless of the type of business you have, the holidays and quarter-ends can throw you curveballs with potential weather delays, shipping spikes, or staff out of the office. However, with cloud phones, you can adjust fast:

Smart call flows: Update auto attendants, ring groups, and holiday schedules on the fly to cut wait times.
Mobile + softphone: Field teams, remote staff, and traveling execs stay reachable without exposing personal numbers.
Voicemail-to-email/SMS: Speed follow-ups and reduce phone tag.
Analytics: Spot peak hours and right-size staffing with real data, not gut feelings.

We’ve seen this play out with clients across industries. For example, Bianco & Sons Sausage went from garbled audio and misrouted calls to clean quality, correct routing, and voicemail-to-email after moving to Statewide’s cloud platform. This change freed their team to focus on making great product instead of wasting precious time fixing phones.

Why small business, mid-market, and enterprise leaders trust cloud phone systems

Leaders in IT, operations, and finance care about three things: reliability, risk, and ROI.

Reliability you can measure. SLAs and analytics show actual performance, not promises.
Reduced risk, stronger continuity. Cloud calling supports redundant connectivity and disaster recovery, so you can keep serving customers if your local network has an issue.
Clear economic value. Unified platforms regularly show consolidation savings and productivity gains when voice, meetings, and chat live together.

There’s also a strategic risk in waiting. Carriers are accelerating the retirement of copper POTS lines, and with that shift, the cost of staying analog keeps rising while resilience drops. We’ve written about these changes and how a cloud approach bakes in continuity and security from the start.

Common objections we hear and our honest answers

“Switching sounds risky.”
That’s a fair concern. Our cutovers are planned, staged, and often performed at the best time for your business. We pre-provision devices and port numbers at the right time and stay onsite (or on the line) until your team can make live calls with confidence.

“Will my non-technical staff struggle?”
If your team can use a smartphone, they can use a modern cloud phone. We train everyone and leave quick-hit guides behind. We also answer the phone with local top-notch support and zero drama.

“Is the call quality really better?”
Yes. Today’s codecs and QoS (quality of service) controls deliver HD-quality voice, and you get tools to monitor quality and spot issues before they become complaints.

“What about costs?”
You’ll drop the upkeep of a legacy PBX, reduce add-on contracts, and gain built-in continuity. In many cases, we also find “ghost” services and clean them up. One client, Concrete Systems, realized an 80 percent reduction in recurring telecom costs after our expense review and modernization plan.

Check out the full Concrete Systems Success Story.

Partner with Statewide for a phone system built for reliable, scalable communications

Statewide’s approach is people-first and platform-smart:

We listen. We learn how your teams actually work, then tailor call flows and features around that.
We implement and train. Your staff gets hands-on help, not a link to a knowledge base.
We stay with you. You get lifetime support and proactive check-ins so your system grows with your business.
Our promise to you. We’ll make it easy, we’ll make it clear, and we’ll be there when you need us.

This is the culture we’ve had since 1991 as a family-grown provider: good people, practical advice, and solutions that scale from small teams to multi-site enterprises.

Gratitude for reliable communications today, for confidence all year long

This season, it’s worth pausing to appreciate the simple power of being reachable by customers, by partners, and by each other. Cloud phone services are the quiet but formidable infrastructure behind that connection. When you combine a modern platform with a service-driven partner, you don’t just get uptime; you get a calmer team, faster answers, and room to grow.

If that sounds like the kind of year you’d like to have, let’s talk about cloud phone services for your organization.

Tags: Business phone systems, Cloud-based Phone Systems
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POTS Replacement: 5 Reasons Moving to a Cloud Phone System Cannot Wait

September 12th, 2025

Copper Lines Are Quickly Vanishing

Remember when a single scratchy landline was all you needed to run your business? Those days are officially over.

Carriers are pushing harder to retire decades-old copper networks and the associated high costs of maintaining Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). In fact, on March 20, 2025, the Chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, announced they will be cutting red tape to advance the transition away from copper lines.

“Outdated FCC rules have left Americans sitting in the slow lane for far too long,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr stated. “Those FCC rules have forced providers to pour resources into maintaining aging and expensive copper line networks instead of investing in the modern, high-speed infrastructure that Americans want and deserve. We are doing something about that today. We are streamlining the process for retiring decades-old copper networks so that providers can transition consumers and their resources to new, high-speed networks on a faster timeline. We do so by clearing some of the regulatory underbrush that needlessly delays the retirement of those copper networks.“

For small to midsize businesses (SMBs), a sudden outage on a crucial fax, fire alarm, or elevator line is a liability no business can afford. That’s why finding a POTS replacement isn’t a project that can wait until next quarter; it’s an urgent line item on today’s to-do list.

This post breaks down five practical reasons to make the move now, plus how our team at Statewide Communications makes the switch painless for resource-strapped IT managers.

Reason #1: Hidden, Additional Costs of Keeping POTS Alive

Skyrocketing Line Charges

With the desire to move faster and allow carriers to take the necessary steps to ultimately end reliance on POTS phone lines, the order authorizes network changes to be made. This action could result in price increases without advance notice.

“There is much more work ahead for the FCC, and our goal through additional actions is to ultimately free up billions of dollars for new networks that otherwise would have been diverted into costly and outdated copper lines. This initial set of actions gets things moving in the right direction and creates the right incentives for providers to invest and build new networks in communities across the country. As we take these actions, we are also ensuring that consumers remain protected during the transition.”

Effectively, the FCC rule changes that took effect in March 2025 loosened price-cap protections on analog lines.

Maintenance You Pay for but Never Control

The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the infrastructure that supports it are literally crumbling. You can kiss positive customer interactions goodbye when storms knock down lines or rodents chew through insulation because you’ll be lucky to afford the “time-and-materials” fees carriers charge, fees that will dwarf any monthly savings you thought you had.

Compliance Fines

Life-safety systems that still run on unreliable lines put you on the hook for costly insurance claims. Can you imagine a fire suppression system or emergency lighting not being functional when you need it the most? A modern cloud phone system delivers options for redundant connectivity, and the best part is there’s no more finger-crossing during fire-alarm tests.

Reason #2: A Future-Proof Feature Set in Your Pocket

Embracing modern technology is meant to release some of the operational stresses associated with running a business. Ditching an on-site Private Branch Exchange (PBX) certainly isn’t just about acquiring the new, shiny toy, but about improving your business as a whole. With that in mind, a cloud platform unlocks tools that analog lines can never touch:

Mobile and softphone apps offer advanced call management features, enabling employees to stay reachable from anywhere, whether at home, in the warehouse, or on a job site.
Call recording and business analytics fuel a better customer experience across communication channels.
Auto attendants and smart ring groups manage call queues and route enquiries 24/7, eliminating the need for after-hours or emergency receptionists.

Statewide’s Unified Communications platform bundles these “big-company” capabilities in one intuitive portal, giving even two-person shops a big-league polish they can fully take advantage of to help their business succeed.

Reason #3: Automatic Business Continuity with a Cloud-Based Phone System

Copper wires fail. Fiber cuts happen. The reality is that communication and infrastructure issues can occur, but cloud phones utilize multiple internet paths and LTE failover, ensuring calls continue to flow even when your street loses power.

Do you need more proof? Massachusetts-based Bianco & Sons Sausage ditched a failing on-prem system for Statewide’s cloud service. Dropped calls vanished, ring groups finally sent customers to the right department, and voicemail-to-email freed staff from desk phones.

“Now we focus on making great sausage, not troubleshooting phones,” CFO Joseph Bianco said after the migration.

Reason #4: Simpler Security and Compliance

Did you know that carriers providing analog lines are not required to encrypt voice traffic? Modern cloud phones come equipped with built-in TLS/SRTP encryption, multi-factor authentication for admin logins, 24-hour battery backup for life-safety endpoints, CAL FIRE and FDNY Certified, MFVN & NFPA 72 compliant, UL864 fire safety mark, and automatic software updates.

For industries handling sensitive data, healthcare, legal, and finance, Statewide layers HIPAA and PCI options on top of its core platform. That means fewer audit headaches and zero late-night patch marathons for your IT team.

Reason #5: A Hands-On Partner Who Knows Your Name

Plenty of vendors sell software; few stick around after the install. Statewide’s difference is baked into its culture:

Hands-On Process: Discovery, tailored quoting, onsite training, and lifetime support are part of every deal.
Local-Neighborhood Feel: We live in the community we serve, and respect all the businesses around us. We provide the highest level of service in every client interaction.
Top-Notch Support with Zero Drama: Real humans answer the phone, resolve issues, and follow up.

Our team’s mission is to support you every step of the way, utilizing our expertise to provide scalable solutions that grow with your business needs.

Cloud Phone Systems Advanced Feature Checklist

Must-Have	Why It Matters	Available with Statewide?
E-911 with dynamic address	Keeps you compliant as employees move desks or cities	✅
Voicemail-to-Email and SMS	Faster response times, reduces phone tag	✅
Auto Attendant and Ring Groups	Directs callers instantly, boosts CX	✅
Analytics Dashboard	Data to staff up busy hours	✅
LTE Failover	Calls keep working during internet outages	✅
Third-Party CRM/Teams Integration	Click-to-dial boosts productivity	✅

Still on the Fence? Common Objections Answered

“Switching systems sounds risky.”

Statewide ports all your phone numbers for you, stages hardware in advance, and trains staff so that Monday morning feels normal.

“My team isn’t tech-savvy.”

If you can use a smartphone, you can use cloud phones. Statewide’s trainers stay until every employee makes a live call with confidence.

“Isn’t VoIP call quality poor?”

It was in 2005. Today’s codecs and prioritized bandwidth deliver crystal-clear HD voice, which is often better than analog.

Cost-Effective Action Plan: How to Replace POTS in 30 Days

Assessment: Statewide audits every POTS line (alarm, elevator, fax) and estimates savings.
Design and Quote: You receive a line-item proposal with hardware, licensing, and timeline so you have no surprises.
Number Porting and Install: Desk phones arrive pre-provisioned; mobile apps go live instantly.
Go Live and Train: Hands-on sessions teach users call-handling best practices.
Ongoing Optimization: Quarterly check-ins to adjust features as your business grows.

Don’t Wait for the Copper Sunset That Will Leave You in the Dark

At this point, clinging to POTS is like paying extra for dial-up in a fiber world. For example, on AT&T’s Q1 earnings call in April 2025, CEO John Stankey said:

“New regulations are enabling ‘clean sailing’ for retiring copper lines in about 25 per cent of its central offices and AT&T has additional applications pending with the FCC.“

For AT&T, the goal is to eliminate POTS lines completely by 2030, and the other major carriers are following suit. The writing on the wall is clear: make POTS replacement your next quick win before a provider decides for you. Click to learn how a cloud phone system delivers lower costs, richer features, and peace of mind before the next copper outage hits or goes away completely.

Are you ready to talk about next steps? Reach out for a no-pressure demo to explore why a Cloud PBX might be right for your business, or compare options in our Cloud-Based Phone Systems guide.

Communications should help your business grow, not hold it hostage. Let Statewide show you the difference.

Tags: Cloud-based Phone Systems, POTS replacement
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Why Cloud PBX is the Right Solution for Your Business

June 16th, 2025

Do you run a business in Massachusetts or New England where you’re frustrated with an outdated phone system that feels more harmful to your operations than helpful?

Maybe you’re tired of calls dropping or dealing with a complicated setup that isn’t intuitive to maintain, and have spent countless hours trying to extend the life of your current system. Even more, your traditional phone system often requires on-premises hardware, making it less adaptable and more expensive to maintain. You’re now at the point where the benefits of staying with what you have versus finding something new have finally shifted.

But, where do you start looking for a better solution? Luckily, you’ve landed here, and we have a Cloud PBX solution that will be quite the upgrade for you. If your communication capabilities are lacking, then keep reading. Statewide Communications is the partner you’ve been needing.

What is Cloud PBX?

Don’t worry, we get this question a lot. Simply put, Cloud PBX is a phone system hosted online, remotely managed and supported, allowing you to connect from anywhere and eliminating the need for bulky, expensive hardware. Cloud PBX uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to transmit calls over the internet, reducing costs and increasing flexibility. Unlike traditional systems that connect to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) through a physical private branch exchange (PBX), Cloud PBX serves as a virtual, hosted replacement, removing the need for on-premises PBX hardware. Sounds great, right?

So, how can it specifically benefit your business? For small businesses like yours in Massachusetts and New England, this means less hassle, significantly lower costs than what you’re used to, and easier flexibility and growth possibilities with a system that adapts to you.

Is Your Phone System Supporting Your Business or Holding It Back?

Here’s a common story we hear, but imagine with us: you’re in your office in Natick or Worcester, and suddenly your phone lines drop right before a big prospecting call is scheduled. You struggle with trying to figure it out. You call tech support, only to be greeted by a frustrating automated system and a long hold time. Without another option, you scramble and try to complete the call over your cell phone. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for many businesses using outdated phone solutions. Legacy phone service often lacks the reliability that modern businesses need, making it essential to consider upgrading to a modern solution like cloud based phone service.

At Statewide Communications, we understand these challenges firsthand. We began as a family-owned business with a strong local presence right here in Massachusetts, and we know your area, your challenges, and exactly how important local, reliable support is for your business.

Key Benefits of Cloud-Based Phone Systems for Massachusetts Businesses

Simplicity and Ease of Use

A Cloud PBX simplifies your business communication by providing intuitive, easy-to-use features like automatic call routing, mobile apps, and visual voicemail. At Statewide, we ensure a smooth transition to cloud-based phone systems for our clients, offering hands-on training and personalized support from real people who understand your local business environment.

Can you imagine adjusting call settings right from your smartphone during your commute on Route 128 or while working remotely from your Cape Cod vacation spot? It’s built right in, and it’s that simple!

Local Support You Can Trust

One major advantage of choosing Statewide Communications is our local presence and responsive support team. Unlike larger providers who’ve forgotten the needs of regional businesses, we’re right here in Massachusetts, ready to help you quickly and if need be, in person. Whether you’re based in Springfield, Quincy, or anywhere in between, our local team is available to provide friendly and knowledgeable support whenever you need it.

Our customers frequently tell us that our responsiveness and dedication to their needs set us apart:

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Statewide Communications for 5+ years, and they are by far the most outstanding service when it comes to all things communication in the workplace. As a business, their ticketing service is simple and very effective, almost immediately receiving a reply. They are quick to schedule onsite support and get the answers you need. Separately, the team at Statewide is very team orientated and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them as people over the years. They are kind and genuinely care about their customers. An easy referral to anyone who is looking to upgrade their comm service.”

– Sarah Orans

We’re a vendor you can trust because we’re your neighbors and partners.

Cost Savings and Predictable Budgeting

Small businesses in Massachusetts and New England know the importance of keeping costs predictable and affordable. Switching to a Cloud PBX means you can significantly reduce the costs of expensive hardware, repairs, and service visits. Instead, you’ll enjoy a straightforward monthly bill, customized to your exact usage and needs. In fact, according to G2, switching to a cloud-based VoIP phone system can result in savings of up to 50 percent in ongoing costs and up to 90 percent of initial expenses.

Our plans include unlimited calling, making it easy to manage communication costs for businesses of any size. International calling and unlimited domestic calling are also supported, with cost-effective rates to help you connect globally and locally without breaking your budget. Advanced features like call queues and call volume analytics help you efficiently handle high call traffic and monitor system performance.

By eliminating hidden fees and unexpected maintenance costs, Statewide helps you free up more of your money and instead invest in growing your business. Whether you’re a law firm in the heart of Boston or a small furniture manufacturer in a quiet corner of the Berkshires, we have a solution built for your needs.

Real Stories, Real Impact

Let’s bring this home with a local success story. Take Bianco & Sons Sausage, a beloved Massachusetts company. Before working with us, they struggled with dropped or unclear phone calls and misrouted calls. After implementing Statewide’s cloud PBX system, they now enjoy crystal-clear phone calls, improved call management, and a reliable business phone system that lets them focus on making delicious sausages for the local community.

“There’s way more functionality with this new system like voicemail-to-email, a mobile app, and the team at Statewide trained us on how to use it all,” says Joseph Bianco, CFO, “And if we had any questions, their response times were great, and they had local technicians that could come by to help.”

You can view even more client testimonials and case studies here.

What Makes Statewide Communications the Perfect Local Choice?

We aren’t just a telecom supplier; we’re your local Massachusetts cloud phone service provider and partner. Our hands-on approach means we genuinely care about your business success. Here’s what sets us apart:

Local Expertise: We know Massachusetts and New England businesses because we’re one ourselves.
Personalized Support: When you call, you get a real person who knows you and your business, ready to help immediately.
Easy Scalability: Add or adjust lines quickly as your business grows, without needing new hardware.

At Statewide, our mission is simple: provide reliable, user-friendly, and affordable cloud communication solutions specifically designed for small and mid-size businesses like yours.

Ready to Upgrade Your Communications?

If your phone service is causing more headaches than help, it’s time for a change. Statewide Communications offers a locally supported, scalable, and cost-effective Cloud PBX solution ideal for Massachusetts or New England small businesses. With our reliable, responsive team, you’ll never be left hanging again.

Tags: cloud pbx, Cloud-based Phone Systems
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How Your Cloud-Based Phone System Ensures Adaptability

March 28th, 2024

If you’re reading this in your pajamas, you know a shift in workplace culture is happening. According to a Gallup survey, 40 percent of remote-capable employees have shifted to either hybrid or exclusively remote work between 2019 and 2023. It’s not just home or office; hybrid work is the fastest-growing work style. That means employees want to move seamlessly between the office, their home, and everywhere in between.

How can they tap into the same communication tools they use at work when working away from the office? The answer is cloud-based phone systems.

Cloud-based phone systems provide flexibility that can adapt to your business needs, whether you’re expanding your team, working remotely, or maintaining a tight budget. Today’s office is everywhere, and flexibility, scalability, mobility, cost-effectiveness, and security are essential. How do cloud-based phone systems help you achieve those qualities?

Flexibility

Cloud-based phone systems offer several features that give businesses the flexibility to remain adaptive. Remote access capabilities are a significant benefit. Avoiding the need for robust, professionally installed hardware means an employee or the entire office can move without disrupting communication.

There’s also the benefit of customization. Cloud-based phone systems offer customization options, including the ability to create custom call routing rules, voicemail greetings, and hold music. These options allow businesses and even individual employees to tailor their phone systems to their specific needs, providing a tailor-made customer experience.

Scalability

Any business that has grown quickly knows that even good problems can come with frustrations. Unlike traditional phone systems, which require physical installations, upkeep, and upgrades, a cloud-based system can quickly adapt to your growing business needs.

Whenever you need to, you are able to quickly and easily add or remove phone lines, extensions, and features without investing in expensive hardware or software upgrades. With a cloud-based phone system, you are able to scale phone services according to your business requirements and budget.

Plus, a cloud-based phone system can provide helpful features, including call forwarding, automated attendants, and voicemail to email, which can help your business run more efficiently.

Mobility

For many employees, flexible work environments increase productivity, job satisfaction, and employee retention. With high rates of turnover and quits in 2023, it’s important for many businesses to offer flexible work environments to attract and retain quality employees.

A cloud-based phone system allows users to access their phone system remotely from any device with an internet connection. Remote access means that employees can make and receive calls from their business phone number on their personal mobile devices, laptops, or desktop computers, which lets them to work from anywhere while staying connected to colleagues and clients even when they are out of the office.

But what about collaboration and social connection?

That’s a big concern for companies that value the culture they’ve fostered in their teams. A cloud-based phone system can provide features such as voicemail-to-email, call forwarding, and video conferencing that facilitate collaboration in highly mobile or remote teams.

Cost-Effectiveness

Adapting to a new method of communication is only viable if it’s cost-effective. What does a cloud-based system mean for the bottom line?

A cloud-based phone system can be a cost-effective solution in many ways. First, businesses don’t have to invest in expensive hardware or software since everything is hosted in the cloud.

Secondly, providers often take care of the maintenance and upgrades remotely, eliminating the need for on-site IT teams that can service your phone system. Thirdly, the flexibility and scalability mentioned previously allow businesses to easily add or remove users whenever needed, eliminating the costs of adapting a hard-wired phone system to a growing team.

Finally, some indirect benefits can affect the return on investment. A highly customizable phone system can help you tailor your phone system to the needs of your callers and clients, providing a better customer experience. Reaching out to your company is a pleasant experience that can set you apart from your competitors, translating to sales and customer retention. Likewise, flexible and easy-to-use phone systems can create a more pleasant work environment for employees, reducing turnover rates.

Security

The shift in how and where people work has raised some security concerns. Are cloud-based phone systems secure? The good news is that they are secure and may also increase your business’s overall security health.

Cloud-based phone systems use encryption to secure communication between endpoints, ensuring private conversations. Most cloud-based phone system providers offer robust security features, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, and advanced authentication to protect customer and company data.

Still, it’s important to choose a reputable provider and ensure that your team is up to date on best practices for data security to minimize the risks of data breaches or other security issues.

Learn How You Can Implement a Cloud-Based Phone System

Taking your phone system to the cloud offers a ton of convenience and cost savings, and the transition is easy to make. If you’re ready to upgrade your business communication today, contact Statewide Communications to learn more.

Tags: Business Communications, Business Tips, Cloud-based Phone Systems
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