It’s an understatement to say that enterprise telecommunications have evolved significantly in the digital age. As modern workplaces have evolved to hybrid and remote work being the norm, businesses across all industries have adopted cloud-hosted PBX systems and replaced analog desk phones with digital IP ones. Most of us have inseparable relationships with our mobile phones. Many companies have embraced connecting them to their cloud-based voice networks and provisioning softphone applications for mobile devices and computers.
Cloud-Based Voice Solutions vs Traditional Phone Systems
The era of having analog conversations over copper wires seems to be hurtling toward an end. Companies are looking for more flexible, affordable, efficient, and reliable ways to connect their employees with their colleagues, customers, partners, and other associates. Provided a company has a strong internet connection and sufficient bandwidth availability, their employees can have HD-quality voice calls, and save on long-distance and international calls.
Traditional landlines can only support one phone number (and multiple extensions) per business PBX. Cloud voice systems can support multiple virtual numbers. It’s also simpler and less costly for businesses to set up features like call forwarding, auto-attendants, voicemail-to-text, and automated call distribution. According to Market Business News, the average business saves more than 50% on telecommunications costs when they adopt a cloud-based business phone system.
Examples of Cloud-based Voice Services
There are many cloud voice solutions to choose from, such as Webex, Microsoft Teams Voice, Zoom, and Pexip. The voice solutions listed here are functions of cloud collaboration services and each solution has different strengths and suitability to certain business types. For example, solutions like Pexip require more development overhead, but are very customizable, and can be integrated with other business applications like CRM or contact center platforms.
Benefits of Cloud-Based Voice Solutions
A cloud-based business phone system can liberate field-based sales and service employees from their desks, and eliminate the need to check into their company voice mail system. Increased availability to customers, colleagues, and partners on the road can increase productivity and customer satisfaction, avoid missed opportunities, and eliminate wasted travel since remote and hybrid work styles have increased significantly over the past few years. Cloud voice solutions provide seamless connections to your teams just as if they are in your office, even when they’re not.
Some leading voice over internet protocol (VoIP) systems enable users to transfer calls from their desk phone to their mobile phone without pausing or ending the conversation. Many enable users to transition from voice to video calling and back or invite a participant to join while the call is in progress.
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Unified Communications
Although most business professionals have many voice-only conversations, unified communications (UC) platforms offer an increased level of personal connection and accessibility that voice-only solutions cannot match. Innovations in AI-enabled sound elimination, automated call transcription, and brand personalization have grown the UC market value from $33 billion in 2018 to a forecast of $48 billion in 2023.
UC platforms enabled many enterprises to keep their employees connected with customers and other internal and external stakeholders during the pandemic. Multi-channel collaboration and communications including voice, video, and media-enriched instant messaging continue to make working remotely more engaging and productive.
Advanced Features
Unified communications extend cloud voice solutions by increasing conversation quality. Users can eliminate sounds from construction, traffic, or their pets. Sales or customer service organizations can record conversations, or leverage conversation intelligence analytics and reporting tools to assess call quality, tone, and keyword usage.
Some enterprises have encouraged their user community to use email for communications which need to be preserved as records for compliance. Yet Microsoft Teams, for example, can archive instant message conversations so they can be searched as a knowledge repository, and retained for as long as regulatory standards dictate. Many UC platforms can be extended with plug-ins from the platform vendors and their partners, or integrated into their corporate application ecosystem.
Remote Flexibility
Cloud-based voice solutions and unified communications platforms can be accessed on their devices from wherever reliable, secure internet access is available. Enterprise users can invite external participants to attend online conferences, even if they don’t subscribe to the platform, either via virtual phone numbers or through web access.
Business Continuity
Should a contact center team be located in an area where internet access is interrupted or the power goes out, users can switch to their mobile devices and continue to work via 4G or 5G cellular networks. Or, when employees need to care for an ailing family member or go to a personal appointment, they can stay in touch with minimal business interruption.
Ease of Use
Leading cloud collaboration services like Cisco Webex, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams have experienced rapid growth as their mobile and desktop user experiences are intuitive and easy to use. There are user training videos available on YouTube and vendor websites, however, most digital-savvy users can explore the system with ease and discover how to use essential functions in mere minutes.
Consult with the Cloud Voice Solutions experts at Yorktel
There are many cloud-based voice services in the marketplace, and choosing one for your organization is no small task. Don’t invest a lot of your time and resources in researching them on your own. We have a wealth of experience with selecting, provisioning and maintaining UC and voice solutions for medium-to-enterprise businesses in many industries. We can help you make a strategic, educated selection, and help deploy it to your office-based and remote users, wherever they conduct business. Contact us today to get started.
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