As we move into the New Year, many businesses are looking to improve their operations. One way to do this is by moving your phone system to the Cloud. There are many benefits to doing this, including increased flexibility and scalability, decreased costs, and improved efficiency. If you're thinking about making the switch, now is the time to do it! Here's a look at some of the top reasons why you should move your phone system to the Cloud in 2022.
1. Simplify Multi-location Management
Simplicity means that if you can maintain your business connectivity between multiple offices across your city, your state, the country, or the world. If you operate a business with multiple locations, you know that keeping track of all the phones and phone numbers can be challenging. You also understand that managing your calls and communication between your sites can be difficult.
A virtual cloud-based phone system can help you solve all of these problems. With a virtual phone system, each of your locations will have its unique phone number, and you'll be able to manage all of your calls from a single site. This can make it easier for you to stay in touch with your employees and customers, no matter where they are located. A virtual phone system is also an affordable solution that can save you money in the long run. So if you're looking for a way to improve communication, now is the time to switch out your old phone system.
2. Scalability
A company's phone system is a crucial part of its infrastructure. It is essential to have a phone system that can scale up or down as needed to meet the demands of the business. Cloud-based phone systems are flexible and can be adjusted to meet the needs of any business.
As your company grows, your communication needs will evolve. You may need to add more phone lines or upgrade your plan to include features like conference calling, call centers, or video. The cloud phone system can grow with you, making it easy to scale up or down as needed. And since it's based in the Cloud, there's no connectivity hardware investment required on your part.
Cloud phone systems are also significant because they allow you to choose between several different vendors and their equipment. This means that a Cloud-based system doesn't limit what kind of phones or accessories can be used in your business, making it easier for businesses like yours who want more flexibility when picking out communications tools!
3. Integrate Your Critical Applications and Devices
As businesses strive to increase efficiency and agility, they realize that the Cloud integrates critical applications and devices. Using the Cloud as a central platform, you can connect your team members, customers, and suppliers in ways that were not possible before. Additionally, by consolidating your critical applications and devices in the Cloud, you can improve security while reducing costs.
4. Straightforward Implementation
There's much discussion these days about transitioning to the Cloud. Amid all the talk, it can be challenging to cut through the noise and understand what transitioning to the Cloud really means for your business. But at its core, making the switch is about one thing: ease of use. Cloud services are designed for simplicity and minimal downtime so that you can focus on your business, not your technology.
One of the most critical factors in a successful transition from your old phone system to the Cloud is having your installation partner work with you throughout this process. Ensure they are willing and able to help minimize downtime during any potential disruptions so that everything runs smoothly for everyone involved!
5. Accommodate Remote Workers
As businesses grow, the need for more employees to work remotely increases. This can be a challenge, as different team members may have different communication needs and preferences. To ensure that all employees feel comfortable and can easily collaborate, it is essential to accommodate their various devices and preferences for communication. With the right technology in place, remote workers will feel just as connected to the team as those working in the office. By taking each employee's individual needs into account, businesses can create a collaborative environment that works for everyone.
With the diverse ways people use multiple devices to communicate, your company must provide this connectivity, and the Cloud is the only way to make this happen. In our personal experience with technology, we have found that people use computers for business emails and documents, tablets for appointments and research, and smartphones for texting and quick communication. Your company cloud communication will accommodate all the tools and resources the remote worker needs.
6. Access Feature-Rich Phone Options
With the old traditional phone system, you're limited in what features are available to use. Each additional feature requires specific hardware components and configuration options that can be costly for your business if it's not included or priced correctly from the start.
In contrast, cloud systems have proven reliable due to their wide accessibility without any unnecessary hassle attached! You'll keep your business running smoothly with advanced call management software. Cloud technology provides features like voicemail boxes, corporate calendars, auto attendants, chat apps, visual meeting rooms, computer softphones, text messaging, dial plans, and so much more.
7. Receive Automatic and Seamless Updates
There's always something new and improved waiting around the corner when it comes to technology. That's why so many businesses are making the switch to cloud-based phone systems - because they can automatically update with all the latest features, enhancements, and security measures. With a cloud system, your phones are always up-to-date, so you can stay focused on running your business.
To update the old on-premises phone technology, the provider must test the upgrade at each client location. That leaves you stuck on a waiting list before you can get your hands on the latest features. A cloud solution doesn't make you wait. New updates and features are available to all clients simultaneously.
8. Better Utilize Your Company Resources
The simple act of moving your phone system to the Cloud can profoundly impact how you communicate and how you manage that infrastructure. You currently have offices that require two separate lines: one for voice and one for data. Moving your phone system to the Cloud allows you to consolidate those lines into a single network. Combining your voice and data lines also capitalizes on your "stranded" capacity – the bandwidth delivered by your provider that you don't consistently use. Transmitting voice over your data line boosts traffic over that connection and better utilizes all that wasted capacity.
9. Reliability and performance with little to no maintenance.
The prominence, popularity, and reliability of cloud-based call management have increased dramatically alongside the rise of cloud-based data systems, through which businesses can manage their data in a virtual space rather than by on-site servers.
The critical reason cloud phone calls are reliable is that they are hosted across many different locations. So, if a server in a particular region has technical issues, a backup server for a specific site ensures reliability. Multiple server locations mean that downtime is significantly reduced for business users. Cloud phones can also be a reliable component of your growth and development plan. Their technical flexibility means taking and making calls from any location.
11. Integrate Your Critical Applications and Devices
You gain a significant customer service advantage when you move your business phone system to the Cloud. A cloud solution gives you call-center-level functionality without a call center's expense and operating demands. This functionality includes integrations designed to enhance customer exchange and simplify supervisor operations. Because cloud phone systems are software-driven, they're easier to integrate with leading customer relationship management (CRM) platforms like Salesforce.
Your application can pull up that customer's account information onto a screen when a customer calls. That way, your employees can reference essential account information and better serve the caller. Data from the call can be collected and entered as well. This helps you keep up with customer preferences and decisions, thereby improving future interactions with that customer.
12. Business Continuity with unparalleled security
Business continuity ensures that your company can continue operating normally even if there's a disaster at one of its locations. You can quickly deploy new devices or communicate via mobile phone or your computer's softphone app, among other things, to mitigate the effects on business operations from storms and natural disasters like hurricanes - all while ensuring customer satisfaction!
Our cloud security protects against hackers attacking or breaching a cloud-based call management system because we constantly upgrade and monitor any breach. We minimize the risk of being hacked, thereby saving you - a customer!
13. Overall Cost Savings
The cost of a traditional phone system (new or upgraded) is usually much higher, with implementation expenses that include equipment, cabling, and on-premise server space. On the other hand, moving your business-class phone network to the Cloud can often be done with a more affordable outlay of funds if you already have an up-to-date infrastructure in place! Most installations only require a few capital expenditures: paying for new lines or cables where needed or purchasing I.P. phones.
The best part is that Cloud-based phone management systems offer a more accurate way of predicting your telecommunication charges from month to month. They are priced based on the number of users and include unlimited local or long-distance minutes, so there's no worry about high usage levels impacting monthly costs.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Creative-13 has been in business for over 30 years, and we're still going strong. That's because our goal has always been to provide reliable service, at affordable prices, for every customer on a case-by-case basis!
If you're thinking about making the switch, now is the time to do it! The only question you need to ask yourself is, "How old is our current phone system, and what is it genuinely costing my business in maintenance and downtime?" Moving to the Cloud will minimize these concerns as a business owner, and switching today will save your budget.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ryan has been writing blogs, articles and inspirational pieces for the last 15 years. He's currently working on a book entitled "The Formula." Ryan is currently the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) at Creative-13 where every so often you'll see some of his informative, fun, or inspiring posts published. Sometimes it's good to take an hour out of your day (or week), and just read something that can improve who you are.