How Cloud Telephony Can Eliminate IT Hassles?
Back in the old days, companies used to maintain on-premise PBX systems to communicate internally for free. The same PBX system allowed them to communicate externally by connecting with PSTN networks through gateways. However, they posed several issues in terms of flexibility, scalability, and other business factors.
For businesses, implementing a
traditional on-premise PBX solution was a massive headache as the deployment
involved purchasing costly IT hardware such as PBX servers, phones, etc. and
staffing a technical team to update and maintain the PBX solution
regularly.
However, with the advent
of cloud communication or cloud telephony
technology, businesses now don’t have to buy clunky PBX servers and other
required hardware.
Now, they can simply rent out
PBX servers hosted and maintained by a 3rd party cloud telephony provider.
Businesses don’t have to buy any hardware and take the trouble to install PBX
systems on their premises.
Cloud communication is the next big thing, and we are already witnessing its global adaption. According to a report by Market Research Feature, the global cloud communication platform market is expected to witness a CAGR of 24.8% during the forecast period (2018-2023) and reach a valuation of USD 5,706.8 M.
By region, North America is
likely to dominate the cloud communication market, posting a CAGR of 24.0% from
2018 to 2023.
In this blog, we will see how cloud communication helps organizations to eliminate IT hassles and allow them to focus on more important things such as offering better customer service, product support, etc., to scale their businesses.
6 Ways Cloud Telephony Can Eliminate IT Hassles
1. Save operational costs
Before the advent of cloud communication solutions, companies were using on-premise PBX solutions. For that, organizations had to spend heavily on the hardware requirements such as PBX servers, telephones, wires, etc. to set up their telephony solutions. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a one-time expenditure for businesses as they also had to staff a technical team to keep the PBX system up and running. As a result, their operational costs went up.
Cloud communication offers affordable telephony solutions to businesses of any size and industry. With the hosted PBX solutions, you can get all the benefits of telephony solutions without having to maintain a PBX server and technical staff. The migration of telephony solutions to cloud allowed businesses to save almost 40 to 60%.
2. Reduced downtime
Cloud technology keeps a
replica of your data in multiple geographically sparse datacenters. So,
whenever your primary server goes down, it automatically switches to a
different server. The same applies with cloud communication solutions.
Hence, whenever your central cloud communication server is down, it automatically switches to a different server hosted in a different datacenter which ultimately results in less downtime and less or negligible damage to your business.
3. Business continuity
Business continuity means that your business operations don’t get affected whenever a any kind of involuntary interruption such as natural calamity occurs. Cloud makes this possible by maintaining multiple replicas of your company data at various datacenters located at a far distance from each other.
4. Flexible scaling
Earlier, in the on-premise PBX
communication systems, the option of flexible scaling was quite limited as
whenever you have to add a new agent, you have to undergo the trouble of buying
new compatible hardware and configuring the extension.
Also, in the case of downscaling, all the resources weren’t utilized to their full potential. Let’s understand this with an example. Suppose company A is using the old PBXs’ system and have configured 10 extensions. After some time, their requirements grew to 20 extensions.
For that, they will have to
buy compatible phones and wires to configure those 10 new extensions; however,
as business requirements change over time. Now, if the company has to downscale
back to 10 extensions or 15 extensions, the remaining extensions will remain
useless, and the company will not be able to utilize their resources
optimally.
However, with cloud communication, adding or removing team members becomes a piece of cake. All you have to do is log in to your online portal to add a new team member and configure their extension.
The same goes for removing an existing team member. You can revoke their access and assign their extension to a different agent. The ability to scale as per business requirements make cloud communication profitable as organizations only need to pay for what they use.
5. Take business on the go
Cloud communication powers people to take their business with them wherever they go. Now, you and your team no longer have to sit on your desks to receive calls from your customers. With some advanced features of cloud telephony solutions such as call forwarding, you can forward incoming calls from an extension to your cell phone number. Thus, giving you the freedom to handle your business from anywhere with ease.
6. Easy to set up in multiple locations
For businesses with offices in
multiple locations, the cost of implementing on-premise PBX systems increases
manifold. As cloud communication uses VoIP technology, which is cheaper as
compared to old PBX systems. VoIP calls travel over data networks and don’t
need to connect with PSTN; most cloud communication providers allow you to make
internal calls for free.
Wrapping Up
Traditional PBX communication
systems were clunky and hard to maintain, with a lack of scalability and
flexibility. Cloud communication is growing at a faster rate, and its adaption
is expected to rise exponentially over the next decade because it allows
businesses to eliminate various IT hassles, as discussed in this article.