Cloud
There may not be as much business conducted over the phone as there once was, but a reliable telephone system is still a must-have for most companies. There are a number of options out there, but one in particular carries no upfront costs or burdensome fee structure: A cloud-based VoIP system. Today we’ll take a look at some of the benefits of a cloud-hosted VoIP, and whether it might make sense for your business.
Before we get into the details of a cloud-hosted VoIP, it is important to understand what a VoIP is. Simply put, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are phones that work over an internet connection instead of traditional telephone “land lines.” Their effectiveness and popularity has grown as internet bandwidth and connection speeds have increased dramatically in recent years. In the past, companies interested in better controlling their communication costs began purchasing expensive private branch exchange (PBX), or private network, equipment and hosting it on premises. This traditional telephone approach is costly to set up, but once a company owns the hardware, the maintenance costs are relatively low. A downside is that flexibility for a remote worker or someone who may move about various office spaces is more limited, as they cannot easily utilize their phone or number elsewhere.
Cloud-based VoIP systems are similar, but as the name suggests, instead of residing in an onsite server room, the PBX platform sits in the cloud and is accessed over the internet. This removes the upfront hardware and setup costs, which can be a barrier for businesses investing in their own phone system. It also gives the entire staff access to the phone system, anytime and anywhere.
While the most obvious advantage of the cloud-hosted VoIP may be the reduction in initial costs, there are certainly other benefits. These systems allow companies to quickly and easily scale to accommodate growth. And like many other cloud services, businesses can pay only for the capacity they need without long-term commitments.
They also allow companies to budget for communication costs based on the number of people using the phones, and not the entire system. This is an attractive benefit for companies that have variability in their workforce throughout the year, as they can add phones when they need them and drop them when they don’t.
Another advantage to cloud-hosted VoIP systems is the security. Your VoIP provider is in charge of the system’s hosting and security, and would protect your cloud-based PBX server with physical security and disaster recovery plans.
Many providers also offer conferencing solutions and the opportunity to combine all your organization’s communication systems, a discipline known as unified communications. This can often reduce overall management and costs while increasing efficiency.
While every business has their own unique needs and considerations, if you are a growing business that wants an efficient phone system, then it’s worth considering a cloud-based VoIP.
