Benefits of a Modern Cloud Phone System

As your small business changes and grows, the ability to scale becomes a top priority. As you expand and add more employees, you’ll need a new approach to communications. If you are still using legacy on-premise telephony systems, upgrading and scaling are harder to accomplish, requiring a larger investment in money and time. With a modern cloud phone system, however, your small business can manage communications more efficiently, streamlining processes, and saving you money. If you are considering making a switch, you’ll want to know about these benefits of cloud phone systems.

Achieve a Fully Integrated Communication System

Fully integrating your communication system can bring many advantages. When you use a platform that allows you to integrate communications with other applications, you gain greater efficiencies. Leveraging cloud-based tools equates to easier deployment, allowing employees to stay connected no matter where they are. You can choose to integrate with systems like your customer relationship management (CRM) software, which allows your employees to have access to relevant customer data.

Gain More Control Over Your Communication Modes

You are in the driver’s seat when you use a cloud phone system, which means you can select the features you need when you need them. Further, you’ll be empowering your employees with anywhere, anytime access via any device. This mobility that you are providing is essential in modern business, where remote work and travel are prevalent. There’s no frustration of having to be in the office to use the tools, and this flexibility is something for which all employees will be thankful.

Worry Less About Downtime with Increased Reliability

Legacy phone systems aren’t reliable, and you are at the mercy of outdated technology. Cloud-based phone systems deliver up to 99.999% uptime, along with automatic rerouting of calls in the case of any outages. With this kind of reliability, you can have peace of mind that you have a solid business continuity plan that allows employees and customers the ability to continue communications.

Boost Productivity

Cloud phone systems can be a catalyst for improving workplace productivity. Because it’s a single platform for communication, your team doesn’t have to balance multiple apps. Installing such a system also contributes to productivity by offering greater mobility, enabling real-time responses, and enhancing collaboration. Plus, having the right tools makes employees much more satisfied and able to do their best. They’ll all be working smarter, not harder.

Improve Customer Service Efforts

Meeting the needs of your customers is a foremost objective for any business. How you communicate with them matters in creating an ideal customer experience. Cloud phone systems offer Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR provides a way to automate telephony systems that can interact with callers and gather information. Based on the information, calls are then routed to the appropriate party. The beauty of IVR is that it can offer quick answers to simple questions and send callers with more complex issues to an agent. Such a system can result in higher first-call resolution numbers and improve how you deliver service overall.

Save Money but Not at the Expense of Modern Features

Every small business wants to save money while also ensuring they have the right technology. Legacy phone systems are a huge expense. They live on-site, which means they require hardware, constant maintenance, and a heavy reliance on IT support. Moving your communication system to the cloud eliminates these on-site costs. Instead, you’ll have a consistent budget number that represents your costs for communications. Overall, the monthly fees you’ll pay for cloud phone systems are also much lower than on-site systems. How much can you save? Research suggests the savings could be as much as 50-70%.

Enjoy a System That’s Always Up to Date

Maintenance of your communication system, if it’s on-site, is never-ending. If you want to make a change to this type of infrastructure, it’s costly and can take weeks or months to implement. By using the cloud for communication, you’ll find that the maintenance obligations are much simpler. First, you’re partnering with a provider, who updates any software and systems automatically. You’ll never need to update or repair infrastructure. Further, you’ll have a web-based portal that you can reconfigure at any time, including adding new lines and managing features.

With all these benefits and the ability to scale as you go, cloud phone systems are a win for small businesses. However, not all cloud platforms are created equal. We invite you to explore Intermedia Unite, a cloud-based unified communication and collaboration platform. See how it can help your business communicate better today.