Why Successful Businesses Commit to Cloud VoIP Solutions
More so than at any time in history, successful companies are dependent on their phone systems. Your first contact with your first customer will likely take place over the phone; the first order placed with a vendor, the first customer concern that’s answered by a customer service rep. The quandary for the new business owner today is although he knows exactly how many phones or lines he needs on day one, he cannot be certain how many he will need on day #365 and beyond. He hopes and believes his company will flourish and expand, but he doesn’t want to waste money on phone lines that may never be used. Yet the first question a traditional phone company sales rep will ask is, “How many lines will we be installing?”
Savvy business start-ups avoid this question by committing to Cloud VoIP solutions.
Cloud VoIP Systems Save Money
Unlike traditional phone companies, cloud service providers require no initial outlay of large sums of money on hardware and installation since the server and all equipment is located and maintained at the provider’s data center. A fledgling business need only purchase IP phones and software that plugs into their broadband internet connection and they’re ready for business. The money saved on equipment can go towards other must-haves like advertising, recruitment, or inventory building. As for the service, it will be billed on a monthly basis. VoIP phone systems are also highly scalable, so as the company grows and the day comes when new hires are added, more phones can be installed. And when satellite offices are opened, or warehouses leased, expansion of the phone system is nothing more than a matter of plug-in and go.
Cloud VoIP Systems Eliminate Wasted Time
Whether a company is new or well-established, the IT staff is always occupied with a list of day-to-day issues, but should a problem arise with a traditional phone system, the in-house IT is the first to be summoned. And if the business has no IT department, the problem falls to the business or facility manager who can literally spend hours on hold, then is forced to explain and re-explain the problem to outside technicians.
With VoIP solutions, there’s no need for onsite servers or hardware to deal with, and the cloud service provider is responsible for all maintenance and upkeep, and any rare problem that arises is his to solve.
If disaster should strike like a storm or utility company glitch, cloud VoIP phone lines are unaffected as long as the ISP connection has not gone down. And if it has, cloud communications systems have built-in system recovery and redundancy features so they can provide near-continuous connectivity. In the meantime, incoming calls can be re-routed to other business offices or back-up cell phones numbers so business can carry on seamlessly.
Cloud VoIP Solutions Give Small Businesses Big Enterprise Features
For one reason or another, many prospective customers shy away from doing business with a small company. With a Cloud VoIP solution, however, small operations will appear to the caller on the other end of the line as if it’s a bustling office. VoIP software solutions serve as a communications equalizer, allowing small businesses to take advantage of sophisticated features that they would never be able to afford with legacy phone system. This includes features like:
- Automated call attendants
- Message on hold
- Advanced voicemail to email transfers
- Voice to text message conversions
- Find me/follow me call transfers
Cloud VoIP Solutions Optimize Collaboration
Cloud Communications systems provide a continuous connection to the brick and mortar office, no matter where they happen to be working on any particular day. Sales reps on the road, employees in branch offices, independent contractors or part-timers working from home can all receive customer calls, and if they initiate the call, the home office’s number will register on the customer’s phone as if they’re calling from their desk. As long as there is an internet connection the staff working off-site can access email, submit purchase orders, meet face-to-face in virtual conferences, even using their smartphones. Documents can be shared, vendors and customers can be brought into the mix and even prospective new hires interviewed – all it takes is a few clicks.
Today’s successful businesses need to find ways to empower their employees all the time, from everywhere, so they appreciate how cloud VoIP solutions, in the relatively short time they have been around, have managed to change the concept of work. Work is no longer where you go, it’s what you do.
