In today’s evolving communications landscape, employees and consumers have numerous ways they can connect and share data. In the last few years alone, users have rapidly embraced everything from instant messaging and social chat tools, to video conferencing.
Innovative cloud-based technologies, like UCaaS platforms, empower companies to align numerous communication tools into a single environment for productivity. However, even in this landscape, it’s important to remember that reliable voice solutions are still critical to business communications.
Studies show that phone calls are still the preferred way for consumers to reach companies, and they remain essential to preserving productivity and collaboration in the workplace.
Here’s why cloud voice is still foundational in the UCaaS world, and how you can ensure you’re choosing the right cloud voice provider for your business.
The Value of a Cloud Voice Solution
Cloud-based telephony is quickly becoming a must-have in any company’s technology stack. Traditional voice solutions present a number of challenges to businesses. First, the complexity and cost of managing a legacy telephony ecosystem can be difficult for any business to handle.
There aren’t just the costs of purchasing various hardware devices and software licenses to consider. Companies also need to account for the expenses associated with managing, maintaining, and configuring their distributed technologies.
Traditional voice solutions are also extremely difficult to scale. Adding new technologies and features is time-consuming and complex. What’s more, as PSTN lines start to be shut down around the world, traditional ecosystems are becoming less reliable for global communications.
The Benefits of Cloud Voice Technology
Cloud-based voice solutions, offer businesses a unique opportunity to adapt to the changing communications market.
They ensure organizations can access high levels of business continuity, by empowering employees to access communication tools from any device, in any location. They also help to reduce upfront costs, with scalable pricing, easy maintenance, and fewer up-front expenses for hardware. With cloud voice technologies, companies benefit from:
- Reduced costs: The cost of managing and operating a cloud voice ecosystem is lower, because these tools use existing internet connections. There’s no need to purchase additional hardware, and you can adapt your plan to suit your business needs.
- Flexibility: Cloud voice services empower businesses to facilitate remote and hybrid working practices and support mobile workers. Team members can access the same communication tools regardless of where they are.
- Improved continuity: Businesses benefit from consistent communication services, delivered by a global provider, reducing the risk of lost calls and inefficiencies. Companies can scale their service according to their needs, without encountering additional risk.
Choosing the Right Cloud Voice Provider
While the definition of the “best” cloud voice provider may differ from one business to the next, there are certain factors every business should look for when examining its options. For instance:
1. Flexibility
Flexibility is crucial when choosing a cloud voice provider. When accessing SIP trunking solutions, UCaaS technology and other essential resources, companies need to be able to tailor their systems to their specific needs. The right cloud voice provider will offer the flexibility you need.
For instance, your vendor may offer “bring your own carrier” technology, providing a flexible route to the cloud with the option to choose the communication platform that suits you best. You could even integrate your voice systems with existing platforms like Microsoft Teams.
2. Reliability
Communication is crucial to the success of any business. When adopting cloud voice solutions, businesses need to ensure they can maintain a reliable connection at all times.
The top vendors will ensure you can retain and enhance conversations between colleagues and customers with cutting-edge VoIP services. Many reputable vendors will also offer excellent uptime guarantees and service promises, such as a 99.99% reliability rating.
3. Ease of Use
Transitioning to the cloud with your voice technologies can seem like a complicated process. However, the right vendor should make your migration as simple as possible. This could mean ensuring your technology integrates seamlessly with the tools and services you already use.
It could also mean providing access to an intuitive environment where you can configure your voice settings from anywhere with an internet connection. An easy-to-use solution not only reduces the strain on your IT team, but it also has a direct impact on employee experience and productivity.
4. Scalability
As your business and team grows, your communication solutions need to evolve too. Cloud-based voice solutions are perfectly positioned to offer excellent scalability. They allow companies to adjust their services and provision solutions at will, with minimal effort.
However, not all cloud voice providers can offer the same level of scale. If you’re investing in the growth and development of your business, choosing a voice provider with a highly-advanced, global IP network is crucial. This will ensure your teams can continue to thrive as you expand throughout new geographies and environments.
5. Comprehensive Support
Though cloud voice solutions can often be easy to implement and configure, it’s still important to ensure you can access support and guidance when you need it most. A reliable cloud voice vendor will be able to support you through every step of your migration, and beyond.
They’ll be able to assist your business with an end-to-end managed service, designed to simplify everything from SIP trunk configuration, to software management. Assessing the reputation of each vendor you consider will help you make the right decision.
Unlocking the Power of Cloud Voice
Cloud voice is a crucial foundational layer of any business communication strategy. Offering flexibility, agility, and scalability, cloud solutions can empower businesses to grow and thrive in a changing landscape.
The right vendor can provide companies with global communication tools that adapt to their specific requirements, without compromising on security, or ease of use.
Don’t underestimate the importance of choosing a reliable and innovative cloud voice service provider for your business needs.
This post was originally published on the 3rd party mentioned in the title ofthis site
