Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Cloud Based Communication Matters

There’s a good chance your business takes advantage of various communication modalities, such as voice and email. With cloud-based communications, these modalities can be mixed together seamlessly. More importantly, communication lag is eliminated, which enhances clearer communication.

Understanding Cloud-Based Communications

Cloud business communication systems are Internet-based. There are three primary components: storage, applications, and switches, all three of which are managed and hosted by a third-party. You have likely heard of cloud service providers, which is a broader aspect of communications taking place via the cloud. The cloud service provider is the host of cloud-based communications and the provider likely provides other services in addition to cloud communications.

One of the most notable benefits of cloud-based business communication is the service provider is responsible for maintaining and updating the servers. You, as the business, access the servers for a certain amount of money each month, and typically, you only have to pay for the precise amount of services you use. In addition, you no longer have to concern yourself with performing maintenance on servers or with private branch exchange (PBX) system deployment.

Cloud-based communications are scalable and their increasing popularity has resulted from various trends in enterprise communication. Many companies these days are no longer operating out of a single office location. Instead, they have multiple offices spread out over numerous locations. There’s also been an increasing need for cloud communications because of the number of devices being used to perform work-related tasks. Used to, you had maybe one or two employees who used mobile phones. Nowadays, though, each and every employee brings a mobile phone with them to work and uses them while in the office and out in the field. By the year 2020, it is predicted more than 27 million people in the workforce will use cloud communication tools.

When we talk about cloud business communications, it is pertinent to understand we are referring to a wide range of available communication services. Some of the most popular and in-demand cloud enterprise communication services used by companies all across the world include:

• VoIP
• Contact center telephony
• Text messaging
• Video
• PBX
• Interactive voice response
• Chat
• SIP trunking
• Fax services
• Voice broadcast
• Call center
• Call-tracking software

Read more on communications management 

Top Three Benefits of Cloud-Based Communications

Just because there is a lot of buzz circling around the topic of cloud communications for businesses, this doesn’t mean you should just hop aboard the cloud bandwagon. Any competent business owner or IT department manager will investigate the buzz to make an informed decision.

Regardless of your investigations, though, there are a few benefits of cloud-based communications that ring true for any and all businesses. Take for example the ability to scale your communications as your business grows. With a traditional phone system, it becomes difficult to scale due to installation and maintenance issues. Cloud communications, on the other hand, integrate seamlessly and there is no need to concern yourself with maintenance. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of cloud-based communications for businesses.

Cost

With a traditional phone system, you never know what your monthly phone bill is going to cost you. Cloud communications come with predictable monthly costs, and more importantly, you pay only for the services you use. If one month you need to use more services, you can access them for an up-charge for that month only instead of having to sign a 6-month contract. There’s also the cost advantage of not having to pay for maintenance or installation.

Effectiveness

A cloud communication system comes with the benefit of maximizing up-time and decreasing downtime. Your up-time is vital to maintaining high productivity and keeping your sales revenue at an optimal level. Cloud communications scale on an as-needed basis and enable your teams to work from remote locations without interruption. According to a survey, 77 percent of respondents agree cloud-based communication provides enterprises with the capability to effectively support a mobile workforce that operates via multiple locations.

Efficiency

A traditional on-site communication system makes it difficult to achieve affordable redundancy. With cloud systems, though, you get to share cloud resources, which creates an efficient method for achieving affordable redundancy that simply can’t be achieved with an on-site solution. And not only can businesses achieve affordable redundancy, but according to the survey mentioned above, 74 percent of respondents agree cloud-based communication gives their employers the ability to access advanced features, which further propels them toward success.

The Takeaway

Business communication is vital to success. Whether you have a single store location or multiple offices located throughout the entire country, your communication among these locations, as well as with vendors and suppliers, is key to maintaining high productivity levels. Over the last couple of decades, we have seen a crucial transition toward cloud-based communications, and as you can see from the content above, there are more than a few reasons as to why this form of communication is becoming so popular.