Cloud calling—also known as telephony—might just be the best phone system set-up for your business for a long list of reasons. It’s flexible, inexpensive, and it doesn’t require a lot of equipment or technical knowledge.
But cloud calling isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Rather, it’s an option that can work well for a lot of people in the world of call centers.
Read on and find out why cloud calling might just be the phone system you need for your call center.
Cloud vs VoIP vs UCaaS vs PBX
Cloud calling is a technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls over the internet. Instead of using traditional phone lines, all calls are routed through a cloud network.
Telephony is frequently mistaken with other terms, like VoIP, UCaaS, and even PBX. Here’s how to distinguish all of these terms.
- VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It’s a technology that uses the internet to make phone calls, but it needs a physical switch to be installed in an office. All calls are routed through that switch using a broadband internet connection. Cloud calling, on the other hand, does not need that physical switch. The calls are routed through cloud servers instead.
- UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. It’s an entire platform with technologies and services that allows businesses to conduct all sorts of communication like cloud calling, voicemail, and more over the internet.
- PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. It’s the traditional call center technology used prior to the internet. It consists of a physical switchboard that routes incoming calls to the correct extension.
6 Reasons to Choose Cloud Calling for Your Business
Some of the most important reasons to go with cloud calling include:
Cost Efficiency
Cloud telephony is one of the most cost-savvy ways to handle a call center. Because you don’t need hardware or even a physical location, you can save a lot of money and invest it in other aspects of your business. Furthermore, international calls are much cheaper with cloud calling than with traditional phone lines.
Scalability
If you want a call center system that grows with you, opt for cloud calling. There’s no need for costly installations or upgrades—all except for a cloud services upgrade, which is easier and cheaper to put in place than any kind of physical upgrades other systems might require.
Security & Disaster Recovery
Cloud telephony is secure. There is, of course, a difference between the extreme security of private cloud and public cloud. In addition, cloud calling makes disaster recovery easier because you can access your phone system from any device, even if the office is not usable or out of reach.
Reliability
Cloud calling is more reliable when events such as natural disasters occur. These events might affect traditional phone lines and even VoIP directly via the hardware. Cloud calling provides a much more constant and reliable solution.
Flexibility
Cloud technologies are flexible enough to be a great option for all sorts and sizes of businesses. Public cloud calling tech can be a viable option for a smaller business, while private cloud telephony will work better for large enterprises with complex needs.
Remote Work-Friendliness
There’s no denying that remote work is on the rise, and a lot of job candidates are looking for flexible work-from-home options. If you want to attract top talent, it’s important to ensure that your systems will support remote work. Cloud telephony can also be a great addition to your company if you want to hire overseas or cover different time zones.
Cloud Telephony Challenges and Risks to Be Aware Of
Cloud calling isn’t immune from certain problems. If you are considering cloud telephony for your business, you should be aware of the challenges it poses.
Here are some of the most common risks that come with cloud calling.
You become dependent on your internet connection
You rely on your internet connection if you want to handle your call center activities remotely via cloud telephony. Cloud calling does offer backup and rerouting in case the internet connection is bad, but it’s a temporary remedy in many cases. To use cloud telephony, you must ensure your internet connection is consistent.
To limit your dependence on an internet connection, you can set up a backup data connection. Or, you can use cloud calling just for remote work and maintain other calling systems as well.
Latency can be an issue
Internet hiccups can cause latency issues when using cloud telephony. This isn’t always a major problem, and you can easily address it once you understand where the latency is coming from. As a best practice, though, you want to make sure your internet connection speed is top-notch to avoid such issues.
Security risks
Sure, cloud calling is secure. However, if you opt for cloud telephony, you need to know that there are specific security concerns related to managing phone calls over the internet. You should be prepared to pre-empt these issues, too.
Your agents need good networking equipment
No matter where they are, your agents need solid networking equipment and internet providers. You should be prepared to cover the cost of reliable and up-to-date tools and software. Researching average internet speeds worldwide and in different locations around your area will help you hire people from locations with fast internet speeds.
The (Rare) Cases Cloud Calling Isn’t for You
Cloud calling is a great option for most businesses—not all, though. Here are some situations where cloud calling might just not cut it.
You have a legacy on-site phone system
If you already have a phone system in operation that works perfectly for your business and you don’t take international calls, a cloud system might be an additional cost you don’t want to face.
You handle physical products with on-site support
If you handle physical products and support needs to be on-site most of the time, it could be easier to have an on-site phone system that can handle communication more swiftly.
You have a local business
If your business is very small and serves a local population with a team that works exclusively out of the office, you won’t benefit from using a cloud telephony system. It might make things more flexible and scalable, but unless you have plans to expand, you could postpone cloud calling for a while.
How to Get Started with Cloud Telephony
Ready to get started with cloud calling?
Read more about our top cloud telephony choice and other great cloud phone systems, first. From there, you’ll learn more about the best options and how to get them up and working quickly.