7 Reasons to Move Voice to the Cloud

Our Sure Cloud Voice product expert Andy Petterson shares 7 compelling reasons why now is the right time to implement Cloud Voice …

Moving from in-house IT and communication systems to cloud-based alternatives is a smart strategy for secure, flexible and scalable services - and web access to applications like Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom, Cisco WebEx and others has become the norm. Along with messaging, presence, chat, video conferencing, screen and file sharing – they are all familiar cloud-based collaboration services that have grown exponentially during and since the height of the pandemic.

Telephony and voice services are no different, and the need for staff to be easily reachable regardless of location makes integrating telephony into the enterprise collaboration platform a logical, secure and highly beneficial next step for all organisations.

Here are 7 compelling reasons why now is the right time to implement Cloud Voice …

Improved Communications

Employees can make voice calls from the same system they use to message, meet, and collaborate with each other. All communication applications are brought together in the same place, and there’s no confusion over which system to use. Voice options within some collaboration services are quite basic and offer poor value for money. In contrast, Cloud Voice provides enhanced features that help you communicate and manage enquiries more effectively, providing a full collaboration and communications solution with minimal investment.

Productivity
Click to dial functionality from laptops, tablets and mobiles allow you to make voice calls via your IP network, enabling immediate 1-2-1 conversations that facilitate swift answers and resolutions to issues and queries. A real time conversation gets to the nub of an issue more quickly than an email or a message, and cloud voice provides full ‘office-based’ telephone functionality when working away from the office. Employees can call from their laptops or mobiles, and being part of a Unified Communications system brings together other elements such as video, conferencing and chat.

Mobility
With a soft phone app on your laptop or mobile device your Cloud Voice extension is with you wherever you are working - all you need is internet access. You can work in the office, on the go, or at home, and with new flexible working practises becoming increasingly prevalent, Cloud Voice makes perfect sense for all organisations. Additionally, if an incident arises that prevents everyone from getting into the office, there’s no panic and no need to make urgent arrangements to divert incoming calls, just head to your preferred backup location and seamlessly continue to work.

Cost Savings
Replacing legacy on-premise telephony systems, that require additional support costs, with Cloud Voice is very cost effective. If you don’t want desk phones you can use soft phones on your mobile devices and PCs. The provision of ‘adds, moves and changes’ across the workforce is simplified as additional software licences are simply purchased as and when needed. Call tariffs are included in the monthly fee with no additional call charges to pay*. There are no physical phone lines and no additional platform maintenance contracts.

Efficiency
The service uses the same IP based network used for other IT services - operating through a unified network access connection that is scaled to the size of the organisation. There’s no equipment to manage, monitor or maintain - it’s all done for you, enabling you to focus attention directly on your business. Cloud Voice has enhanced functionality with feature rich voice services including voicemail, call queuing, call blocking, and simple click-to-call functionality, and the soft phone user interface is much easier than traditional functionality.

Contact Centre
Organisations with call handling and contact centre requirements have an increased suite of options to enhance their customer service. Easy to manage contact centre options with intelligent features like skills-based routing, agent availability, and additional functionality are all part of the solution.

Security & Business Continuity
Keeping everything secure from intrusion and attack is vital, and Cloud Voice benefits from the heightened security levels offered by advanced cloud services. Furthermore, should the system experience any downtime, services can be immediately and dynamically switched to a secure secondary platform, ensuring operations continue to run without interruption.

Future Planning
In the coming years, the ‘landline’ network that we’ve all used for decades will be switched off for good meaning organisations will need an internet-based calling system like Cloud Voice, as part of a wider suite of Unified Communications that underpin the on-going digital transformation.

The benefits of integrating cloud voice into a unified communications solution are huge - from improved productivity and collaboration to feature-rich services that benefit your customers and workforce. 

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