1. Enhanced customer service

It’s essential that your customer-facing staff are always in contact, wherever they are working. With a feature called Single Number Reach, your customers can dial a single number and their call will be forwarded to any device that an employee is currently using. Even if key staff are working remotely, they will never miss an important call, improving customer satisfaction.

What’s more, the calls are crystal clear for a better customer experience. And, if you use a cloud phone system as the basis for Unified Communications, you can give your customers the choice of making contact by their preferred channel – voice, chat, text, instant message, email or video – and your employees can handle the calls efficiently on a single platform.

2. Support for efficient remote working

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of better communications for employees working from home, occasionally or on a permanent basis. Because cloud-based phone systems use the worldwide Internet as a basis for transporting calls, employees can work in any location and calls can reach them.

There are a growing number of ‘Work from Home’ solutions that build on cloud phone systems with features like prioritization for business calls, enterprise-grade security and built-in resilience so employees can work productively.

Remote working capability also gives you greater recruiting flexibility. You can hire employees from any location and keep them in contact, giving you access to a wider pool of talent.

3. Improved mobile communications

Sales representatives, field service staff and employees travelling on business can access the same communication and collaboration services as their office or home-based colleagues on any mobile device with an Internet connection.

A downloadable mobile app or soft client enables employees to handle communications on smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearable devices or any other mobile device. This ensures they can remain in contact and work productively from any location.

4. Productive call-handling features

Cloud business phone systems provide employees with a wide range of features to simplify call handling and improve productivity. Depending on the solution you choose, the features include:

• Ability to handle calls on any device – Employees can handle calls on any fixed or mobile device and seamlessly move calls from fixed to mobile phones.
• Single inbox – Employees can access all messages in a single inbox instead of checking multiple devices.
• Automatic ringback – The system automatically calls back when an employee’s line is no longer busy.
• Busy lamp field – Receptionists can monitor employees’ phone status regardless of location.
• Call forwarding – Cloud-based systems include multiple options for rerouting incoming calls when a line is busy.
• Call transfer – Call transfers are simple.
• Call waiting – Employees can answer new incoming calls while handling other calls.
• Do not disturb – The system automatically alerts callers with a line busy message.
• Last number redial – Employees can repeat the last-dialed number by using a short code.
• Automatic call recording – You can program your system to record calls automatically at any time with details of inbound and outbound calls by number.

5. Simpler scalability

If your business is expanding or if you face variations in call traffic, cloud-based systems can give you the scalability to optimize capacity and maintain standards of service without the delay, disruption or cost of adding new physical lines.

With a cloud phone system, you can request additional lines or switch off unwanted lines on demand through an online management portal, with no need for technical or installation support.

This is important if you are increasing your workforce, opening new sites or expanding home working. It’s also ideal for seasonal businesses who can scale up or down on demand without investing in redundant capacity. If your business faces a surge in call volumes because of a major marketing campaign or an urgent recall program, you can increase capacity to ensure callers can get through without the frustration of long delays.

6. Increased business resilience

A cloud phone system can provide essential business continuity if your premises are hit by a disaster that knocks out your communications. Instead of waiting for engineers to restore your premise-based system, your key employees can relocate in temporary facilities or work from home and use mobile devices or home phones to handle ongoing communications. Cloud phone systems can reach any location on any device, so continuity is assured.

This enables you to maintain customer service as well as disaster recovery communications, helping you return faster to normal operations and maintaining customer confidence in your business.

7. Virtual presence in more locations

If your business is expanding geographically, it can be useful to have a presence in your target markets. With a cloud phone system, you won’t have to open new physical premises in each location. By using virtual numbers, your customers and prospects can dial a local number at local costs and the call will be forwarded to your main office.

That improves convenience and reduces calling costs for customers and gives you the opportunity to access wider regional, national or global markets.

8. Simpler collaboration

Adopting a cloud business phone system and a Unified Communication solution will make it easier for your employees to collaborate and improve teamwork. Teams and individuals can collaborate via audio or video conferencing and use content sharing tools to improve meeting outcomes.

Cloud’s reach means hosts and participants can join meetings from any location on any device with no need to book collaboration facilities in advance. Employees can also collaborate securely outside the organization with customers, suppliers, external experts or business partners.

9. Integration with business apps

Because cloud phone systems are digital solutions, they can be integrated with other digital applications, helping increase productivity and efficiency.

For example, you can integrate your phone system with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to improve personalization and customer service, productivity apps from Microsoft Office and Google or calendar applications like Microsoft Outlook and project management systems to simplify collaboration.

10. Reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs

A cloud business phone system is hosted, maintained, monitored and upgraded by a service provider in a secure data centre. That means you no longer require infrastructure on your premises, freeing space and eliminating infrastructure hardware capital costs.

The service provider takes responsibility for deploying and maintaining your system so you can free your IT team from routine system monitoring and maintenance tasks, enabling them to focus on more important strategic development tasks.

The service provider also handles any software patches or upgrades so that you always use the latest version of the system as well as having access to any new features.

11. Simpler control and management

Although a service provider operates and maintains your phone system, your team retain control through a web-based management portal. They can amend, add or remove features and services, change users or change capacity on demand.

Management portals also give your team access to system status and important management information for reporting and analysis.

12. Lower calling costs

With a cloud phone system, your calls travel over the Internet rather than the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), giving you access to lower call costs.

Depending on the tariffs you choose, you can reduce your national and international calling costs and take advantage of free local calls and calls between sites.

13. Predictable budgeting and reduced TCO

Cloud business phone systems are available on a monthly subscription basis with charges per seat. Service providers may offer a choice of seat types, from basic and standard to premium, which give executives and knowledge workers access to advanced features and services.

Subscription payment switches your communication costs from CAPEX to OPEX and gives you a basis for predictable budgeting. Add the reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs and lower calling charges and you can soon find that TCO is much lower, compared to traditional PSTN and premise-based phone systems.

A sound investment to take your business forward

Investing in a cloud business phone system can provide many important business, operational and financial benefits and ensure your employees and customers enjoy a better experience on the phone.

If you would like to find out how a cloud phone system can take your business communications to a new level, GoCo can help. Learn more about our Business VoIP Phone Systems or contact us to speak to an expert.