Have you been wondering what a cloud based virtual phone system is? In this article, we will answer this question, as well as show how modern businesses can benefit from a cloud based virtual phone system that is quickly revolutionizing how organizations are run from a communications stand-point.
What is a Cloud Based Virtual Phone System?
A cloud based virtual phone system is a telecommunications system that is hosted in a secure server over the Internet, typically by a 3rd-party provider. Essentially, a cloud based phone system replaces traditional landline phone systems and adds more functionality to streamline virtual business as a result. This includes both internal communication (between staff, departments, and employees) and external communication (between clients, other businesses, and customers).
Benefits of a Cloud Based Virtual Phone System
Just as the Internet evolves and becomes more integrated into our lives, cloud-based virtual phone systems are constantly adapting to new trends while also making old methods of telecommunications more efficient. Let’s look at a number of the key benefits for businesses to use a cloud based virtual phone system.
Cost-Effectiveness: When compared to typical landline PBX systems (private branch exchange), cloud-based PBX’s are substantially cheaper than traditional landlines. This means that your business or bootstrapped startup can sound as professional as a full-fledged company while also facilitating internal communication at a fraction of the cost.
Ease of Integration: Because any device that has the ability to reach the Internet with audio capabilities can be used as part of the cloud-based virtual phone service, there’s no need for any wire rerouting or advanced technical knowledge. This makes most cloud-based phone systems simple to set up, and it can be combined with your company’s legacy hardware (i.e. workstations).
Time-Savings: Modern cloud-based phone systems are designed for ease-of-integration, which saves on training time (which usually bogs down businesses as they retrofit their traditional phone system software and hardware). Most cloud-based virtual phone systems come with an intuitive software-based dashboard that reduces training time to a minimum for staff.
Remote Capabilities: Perhaps the key advantage of cloud based virtual phone systems is that they’re always available so long as the Internet can be reached (i.e. wifi, firewire, etc.). This opens up possibilities for staff members that may be dispersed in various geographic locations, but still need to be reached remotely. Simply connecting a cloud phone system to mobile phones allows individuals to not be confined to an office (or any particular location) to modify how the phone system operates.
Scalability: Because nearly every business model is different and needs to grow as the organization becomes more complex, cloud-based virtual phone systems are scalable. As an example, your business can add more virtual phone numbers a la carte, like IFTS numbers (international toll free phone numbers) to offer toll free ways to stay in contact with new target markets. Best of all, most service providers can make adding new numbers and functions within minutes – something that traditional methods may have taken days to achieve and additional hardware to use.
Added Functionalities: As Internet-based technology gets better, so does the versatility of Cloud Phone Service. Recent developments have made way for such developments as:
- Call Recording: backing up nearly every call across the virtual phone system to be stored for later use or access.
- Call Forwarding: enables a virtual phone system to use virtual phone numbers to reach customers instantly around the world, as well as handle internal communication among support staff, customer service departments, contractors, development teams, or anywhere else that an organization needs open internal lines of communication.
- Message Management: manage SMS messages, voicemails, and more — which are things that traditional landline systems fail at providing access to easily. Cloud based virtual phone systems enable a business to customize their own voicemail recordings, set up efficient directories for multiple voicemails (for key staff members and organize departments), and many more functions. Compared to traditional phone systems, where setup was usually a one-size-fits-all, messages can now be managed to match a business’ hierarchy and efficiency.
Author’s Bio: Tom Senkus is a freelance writer that frequently shares his knowledge about the latest tech trends and developments in hopes to aid startups and small businesses in their pursuit of a global presence. His work has been featured in over fifty publications, and he’s currently working on his 11th book.