15 reasons why moving to a cloud-based phone system is a no brainer for Australian businesses

Top 15 reasons switching to a cloud-based phone system should be in your technology roadmap in 2021

For businesses to run effectively, reliable and seamless communication is vital.  With conventional PBX phone systems gradually taking a back seat, virtual phone systems or cloud phone systems are now gaining more popularity.   Also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or Internet Calling, a cloud-based phone system does not rely on legacy technology like on-premise hardware.   All you need is an internet connection.

Understand more about how a cloud-based phone system works.

Why Should You Consider Using a Business Phone System in Cloud?

With all the features it has to offer, let’s have a look at some reasons why you should think of upgrading your business telephone systems to a cloud phone system.

1. Availability

The flexibility of a multi-device cloud-based phone system means you have many devices running at the same time.  Therefore, your teams are available anywhere at any time, whether they are in the office or on the road.

2. Equipment of Your Choice

With an on-premise system, you are often bound to using specific vendors and their equipment. Whereas for cloud-based phones, you can choose to lease or purchase your equipment without the expensive capital outlay of PBX systems.

With a cloud-based phone system, all your users need a headset to make and receive calls.  However, headsets are also available and meeting spaces can be connected easily.

3. Better Utilization of Company’s Resources

In most small business phone setups, the current setting involves two separate lines, where one is for voice and the other is for data. By moving your phone system to the cloud, you won’t need two lines and can consolidate them into a single network for both purposes. The free lines can be then utilized for increasing bandwidth and backups or removed.

4. Save Money

Conventional office phone systems can sometimes present unanticipated costs. They need to be accommodated according to changes in your organization, utilization, and aging of components. You can never know for sure when you will face any of these unwanted changes. However, you don’t have to worry about such expenses in a cloud system, where you know exactly how much you will be charged every month. Costs are based often on the number of users and include unlimited local and international calls.

5. No management of Infrastructure

With a traditional on-premise phone system, upgrades need to be planned for aging infrastructure and hardware.  Conversely, in the case of a cloud system, the responsibility of updating the infrastructure and software lies on the service provider instead of the business itself saving you time and money.

6. Increased Reliability

As a business, you get numerous calls from customers every day asking all kinds of questions. When this happens, your company’s reliability as a brand depends upon how accessible you are through the phone or other channels. On-premise systems can sometimes turn unreliable in terms of accessibility, if a disaster hits and you experience a failure, your customers and employees have no other way of communicating. Until the lines are fixed, no calls can go in or come out.

The Cloud phone system does not have this issue as it hosts services in various data centers spread locally and internationally. If one data center’s service goes down, your calls can be easily rerouted through other data centers. This goes unnoticed with a cloud-based phone system as you will not experience interruption during calls.

7. Connecting Teams Anywhere

An on-premise traditional phone system limits your ability to leverage the advantages of a remote workforce. Unless you don’t have advanced setups and costly service upgrades, you cannot connect directly with your remote employees. However, a virtual phone system like the cloud eliminates the need for such boundaries. Since the systems are based in the cloud, the phone traffic can be routed to any connection with internet connectivity.

8. Easy Implementation

Deploying cloud business phones is simpler as compared to traditional lines. On-premise installation can take months and have intensive hardware and resource liabilities. Cloud systems require fewer physical devices and can be installed within days. Considering what works best for you, deployment of cloud phones can be done all at once or in incremental steps. After the system is put in place, it’s easy to add new offices and users.

9. Instant Upgrades

When a service provider has to update an on-site phone system, they have to test their upgrades at each location for multiple clients. This keeps you waiting for your turn before you can implement the upgrades and access the latest features. Cloud solutions don’t make you wait and roll out new updates and features to all clients at the same time.

Read more about the features of our cloud-based phone system Teams Calling.

10. Better Security Practices

Though on-premise systems claim that you can control your system’s security, clouds are found to be more secure than traditional IT systems. Cloud phone providers can add more security best practices like security protocols, encryption, and active service monitoring.

11. Consolidated Communications Services

Many cloud-based phone system services are offered as a consolidated service including voice, SMS, video, mobility, and sometimes even fax. Not only is it easier to manage, but also reduces your overall costs with one single bill for all communication channels. It also allows more consistent and better communications with coworkers as it allows them to use the channels of their preference.

12. Integration with Critical Devices and Applications

Cloud solutions provide the functionality of call centers without the operating demands and expenses of a call center. It helps improve customer interaction and makes it easier to supervise operations. As cloud phone systems are software-based, it’s easier to integrate them with Customer Relationship Management platforms such as Salesforce.

When you get a call from a customer, you can get their account information on your screen. This helps in better customer service towards the caller. You can also collect and enter information during the call from the customer in order to ensure that you cater to the customer’s preferences in a better manner.

13. Multi-location Support

With on-premise systems, you have to keep an independent phone system for each location. This is not only expensive but also difficult to integrate by making business functions such as call-transferring and extension calling more complicated. In the case of a business phone system in the cloud, you can plug all locations into a single virtual service through the internet. This makes it easier to call on different extensions of diverse geographical locations. Moreover, it gives the impression of “one big system” to the callers while keeping location-specific routing. You can also manage your entire communications centrally, irrespective of their location, through one browser-based portal, irrespective of the location.

14. Phone Access at all Times

With a cloud-based phone system, you can have access to all the services even when you are not physically present at the office. On-premise systems require you to be physically present to receive and make calls or make system changes. In the case of cloud phones, you can make any change to your phone system even if you are away through an administration portal. You can make updates at any time without needing the help of a third-party provider or any technician.

15. Mitigated Risk

Better management and lower installation costs are not only the reasons that make cloud phones a better choice than on-premise systems. Another big factor is the risk involved. On-premise systems put the entire risk on the company itself, from maintenance and updates, time, resources, security handling, and making replacements. Hence, many companies now outsource these risks to cloud providers, who are then responsible for handling them.

Key Takeaways & next steps

With fast-paced technological innovations, it is imperative for businesses to transform according to the changing times and demands of the customers. Cloud-phones certainly have an edge over traditional systems and help ensure better management, customer services, and employee productivity at the workplace.

Need more information on the pros and cons of a cloud-based phone system.

Here at KMT we are passionate about helping businesses succeed with their technology and have helped hundreds of businesses in the transition to remote or hybrid working.  As well as providing award-winning IT support, projects and consultancy, we specialize in cloud-based phone systems and cybersecurity.

For more business phone and technology content, refer to our Information Centre.

If you have any queries or would like more information on preparing your modern workplace, get in touch.