Do you take business calls on your cell phone? Of course you do! Do your employees or sales force work remotely, from home or the road at least some of the time? Most likely. A recent study by web conferencing software company, PGi, indicates that globally, 79% of office employees work remotely at least one day each week.

Are your employees asking to bring their own devices to work? It’s a growing trend and one that can drastically reduce your initial expenditure in device acquisition. Gartner research projected that by 2017, 90% of organizations will support some level of BYOD and by 2018, twice as many employees will use their own device versus company owned technology. Have you found this to be the case? We have.

As business communications become more diverse and sophisticated, advanced technology is necessary to keep pace with new trends and market demands. Unfortunately, most legacy phone systems cannot support the future of business communications needs, but fortunately, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have options to overcome this challenge.

79% of office employees work remotely at least one day each week.

Modern communication applications once reserved for big businesses are now affordable to businesses of all sizes. Through hosted phone services (aka VoIP), SMBs gain the capabilities needed to support diverse devices, connect remote workers to the office and streamline communications between employees and customers. These tremendous benefits are likely why 86% of small businesses are considering replacing traditional phone systems with cloud-based communications, according to a recent Cisco survey.

In this highly connected world where customers increasingly expect you to answer their call from virtually anywhere, at any time, the power of VoIP offers next-generation business communication tools to support all your emerging needs. Here are four reasons why you should consider replacing your antiquated phone system with a future-proofed cloud communications solution.

1. Improved Communications to Build Your Business

Cloud communication services enable the same sophisticated audio and video capabilities as even the largest players in your industry. A hosted solution allows access to modern applications like virtual audio attendant and Unified Communications, or products like voice, chat, data, technologies, and more that integrate with your phone. Companies with cloud communications improve customer service, employee productivity, and customer connections.

Example: A virtual auto attendant supports remote or long distance workers by ensuring employees never miss an important business call even when working away from their office. Serving the role of a front desk receptionist, the virtual auto attendant greets each caller then automatically routes them to the appropriate employee. Calls can be forwarded to any device, with messages accessible from any cell phone or home phone as well. With this functionality, employees can work remotely or travel while maintaining excellent communication with coworkers and customers.

Unified Communications decreases the complexity of integrating and coordinating a wide range of communications channels, networks, systems, and applications by uniting them under a single interface so employees can better collaborate to work more productively. What’s more, with Unified Communications, businesses can now contract all their communications needs from a single provider with one invoice as opposed to sourcing multiple vendors. According to an Inc. Magazine research study on the benefits of Unified Communications, 67% of user organizations reported increased mobile worker productivityand faster problem resolution. Adopting the latest business communication applications transforms the way you do business and keeps your company on the cutting edge for a better, more collaborative experience with customers and employees.

67% of user organizations reported increased mobile worker productivity and faster problem resolution

2. Scalable Services That Grow With You

VoIP is highly scalable and saves you money by:

• Eliminating the need to predict the future and pay for services not currently required by your business. Instead, you can choose only the hosted services and features you want right now.
• Providing added cost-efficiency with the ability to immediately scale up or down at the drop of a dime, depending on your specific requirements.
• Automate the upgrade process with contracted services, so your business benefits from using the latest cutting edge technology at all times.

SMBs often over invest in traditional phone systems to “prepare” for long-term needs or “save” on impending increased costs. Sometimes, these investments don’t pan out and turn into regrettable losses, and other times you simply don’t use the contracted services. Dropping them can require a costly visit from maintenance to remove hardware or paying through the next billing cycle. With a business class hosted solution, you’re empowered to scale capabilities appropriately and at your pace.

Choose only the hosted services and features you want right now

Immediately scale up or down

Automate the upgrade process

3. Lower Costs

Ever hear of the idiom of throwing good money after bad? That’s what you are doing when trying to maintain an outdated phone system. Often, the investment in upgrades and service does not generate an appropriate return on investment. For many small businesses and especially startups, a premise-based phone system with its hardware upgrades and maintenance fees simply isn’t practical.

Eliminating the need for onsite technicians, phone lines, maintenance fees and surcharges for advanced capabilities, business class phone services can drastically reduce costs—by up to 40% over traditional phone services. Owned and operated by the provider, transitioning to a hosted phone solution involves minimal capital investment. And as calls run through the Internet, you don’t pay for additional equipment to connect workers at home and different locations.

As an added benefit, you get just one phone bill from a single cloud service provider each month as usages plans are shared across the corporation. No longer must you predict future business needs nor deal with the complexity of working with multiple vendors. Cloud communications provides your business with a streamlined and lower-cost enterprise-wide solution, allowing you to allocate those resources to other critical business areas.

Business class phone services can drastically reduce costs—by up to 40% over traditional phone services.

4. Unparalleled Business Continuity

Smooth communications are the lifeline of any organization. Without them, you interrupt business continuity. So, what happens in the event of a power outage or emergency? Unlike traditional phone systems that rely on power for connectivity, business class cloud communications and hosted voice services continue to operate even when other services are down.

If weather makes traveling to the office dangerous or difficult, employees can leverage VoIP capabilities at home to reroute calls and manage phone traffic. Traditional telephone systems fail to simulate office communications at home. In a worst-case scenario of a fire or other disaster at an office location, on-premise systems could be permanently damaged while a cloud communications solution continues to support you during the event and through your recovery.

If weather makes traveling to the office dangerous or difficult, employees can leverage VoIP capabilities at home to reroute calls and manage phone traffic.

When planning a business continuity strategy, companies should consider business class cloud communications as a critical component. While most businesses don’t know costs related to defective phone services, the reality is that any unanswered call is potentially lost business that might never be recovered.

So, Where Do You Go From Here?

To maximize the benefits of this transition, partner with a company that offers high-quality cloud communication solutions to help you enhance agility, increase employee productivity, reduce operating expenses and gain a competitive advantage. Partner with TCS and sign up for everblü®.