Cloud innovation is allowing enterprises to gain new traction in areas such as productivity, customer experience, scalability and agility. The wave of digital transformation is helping those who embrace it edge out their competition and find new areas for growth. That momentum is spreading to communications. As businesses invest in hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), they are realizing some specific benefits.
The Benefits of Investing in a Hosted VoIP Migration
Businesses looking to upgrade their communications technology quickly find that a cloud communications solution offers a number of advantages. Take a look at some of the reasons that compel businesses to switch to hosted VoIP phone service:
- Opportunities for collaboration such as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) open up a number of benefits such as shared workspaces and a single application for all communication formats.
- Scalability, which allows enterprises with a seasonal influence on their business to spin up users as needed. For companies with holiday demand or pop-up shops, this feature makes it possible to expand and contract communications easily.
- Reduced costs because there are no long-distance fees and there’s no big up-front investment in hardware or the maintenance of that hardware.
- Integration with other cloud applications such as customer relationship management solutions.
- Geographical flexibility all but removes geographical location from hiring decisions when hosted VoIP is implemented. Employees can work from anywhere.
- Business continuity and disaster recovery are best supported by cloud communications with inherent redundancy and geographically disparate data servers.
- Agility allows your business to make decisions that are not impeded by a sluggish communications platform. No matter what direction you’re headed, your VoIP system will adapt with you.
Beware the Consumer Version
When considering hosted VoIP, it’s easy to focus on cost alone because cost is one of the first factors that leads enterprises to consider upgrading communications. It’s important to remember that all solutions are not created equal, and like most business investments, you get what you pay for. Consumer versions of hosted VoIP that are often extremely low cost may seem appealing, but they often lack the features that make innovation and productivity improvements possible.
These options also offer little in the way of controls or data protection, so you should also consider the potential risk and associated cost of a breach if you opt for a cheaper version of hosted VoIP phone service. These issues can become particularly thorny given the uptick in security regulations and corporate policy on data protections.
Businesses need to focus on implementing modern, enterprise-grade VoIP solutions. They are better suited to integrate with cloud solutions as well as your cloud infrastructure; they offer the features your employees need to do their jobs well; and they have security measures in place that allow you to meet corporate requirements.
Planning a Migration
As you move away from a premises-based legacy phone service, you need a strategy for the transition. There are several factors you should include in your strategy and decisions:
Execution
This includes not only finding out the capabilities and features of the solution, but also quality of service and support. Find out what you can expect after implementation in terms of support.
Additionally, consider if you need a partner to help you. There are plenty of hosted VoIP providers out there, although Copper State Communications is the only company that will go statewide in Arizona to implement your hosted VoIP solution for you. Even if you can handle the installation, consider a third party to help you make the right selection on hosted VoIP for your business.
Functionality
What can you count on after deploying your hosted VoIP phone solution? Various hosted VoIP solutions come with various features. Your business may not need all of them. Consider what elements of a hosted VoIP solution will truly improve your business. Again, an expert partner can help you here so you aren’t sifting through hosted VoIP solutions blind.
Sustainability
Determine whether the solution will support the future growth of your enterprise including scalability, the willingness of the provider to offer new features, financial considerations, and whether the provider is proactive in their innovation efforts.
Economics
Consider more than just the initial pricing for implementation. Include in your total cost of ownership the invoices you’ll receive for licensing and usage as well as help desk and other fees. There are many factors that go into the long-term bills for hosted VoIP. A provider like Copper State Communications can help you understand what the best choice will be.
Copper State Communications is your source for hosted VoIP solutions. To get started on a strategy to implement cloud communications, contact us. We can help you determine your hosted VoIP needs and leverage the best solution for your enterprise with features that meet your current requirements as well as prepare you for growth in the future.
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