The threat of coronavirus has seen many businesses forced to adapt to remote working. This has resulted in companies adopting Cloud-based technology and communicating with their customers and workforce virtually, from any location.
Working from home is likely to be with us for some time, perhaps even beyond COVID-19. If your business has struggled with the transition and you’re experiencing communications issues, you might want to consider Cloud Telephony. This article explains what Cloud Telephony is and introduces you to the significant benefits it can bring your business.
What is Cloud Telephony
The old-fashioned Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is soon to be a thing of the past. Copper cables and ISDN lines are set to be phased out and replaced with IP telephony, whereby calls are made over the Internet. Getting to grips with VoIP technology and SIP trunking will therefore be crucial for business owners.
SIP (or Session Initiation Protocol) trunking enables users to communicate typically using voice, video and messaging over a data connection. You can use it to access VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) technology – or Internet telephony, such as Skype and FaceTime.
The “trunks” in SIP trunking were traditionally groups of cables linking telephone exchanges. These physical cables have since been replaced with assigned channels (or virtual equivalents of phone lines). Each channel is able to handle a fixed number of simultaneous calls.
The number of channels, or trunks, you need will depend on the volume of calls your business makes and receives.
How can Cloud Telephony help and support my business?
Cloud Telephony eliminates the need for physical hardware and instead uses a private telephone network to communicate via the Internet. It can provide your business with a host of benefits as a result, including:
Fewer service interruptions and downtime
Many businesses still use a location-based phone network system or a service provided by a third-party phone company, such as BT. However, these types of systems offer little protection in the case of unforeseen events like floods or damage to a telegraph pole and the associated phone lines.
Using Cloud Telephony, whereby your phone system is housed in the Cloud, allows users to connect to calls via the Internet. This avoids unexpected long-term disruption to your service and enables your business to stay in constant contact with staff and customers.
Scalability
Some businesses, such as ecommerce and travel companies, are seasonal. This means that at certain times of the year the demands on their telephony system might be noticeably higher. With Cloud Telephony, businesses can prepare for this to ensure they can cope. For example, you can increase the number and capacity of SIP channels as needed to deal with these fluctuations. You also don’t have to worry about physically installing new ISDN lines!
A Unified Communications (UC) Solution
If you want to combine your communication needs – whether it be email, video conferencing, voicemail, broadband, instant messaging and everyday telephone requirements – into a single, seamless solution then Cloud Telephony could be your ideal option! By using one platform for your communications you can support remote working, operate more efficiently and avoid the extra cost of running multiple systems for different purposes.
In this article, we have only scratched the surface of the benefits of Cloud Telephony. For more information on this topic or on our other business services, please contact our expert team.
