Cloud communications adoption was already on the rise even before 2020. IDC found that the year-over-year market growth rate for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) from 2018 to 2019 was 17.7 percent, with global revenue reaching $10.4 billion in Q4. Today, as the business world adjusts to the new normal, cloud-based phone systems are playing an even more vital role in business communications. They’re making it possible for teams to stay connected, encouraging productivity, flexibility, and mobility in an era when business agility is more important than ever. If your organization is still relying on a legacy phone system, consider switching to cloud-based technology and taking advantage of the opportunities it offers. Here are five compelling reasons to start using cloud communications right away.
1. Connect from wherever
The reality is, businesses must be available to customers, partners, and other stakeholders, whether people are working from home, unable to travel to meetings, or are operating with a hybrid-remote model. Organizations that have been able to adapt quickly to changes caused by social distancing are the ones thriving today.
Just because everyone isn’t in the office, it doesn’t mean conversations and collaboration have stopped. With cloud communications, they never needed to slow down. Employees can make and receive calls from anywhere using a mobile device. Communications aren’t limited by location. When you use cloud-based communication tools, you can keep business running as usual, no matter what happens or where people are located.
2. Maintain your contact center
Another reason for adopting cloud communications is customer service. Whether your organization outsources your contact center or relies on in-house agents, your customers may have experienced some level of disruption with physical contact centers being forced to close or limit on-site workers during the pandemic. To survive, businesses across industries have turned to technology. AI chatbots are helping. So are Contact Center as a Solution (CCaaS) systems.
With a cloud contact center, your business can continue offering a seamless customer experience (CX). Today’s cloud contact center solutions offer features designed to enhance CX:
- Omni-channel routing
- Dynamic messaging – agents can send customers messages via email or SMS
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
- Contact center analytics and reporting – making it easy to manage call volumes and address problems quickly
- Superior reliability – your customers will always be able to get in touch
3. Boost productivity
With UCaaS, employees can access all business communication and collaboration apps from one place. Voice, chat, video meetings, SMS messages, file sharing, email – users can seamlessly switch from one channel to another without having to use a different application. This ease of communications means everyone can maintain the same level of productivity they had at work, or increase it. One study found that remote workers put in 1.4 more days of work a month than their in-office counterparts.
4. Stay secure
With so many people working, learning, and spending time together online, there has been an increase in cyberattacks since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Cloud communications can help your business raise the bar for security while working from home.
- Communications data and applications are hosted on protected remote servers.
- Cloud phone services utilize more advanced security measures than traditional phone system providers.
Choose a provider that uses state-of-the-art security, including data encryption, secure voice and video, and network security to keep your business communications safe.
5. Scale quickly
One thing 2020 has taught us is, it pays to be ready for anything. The faster your business can pivot, and the more responsive your operations are to change, the easier it will be to thrive. This holds true as the world stabilizes after the coronavirus crisis is over, and when the next crisis hits and upends the business world as we know it once again.
With cloud communications, your business can easily scale up or down; simply add or reduce account users. Your business can grow as fast as you need to, and if things slow down, you won’t end up overpaying for your business communications system.
Intermedia offers secure and reliable cloud communications solutions that you can start using right away. Reach out today to learn more about how Intermedia Cloud Communications can set your business up for sustainable success.
Kirsten Barta
Kirsten Barta is Sr Marketing Communications Manager at Intermedia
January 7, 2021
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