The ROI of Cloud-Based Phone Systems

If your company is considering a switch from a legacy phone system to a cloud-based phone system, then you may need to build a business case to do so. Determining the return on investment (ROI) of cloud-based phone systems will be the strongest metric to sell the switch. With greater reliability, ease of scaling, fewer interruptions to productivity, and reduced costs, you’ll find that making the transition to the Cloud is a smart business move.

What Is a Cloud-Based Phone System?

Cloud-based phone systems use Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which means they employ the internet to transmit voice, data, and other elements. Legacy phone systems use traditional phone systems, which have become outdated and unsustainable.

Cloud PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems also remove the hardware element of your phone systems, which can be extremely expensive to purchase, maintain, and upgrade. Using the Cloud gives your business more flexibility without added expenses.

How a Cloud-Based Phone System Delivers ROI

With every investment your company makes, you need to know that it will deliver an expected ROI. ROI could mean actual dollars or incremental improvements in efficiency and productivity. Cloud-based phone systems open up a world of opportunities and advantages for your company.

Reduced Hardware Costs

If you’re using a traditional phone or an on-premise VoIP system, you’ll continually have to manage the capital expenses of this equipment. That includes the installation and upkeep of servers and other hardware.

By leveraging the cloud, hardware costs decrease substantially. Your VoIP service provider handles the infrastructure and software at offsite data centers. On-site, you’ll only need minimal hardware, such as a dedicated VoIP router.

If your current IT budget is overwhelmed with hardware expenditures, going to the Cloud can provide an immediate impact of savings. With this change, you’ll be able to offload capital expenses and move the cost of operating your phone system to operational expenditures. Being able to reallocate funds is something your financial leaders will greatly appreciate.

Less Interruption to Business

If you decided today to switch to an on-premise VoIP system, you’d need to be prepared for interruptions to your business. The installation could impact workers for multiple days. With cloud-based phone systems, you can begin using the system right away with no impact on productivity.

Plus, choosing a cloud-based platform improves business continuity. Legacy phone systems don’t give you this security in the face of disaster. Knowing you have a means of communication should a catastrophic incident occur provides added value.

Further, you’ll have greater reliability with the cloud with up to a 99.999% uptime service level. Should something occur to disrupt service, calls can easily be rerouted until the outage is fixed.

Easy to Scale Without Large Investments

Being able to scale any technology is essential to a company’s growth. The harder it is to scale a specific function, the bigger impediment it becomes to expansion. With a cloud-based phone system, you can request services based on the number of users. As your headcount increases, you’ll simply add to it without any lost time or need to add hardware.

Phones are plug and play and already preconfigured. There’s no special set up or technician required, so there’s no time lost or frantic search before a new employee starts. You’ll be able to manage all this and create call reports from a single web-based portal. This ability and insights can provide you with key information as your business expands.

This ease of scaling enables your new hires to hit the ground running and immediately have the communication tools they need. Subsequently, this improves the onboarding experience for employees and could help with long-term retention.

Employees Are More Accessible to Customers

In the 21st Century, accessibility is expected by any customer. In the modern world, technology has provided the means to contact someone from anywhere. Using a cloud-based phone system makes this a reality with features such as mobile apps and voicemail alerts via text or email.

Customer-facing roles will be able to interact with customers on the go when they use the Cloud. Your sales team or implantation teams don’t have to be at their desks to answer the call of a concerned or upset customer. Being able to connect with customers the first time and deliver a resolution can, over time, increase revenues and keep customers loyal.

To help you realize optimal ROI, work with a provider that specializes in cloud-based VoIP phone systems. At Intermedia, we offer a complete solution for unified communications with Intermedia Unite. Learn about its features and benefits today.

The Intermedia Team

Intermedia helps businesses of all sizes connect better – through voice, video conferencing, chat, contact center, business email and productivity, file sharing and backup, security, archiving, and more – from wherever, whenever. And, as a partner-first company, Intermedia goes to work for our channel partners to help them grow their revenue and maximize their success.