Migrating Telecommunications to the Cloud

The average lifespan of an on-premise PBX system around 6.5 years. However, given the high cost of upgrading or replacing a PBX system many companies are stuck with outdated telephony systems that cannot provide the capability or functionality required in today’s fast-moving communications landscape. That is why a growing number of SMBs are looking at cloud platforms to meet their changing telecommunication needs. Migrating communications to the cloud can provide companies with the agility, flexibility and mobility that is needed to compete in an increasingly competitive environment. But, there are following clear benefits that a cloud telephony offers that SMBs cannot simply risk to ignore:

Unified communications

According to Transparency Market Research, the global Unified Communications (UC) market is expected to reach nearly $62 billion by 2018, representing 12 per cent year-over-year growth between now and then. A typical SMB with an on-premise PBX is likely to have accumulated a mish-mash of business communications tools over time, resulting in disparate and disconnected systems for desktop phones, mobile workers, web conferencing, video and audio conferencing, and so on, resulting in multiple management and billing headaches.

Migrating communications to the cloud can provide SMBs with access to a complete unified communications solution, including voice, video, collaboration, SMS, email, and so on, that otherwise would be financially out of their reach.

Access to latest features

Moving to the cloud provides SMBs with the latest, state-of-the-art communications solutions without the significant upfront investment required for on-premise solutions. Older PBX systems will have a limited feature set, compared to today’s cloud-based offerings. Furthermore, latest features and capabilities, such as new UC tools, CRM integration etc. can be integrated immediately into the platform without the need to perform any form of system upgrade.

Eliminate costs and management headaches

The cost of upgrading or replacing an outdated on-premise PBX system is prohibitive for many SMBs, especially those with multiple locations. A cloud solution eliminates the need for costly upfront investment and on-going management and maintenance costs such as infrastructure, hardware, wiring, and so on.

Analytics and Business Productivity

The host of features that latest communication tools offer on hosted Unified Communication enable you get relevant real time information in the form of dashboard that can be acted upon. Using these tools organizations can track the ROIs of their communication costs as well track ROIs of  their marketing campaigns in real time. This not only enables the companies to spend monies more prudently but also rationalize their communications.

Scalability and flexibility

The beauty of a hosted communications is that features and capabilities can be added or removed, virtually at the click of a button, allowing SMBs to respond rapidly to peaks and troughs in demand, or to changes in the competitive landscape. Scalability and flexibility are the hallmark of a hosted solution, allowing SMBs to concentrate on the business objectives, rather than on technology concerns.

Mobility

According to Gartner, by 2017 more than half of all employees will expect their employer to offer mobile devices in order for them to perform their tasks effectively and productively. Furthermore, survey after survey shows that employees would leave their existing employer for another, if the later offered better flexible working options.