The way teams communicate and collaborate in the modern workplace has changed significantly in recent years. Employees aren’t just calling each other or sharing ideas in person. They’re leveraging full suites of tools for video conferencing, instant chat, file sharing, and more.
In this landscape, cloud calling might not seem like a crucial investment. However, voice is still the backbone of an effective collaboration strategy. In this hybrid work era, ensuring teams all over the world can effectively connect through a reliable cloud calling system is crucial to success.
Here’s your guide to why cloud calling is still an essential investment in the age of fully-fledged collaboration suites, like Microsoft Teams, Zoom Workspace, and Cisco Webex.
The Crucial Benefits of Cloud Calling
While instant messaging and email can certainly be valuable for collaboration, there are situations that rely heavily on voice. For team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and in-depth conversations, teams need an effective way to connect verbally with their colleagues. Although most conferencing solutions offer access to voice services, they can suffer from limited functionality and reach.
For instance, in a Microsoft Teams conference, you won’t be able to connect with external employees and contractors without a business phone solution. Embracing a cloud calling solution ensures you can scale your presence across regions, connect with both colleagues and customers, and even reduce operational costs. Let’s look at the benefits of cloud calling in depth.
1. Cost Efficiency
Managing a traditional communications network can be expensive. There are various costs to consider for everything from video and audio conferencing, to phone minutes, SMS services, fax, file storage, and more. On top of that, traditional voice systems require significant investment in on-premises equipment, hardware, and even maintenance.
An intuitive cloud calling solution can reduce costs significantly, allowing team members to access phone services on any device. Not only does it reduce the cost of physical infrastructure, but consolidating multiple communication solutions into a single cloud calling service can reduce the “bill shock” associated with managing different services separately.
With pay-as-you-go models available, companies can even scale their communication needs up and down as required, ensuring they only pay for the services they use.
2. Increased Productivity
In situations where direct, voice communication is crucial, a cloud calling service significantly enhances workplace productivity. Unlike the standard voice conferencing systems built into collaboration suites, a powerful cloud calling services comes with more advanced features to explore. Team members can access auto dialler functions, real-time call transcriptions and more.
They can record meetings and conversations in the cloud for compliance and training purposes, and access in-depth call quality reports. Some cloud calling providers even give companies the option to add their own carrier to their collaboration mix, allowing for a customized experience.
Plus, with global cloud voice providers, businesses gain access to cutting-edge technologies that ensure call quality remains high in all instances. This reduces the risk of dropped calls and latency harming team productivity and efficiency.
3. Enhancing Mobility
In an era where remote and hybrid work options are more popular than ever, cloud calling technology offers businesses the agility and flexibility they need. With a cloud telephone system, every team member can access the same phone lines and features from wherever they’re working, provided they have an internet connection.
This means that mobile workers and remote team members in your organization won’t be limited to simply answering calls via a collaboration app, or using external solutions. They’ll access all of the same calling features as your in-office teams. With a cloud calling system, employees anywhere can set up call forwarding strategies, edit routing strategies, and access voicemail on the go.
Not only does this lead to more consistency in your communication strategy, but it helps to enhance user experiences, boosting employee engagement and satisfaction.
4. Greater Scalability
As mentioned above, one of the biggest benefits of cloud calling solutions is that they allow companies to scale and adapt based on market trends and dynamics. With a cloud-based phone system offered by a reputable global provider, companies can easily access customizable numbers and features in regions all over the world.
They can access outbound and inbound voice services specific to their needs in different regions, without compromising on call quality. Additionally, companies can add or remove new phone lines and numbers to their ecosystem instantly, adapting to fluctuations in calling patterns.
Scalable solutions in the cloud empower businesses to leverage global communications strategies without borders, and even adapt the features of their phone system to match their needs. For instance, you could choose to connect your unified communications and contact center tools.
5. Reliable, Flexible Performance
Cloud-based calling systems offer higher levels of uptime, and better disaster recovery capabilities than most traditional phone systems. They leverage failover techniques and intelligent routing strategies to ensure your teams can always stay connected.
What’s more, many of these solutions can integrate with analytical tools, offering an insight into common issues faced by team members, and critical metrics. While traditional desk phones don’t allow you to maintain valuable insights into sales calls and service inquiries, cloud-based solutions leverage recording, analytics, and reporting to guide intelligent business decisions.
They can help you identify peak times for call-based collaboration, and monitor quality issues as they emerge. This can help you make intelligent decisions about which calling solutions to invest in for your team, and how to proactively mitigate issues.
6. Greater Security & Compliance
In the past, many companies worried about shifting into the cloud calling landscape, believing that cloud environments were more vulnerable to security issues and attacks. However, innovators in the cloud calling landscape have taken extra measures to improve security over the years.
They offer access to end-to-end encryption protocols to protect your data, as well as advanced fraud detection and prevention systems. For instance, Tata Communications offers access to comprehensive fraud prevention as a service, as the backbone to their cloud calling solution.
What’s more, because cloud calling providers can create fully integrated experiences for your teams that connect distributed collaboration apps and solutions, you get more visibility into your communications ecosystem. This makes it easier to monitor and mitigate potential risks.
Many countries have strict regulations around cloud calling. In order to avoid penalties, it is best to rely on a service provider who has expertise in the regional telecom regulations and industry specifics. Tata Communications has decades of experience handling just this.
Cloud Calling is Still Essential for Modern Teams
In the age of comprehensive collaboration suites like Microsoft Teams, offering access to video, chat, and various other communication methods, it’s easy to overlook the importance of cloud calling. However, a cloud-based telephone system is still critical to ensuring team productivity, enhancing collaboration, and even improving security.
With a flexible cloud calling service provider, like Tata Communications, companies can leverage a flexible, Global SIP network, offering access to enterprise-level voice, therefore moving the PBX to the cloud and addressing the pain points of the frontline and roaming workforce.
“Tata Communications helps you elevate employee experience in today’s hybrid world by activating cloud calling both through full-fledged collaboration suites – Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex – as well as through JAMVEE, Tata Communications’ voice calling application on the cloud. JAMVEE has on-net calling, messaging and PBX functionality, which runs on your browser, mobile, desktop and even within Microsoft Teams. Tata Communications helps your frontline and roaming employees to have a dual persona – effectively separating their personal and business profiles – and also helps in business continuity”, says Gaurav Chugh, India Head, Collaboration & Cloud Voice, Tata Communications.
