Cloud-based Voice Solutions Loom Large

Everyone’s talking about the cloud and the ways it can make it rain savings on companies of all shapes and sizes. While smaller companies are especially likely to favor cloud-computing, a new study from Britannic Technologies shows that the majority of companies—big and small—currently have a partial or entirely-cloud-based voice solution.

The vast majority of respondents (84 percent) claim to comprehend the concept of cloud-computing, and a little less than half said they had complete cloud-based voice and telephony services, while about two-thirds have a partial voice solution in the cloud.

But even with the growth of users migrating telephony and voice to the cloud, many companies remain wary of cloud-computing for a number of reasons. The top-cited deterrent for companies that are choosing to stay out of the cloud, according to the Britannic Technologies survey, is security, with a whopping 48 percent expressing concern over what has been a hot-button issue of late—and for good reason. Security breaches are weekly occurrences, and like any new technology, many enterprises are approaching the cloud with caution.

That said, many of these security concerns may are more a matter of playing it close to the chest, or precautionary predispositions regarding the cloud. This is supported by another finding in the survey by Britannic Technologies surveys, which show that IT directors—who we can only assume, and hope, are the most well-informed on enterprise security matters—are the most likely executive to approve the use of cloud-based telephony, at 49 percent. Not too far behind is the CEO, at 32 percent, and the board lags behind at 31 percent. The truth is, as long as there are cyber criminals, there will be cyber attacks—whether they’re in the cloud, or right next door to the IT department.

The most commonly cited incentive for switching to the cloud (drum roll) is still price, with 60 percent of respondents switching on the basis of cost-savings. Not surprisingly, next in line is business agility (55 percent) followed by speed of deployment (40 percent)—both factors that most likely reflect a growing employee base that wants to work from anywhere, at anytime, through any device they want, which cloud-based telephony makes easier.

For the most part, traditional telephony is still a larger industry than the unified communications sector, and other concerns for companies that are steering clear of the cloud include at this time include reliability (38 percent), difficulty integrating with current infrastructure (29 percent), inability to manage in-house (19 percent), and a lack of understanding (19 percent).

Still, the numbers are in, and for the time being at least, cloud-based telephony is on the rise. And as long as it continues to save companies money, we can expect it to expand. 

Edited by Maurice Nagle