In any business, the ability to communicate effectively can be the difference between turning a profit or going out of business. One aspect of communication that every business must address is that of being able to take and receive calls. 

Managed Cloud-Based Phone (News - Alert) Systems

In the old days, having physical phone lines run through your office to handsets on desks which ran through a central phone system unit was the main way that businesses set up telephone communication. These days are barely hanging on as VoIP and UCaaS systems have all but replaced analog lines with their increased reliability and myriad of features that they offer.

A managed cloud based phone system is typically referred to as unified communication as a service (UCaaS). These systems make and receive calls using the internet, instead of analog phone signals. The nice thing about these systems as opposed to VoIP, is that they manage the service remotely, without the need of a large expensive internal server control system at your business or office.

Managed cloud based phone systems help to reduce the equipment cost that are traditionally associated with analog and VoIP as no additional equipment, besides the internet, is needed or required to operate. Also, many of these services have apps that can work on mobile devices so that calls can be made literally anywhere you go, thus severing the tethered phone lines and equipment of yesterday.

Feature Management

Since these services are hosted off-site by a third party, it is the third party's responsibility to ensure reliability and quality, which again takes this sort of thing off of your shoulders. Since these services are cloud based and can be accessed via an online portal, the enabling and disabling of features is incredibly easy. Here are some of the main features of a managed cloud based phone system:

• Reliability - These services have built-in-redundancy, which increases the quality of voice calls.
• Ease of use - Managing your phone system is as easy as logging into a web portal online.
• Integration - Most of these systems integrate with large brand CRM's such as Salesforce.
• Security - Unlike analog calls, digital calls are encrypted and stored securely on the cloud for later listening.
• Scalable - Adding or dropping phone lines can be done with the click of a mouse with no additional equipment needed.
• Less IT - Since the service is being hosted by someone else, little to no internal IT is needed to run and manage this sort of phone system.

More Than Just Voice

UCaaS systems often have many more features associated with them than just being able to make voice phone calls. For example, many services allow you to make video calls or chat with colleagues and customers online. Some services even have project management features that allow you to easily share files or mark off tasks with those that you have invited to your project.

These services are really designed to fill all of the communication needs you may have between colleagues and customers to provide a truly one-size-fits-all solution for small and large businesses alike. 

The Need To Modernize

Cloud-based phone systems are considered to be some of the most flexible and agile systems out there. In this digital age, businesses who use analog phone systems really show their age to customers as they don't provide the best user experience. Cloud-based systems mesh instantly into customer's lives as all customers use a mobile phone that has a data plan which allows them more ways to communicate with you outside of just a voice conversation.

If you are using an old phone system, you may be surprised at just how easy it is to switch over to a sleek and modern cloud-based phone system.