Features customers need along with a basic telephony system in 2023 are listed below
- Easy management on-premise or hosted
- Save up to 80% on your phone bills
- Work remotely with 3CX iOS / Android apps
- App-free web conferencing
- Live chat & call with website visitors
- Advanced call center features & reporting
- Answer WhatsApp business messages
- Answer business texts (SMS)
What Are The Differences Between Cloud Phone System and On-Premise Phone System
What are these systems all about?
Cloud based phone systems are office phone systems that are not physically present in your premises. They are Phone systems where your phones connect through your Internet connection to a third-party, i.e., a service provider that maintains the equipment at an off-site ‘cloud’ data center.
On-premise phone systems are business phone systems that are present on the premises. The hardware in these systems is kept on-site in your server closet.
What if we want to expand our phone systems?
Cloud Based Phone System:
- Your cloud phone service provider does the work involved in the expansion.
- Growth or retraction is not a hassle.
- You always have an updated system as software updates happen automatically.
On Premise Phone System:
- You have complete control in terms of expansion.
- Every expansion increases the complexity of the system.
Are there any more characteristics that we should know?
Cloud Based Phone System:
- Service providers are experts who are better equipped than you to implement a solution.
- Some Cloud options are not cost-effective when deployed on a large scale.
On Premise Phone System:
- You can do what you want with your equipment, but with great power comes great responsibility, remember?
- In contrast to your service provider, you may lack enough internal resources or the budget to make highly customized changes.
What is the cost involved?
Cloud Based Phone System:
- Setup cost of cloud phone service is low
- There are no maintenance costs at the business owner’s end.
- (OpEX)Operational expenditure is applicable.
- Potentially higher ongoing service.
On Premise Phone System:
- Setup cost of cloud phone service is low
- There are no maintenance costs at the business owner’s end.
- (OpEX)Operational expenditure is applicable.
- Potentially higher ongoing service.
Who exercises the actual control?
Cloud Based Phone System:
- Your service provider handles the software updates and maintenance processes for you.
- You gain the ability to allocate your IT resources to other revenue-generating tasks.
- Your cloud phone service provider is better equipped, and thus exercises the actual control over your system.
On Premise Phone System:
- You have to handle all software updates and maintenance processes; you have to get it done by your internal IT staff, or outsource the task.
- You need to micromanage all the details by yourself.
- You gain control over every detail.
What are similar features?
You will find the same features in both the phone systems, some of them are-
- Call control
- Call management
- Voicemail
- Messaging
- Web-based management
- Call training
- Analytics
What Are The Pros of Cloud Based Phone System?
Regardless of the status of a business, be it an enterprise or even a billion-dollar corporate giant, the cost of adding a cloud phone system for small business is hardly a fraction of the benefits that it provides.
1. Fast Setup
Chances are your business already has a broadband connection. To make use of cloud based phone system, small business needs no further investments.
2. Cost Saving
Make or receive calls from all around the world at a really affordable cost. This can save huge expenses especially if you need to make international calls often.
3. Go Global
Clients are always pleased to work with huge brands since they assume they’re reliable. Make your business look large with numerous local and toll free virtual phone numbers.
4. Flexible
Never lose a potential customer. Get your calls handled professionally and delivered wherever you need anytime, anywhere. This allows you the freedom to be off the desk without any worry.
5. Save Time
Provide your customers with IVR selections so that they could get exactly where they need to without any trouble. Keep your customers happy while saving you time and trouble.
6. Record Calls
Log all your calls and even record them for performance evaluation. This can be crucial for productivity and elimination of flaws.
7. Customized Greetings
You can make sure every call gets attended to with the help of re-routing it through all the phones till someone picks it up while keeping the customer engaged in greeting messages.
8. Set Availability
You can even set custom working hours for users and numbers. This will drastically increase your chances to secure a lead.
9. Latest Technology
Downtimes are no longer an issue. The cloud based technology ensures easy backup and switching in case of downtime, and that too instantly. This isn’t possible with conventional communication media.
Having a cloud based phone system for enterprise has gone from being an option to an absolute necessity these days due to the increasing competition and smart consumers. The cloud phone system for entrepreneurs evidently has a huge impact on the productivity and growth of the business while being affordable at the same time!
Just like everything else, cloud phone numbers also come with variations. There are packages to suit every business. Depending on your requirements, choose what suits your business the best and take your business to new levels!
What Are The Cons of Cloud Based Phone System?
So, you are quite certain that you need to get a cloud based phone service for your organization. However, if there is still a nagging doubt in your mind, here are some disadvantages that you may face if you get a cloud phone system:
1. Signal Interference:
One of the possible disadvantages of cloud phone system is that there may be signal interference at times that leads to poor audio quality.
There also may be a time lag when the call is transferred to mobile phones and this leads to distorted business communication. Cloud phone systems need an internet connection to function, hence if there is any breakdown it will lead to communication disruption that is beyond the control of the phone service provider.
2. Vendor Lock-In:
It is important to choose a credible cloud phone system vendor as there are chances that there may be a contractual lock-in period. Though certain service providers in the market waive off the condition of a lock-in period, most of them give a better pricing plan if an organization signs up for a longer time such as an annual plan.
Hence, if you are not satisfied with the features or vendor performance, it may be difficult to switch due to the lock-in period.
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