How to Transform Your Communications with a Cloud Business Phone System

Companies are facing unprecedented communication challenges by having their employees suddenly thrust into working remotely. Physical, on-premises phone systems worked well when employees were all working in the office, but trying to help employees stay connected while setting boundaries between their personal and work lives is another challenge altogether. That’s where a cloud business phone system can help.    

In an effort to achieve the flexibility and agility they need to succeed, many modern businesses are moving to a cloud voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service, rather than a traditional on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) phone system. 

With a legacy phone system, calls are routed through the PBX, which is a telecom switch that resides on the customer’s premises, and the business is responsible for maintaining the necessary hardware on-site. A legacy PBX connects to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to begin a phone call. With a cloud business phone system using VoIP, the PSTN network is interconnected via an internet connection to route the call. 

A cloud VoIP system like Zoom Phone can operate on a number of devices and hardware that have an internet connection, including computers, mobile phones, desk phones, and other personal devices, whereas a PBX phone system typically relies on hard-wired desk phones to operate. 

Many organizations switch from a PBX phone system to a cloud business phone system for the superior audio quality and reduced infrastructure management, but there are plenty of other benefits associated with making the switch. Here are just a few ways a cloud VoIP phone system can benefit your business: 

• Unprecedented reliability: With a PBX phone system, businesses are forced to rely on hardware in their office and their local phone company, which can cause an issue if there is an equipment or power failure or if the local carrier has an outage. With cloud VoIP phone services, as long as users have an internet connection, they can make and receive calls from a PC or mobile device. If the company office is having a power outage, those users could still make calls from another location.
• Flexible and agile communications: A cloud business VoIP phone service frees users from their desk phones, giving them the ability to communicate regardless of their location or their device. Employees can rely on VoIP phone service to communicate with colleagues and customers whether they are working remotely, in an airport, or anytime they are away from their desk.
• Reduced costs: A PBX phone system may appear less expensive than a cloud VoIP phone service, but it comes with a long list of hidden costs. In addition to maintaining the equipment and infrastructure, charges for long distance calling and faxing can quickly drive up costs. Upgrading a PBX phone system can also be prohibitively expensive, requiring businesses to purchase hardware and modify their communications infrastructure. Cloud VoIP systems are always up to date, businesses simply upgrade the software on PC or mobile device. 

As companies around the world rapidly transition to a cloud business phone system for its simplicity, flexibility, and cost-reducing potential, they’ll also benefit from a solution that supports a best-of-breed technology strategy. Since its inception, Zoom has been dedicated to creating seamless, frictionless, reliable, and user-friendly communications solutions, and we have taken the same approach in building Zoom Phone.

Zoom Phone has number of features that give additional capabilities that will help you streamline your communications infrastructure: 

• Integrations with leading business software solutions: Zoom Phone has integrations with many of the leading business software solutions available on the market today, including Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and more. These seamless integrations use Zoom’s APIs and SDKs to create frictionless workflows and improve employee productivity without the need to constantly switch applications. 

• Real-time performance monitoring: When systems administrators experience an issue with their PBX phone system, they are forced to sink significant resources and time into identifying the problem and fixing it. With the Zoom Phone dashboard, administrators can monitor, troubleshoot, and diagnose any call quality or network issues, and can identify and fix issues much faster. 

• Elevate a call to a meeting: As part of Zoom’s unified communications platform, Zoom Phone is built into the Zoom application, no separate app needed. Users can easily elevate a Zoom Phone call to a high-definition Zoom video meeting. Communicate face-to-face at a moment’s notice without the need to end the call and start a new meeting. 

Zoom’s cloud business phone system plays a critical role in business communications today, giving users the flexibility and agility you need to handle the demands of modern commerce. To learn more about how Zoom’s unified communications platform can transform your business, schedule a one-on-one with a Zoom Phone product specialist today!