Over the years, the process of making a phone call has undergone several phases. In the matter of a few decades, we have gone from standing in queues to use a telephone to owning a portable computer that also functions as a phone. And now, everything is moving to the cloud. Our phone calls are no exception.
Cloud based telephony is taking over. In fact, it is estimated to have a market worth nearly $150 billion by 2024. Virtual phone numbers are all the rage. Many businesses and individuals have switched over to VoIP (Voice-Over Internet Protocol) because of its convenience, affordability, customizability, and a multitude of other features.
Most businesses are in the business of selling something, be it a product or a service. It’s no secret that the number of calls it takes to sell anything is staggering. Salespersons are recommended to make an average of 150 cold calls per day to be successful. So it’s obvious that companies would want to save the maximum amount of money spent on calls while ensuring the maximum amount of conversions. This dream has been made into a reality with the widespread use of cloud telephony.
The Innovation
At this point, you might wonder what cloud telephony or VoIP even means and how does it work? Don’t be discouraged by their tech-heavy names, the actual service is easy to understand, configure and use.
Cloud telephony simply refers to phone services that have been shifted to the cloud. It means that your phone call can take place directly through the internet without the use of any other hardware or additional telecom support. VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) transfers voice calls through IP, in the form of data packets. It brings voice and data capabilities on a single network, thus eliminating the need for separate lines and providers for each number.
The Experience
If your business has not yet made the shift to cloud telephony, you are missing out.
Say your business is looking to expand into other countries, such as the US. You need to establish trust in your potential US customer-base before you move further. Normally, this would be a very difficult and expensive task. But with cloud telephony, you could simply enlist for one or multiple US phone numbers as per your need. You could use the same for calling your potential US customers and building a rapport with them.
And even if you’re an individual user who spends a lot of time making phone calls, especially international calls, you have a lot to gain by switching over to VoIP.
Say you live in the UK and have friends or family in Brazil. If you were to use the traditional landline or mobile services to contact them, the bill you’d be running up each month would be humongous. But with cloud telephony, you would be able to call them at any time and as many times as you want without the nagging worry of huge expenses.
The Transformation
This is just a superficial view of the offerings of cloud telephony and VoIP services. It has a slew of awesome benefits other than cost reduction. When we said it would transform your calls, we weren’t kidding.
Better Customer Experience
A company’s bottom line is important, but in the present age, customer experience and engagement matter even more. Features such as call-forwarding, automatic call-routing and distribution will ensure that they never have to wait for their issues to be resolved. This translates directly into superior customer experience.
Portability and Flexibility
Almost 37% of the US workforce chose to work remotely in 2017. Companies need greater flexibility, which cloud telephony provides. Now employees can deliver their best without having to worry about where they’re working from.
Enhanced Business Communication
Communication within a company affects all its operations. Businesses that use virtual phone numbers for in-house communication have better team coordination and work smarter.
Boost to Productivity
The productivity of employees is greatly improved with VoIP. They do not have to be on-premises all day to keep a tab on meetings or projects. They can multitask effectively because they are always connected with the rest of their team through cloud telephone services.
What’s more, you can choose and customize the benefits you want to receive because the rising popularity of cloud telephony has brought some incredible providers such as GrassHopper, CallHippo, Vonage and RingCentral into the spotlight. Their exceptional services are encouraging more and more people to switch over to cloud telephony.
Cloud telephony is the future of telecommunication, and it’s already here. Make sure that you don’t get left behind in the adoption of this amazing technology that is certain to positively transform multiple facets of your business.
