Businesses are increasingly looking for ways to take advantage of cloud technology. Using the internet has transformed the way that businesses operate, and customers have come to expect the ease and efficiency with which cloud solutions allow businesses to operate.

Since communication is such a vital aspect of conducting business, moving your phone systems to the cloud is a natural fit for improving business operations. A cloud phone system offers many new features and advantages not available through traditional business phone systems, and moving your business phone systems to the cloud is easier than you might expect. To learn more about cloud phone systems and how they can benefit your business, read about the basics of cloud phone systems below.

What is a Cloud Phone System?

Cloud Phone Systems are integrated phone systems for businesses that function much like traditional landline phone systems, but they provide many additional features by taking advantage of call routing via an internet connection. Cloud-based phone systems are often referred to as VoIP systems, or Voice over Internet Protocol.

With cloud phone services, the end-user experience will look and feel much like any other business phone system, but companies can benefit from significant cost and resource savings through easier setup and management of the system. Managers and business owners can maintain a cloud phone system through an online portal, allowing them to make system updates immediately. Furthermore, since the system is connected to the cloud, there are several features available that can improve operational efficiency, reduce operating costs, and improve customer service.

Advantages of Cloud Phone Systems

Compared to traditional landline phone systems, cloud phone services offer several advantages for businesses of all sizes.

• Automatic updates – IT staff are not burdened with managing complicated in-house phone equipment and maintaining system updates. The cloud-based phone service provider will run all necessary bug fixes and software updates automatically from the cloud, freeing up your internal staff to focus on more important issues.
• Scalability – As your company grows, you will likely need additional phone extensions for new employees and more features to support your business objectives. With a traditional phone system, that can mean costly installation charges and line access fees, but with a cloud phone system, you can easily add and remove services and lines from an online portal as they are needed.
• Reliability – Since the software that supports a cloud-based system is run on a remote server, a reliable cloud phone service provider will have backups in place to keep the system running smoothly during any weather instances or technical issues. This structure allows them to guarantee a 99.999% system uptime, which is equivalent to only 6 minutes of downtime per year.