Telephone communication is critical to business but when it comes to IT spending it is often the Cinderella technology. Cloud telephony is becoming more popular for businesses of all sizes. With everything else in IT moving to the Cloud, it was only a matter of time before telephone systems went with it. But what is it?

Cloud telephony is a virtually hosted telephone system delivered over a high speed Internet connection. It removes the need for a traditional on-site telephone system.

In the past companies could only go down the route of traditional telephone system because at that point nothing else was possible. As Internet speeds are central to all cloud based technology, it took time for hosted telephony to be a viable option. With faster internet speeds now available, the ability for businesses to move more daily functions to the Cloud has increased.

Cloud telephony has a range of benefits for businesses of all sizes and seems to be most popular for small or growing businesses. This is mainly to do with the lower initial capital associated with cloud telephony compared to that of a traditional phone system. Cloud telephony reduces hardware costs as it does not require anything on-site except for the handsets being used. It also has lower installation costs which cuts on the initial capital outlay.

Lifecycle costs are also simplified. Cloud telephony tends to be priced per user with platform costs and line rental built in. Scalability and flexibility is another huge benefit of cloud telephony for all businesses. More users and features can be added and removed whenever it is required, which allows businesses to cover any changes in staffing both temporarily and permanently. This means you will never have to pay for features and users that are no longer active or useful to your business.

Your system will always have the latest technology. System upgrades are part of the package so there is no need for you to pay extra for upgrades to the system.

It is also possible have multiple sites on the same system. All of your sites can be linked to the one cloud telephony system, which helps reduce the capital outlay. Sites can be added to the system at a with minimal disruption or cost to. This is one of the benefits of cloud telephony for expanding companies. Calls between sites are also often free which is beneficial if you have to communicate in a multi-site business regularly.

Standard functions essential for businesses are also available such as voicemail but other additional features are available with cloud telephony that gives a sense of flexibility to the user. Teleworking from home made easier as all the home worker needs is an internet connection which the phone can be plugged into. These functions are less costly to implement than in traditional telephone systems and can be made available on a per user basis.

Cloud telephony is an easy way for you to manage what is still the most immediate medium for business communication. As long as your business have the Internet speeds and quality to ensure that the system will function correctly, then cloud telephony is with considering when changing your telephony system.