How to Overcome 4 Common Communications Challenges with Cloud

Businesses today face many challenges, from continuous technology changes to the disconnect that can happen between your business and your clientele because of those technological advancements.

Consumers today expect a lot. Because of the internet, and the ability to access it from almost anywhere, consumers do their research. They expect answers and they expect them fast. They expect your technology to be up-to-date. They expect you to be as connected as they are.

But when you have budgets to meet, business operations to attend to, staff to manage, meetings to attend, possibly more than one location to manage, data security to keep up-to-date … the list of things demanding your attention can get long and communications technology can end up taking a back seat. Unfortunately, an out-of-date communications system can make your tech-advanced clients feel frustrated.

How do you keep up?

4 Common Communications Challenges

Does your IT staff support multiple locations with disparate data and communication systems?

Do you lack the budget to replace aging systems?

Is your IT staff overloaded with communications trouble tickets?

Is your existing communications system unable to scale to your growing business needs?

These are 4 common business communications challenges.

If any of these communications technology issues ring true for you, read on to explore what it can mean for your business and how Cloud Unified Communications can help you overcome them:

Challenge 1: Multiple Locations – Separate Systems

This is one of the most common growing pains of expanding businesses. As they branch out to new locations, each satellite creates their own way of doing things — unique PBX updates, coding, or software modifications unique to that location, use of certain applications and tools while overlooking others, individualized ways of managing problems….

One of the biggest challenges which occur is the disconnect between communication and data systems. CRMs and phone systems are separate and client information gets lost in translation. As a result, callers can’t get their needs addressed without multiple transfers and repeats of the same information over and over again. Calls get dropped, and customers must call in again and repeat the whole process.

This situation can cause a lot of unnecessary problems for your business. But a Cloud UC solution means standardizing all locations on the same platform without having to buy and install any new hardware. Say goodbye to disparate systems and hello to an integrated platform where all locations and all employees have access to the same information. This creates a far better service for your customers.

Challenge 2: Limited Budget – Aging Phone System

Finding the capital to invest in a brand-new communications infrastructure is often difficult. Quality communication systems are expensive, usually requiring large up-front investments.

The initial investment costs include more than the actual telephony equipment. You’ll have to consider network upgrades, system design and implementation, as well as user and administrator training. Don’t forget that the equipment itself will also require repairs, maintenance, and eventual replacement – yet again.

With a Cloud UC solution, the up-front capital model of a traditional purchase is replaced by a monthly “Pay-as-You-Go” Opex model.  All maintenance, operating costs, and ‘repair’ work will be covered by your vendor. This significantly cuts down on your overall costs and makes updating your aging phone system more manageable.

Challenge 3: Overloaded IT – Diminished Focus

Your IT staff are responsible for the day-to-day management and maintenance of all business technology, communication systems (including voice, video-conferencing, etc.), and data systems. As they are constantly called on to address trouble tickets with your aging premise system, their capacity to focus on project work – the work that facilitates business growth –  diminishes.

By moving your communications system to the Cloud:

• Your IT department will be able to off-load those day-to-day projects
• Adding new users becomes a rapid, easily scaled process
• Resolving call quality issues, the reliability of networks, and system redundancy is now in the hands of other experts
• Your in-house team can spend more time on your company’s IT projects and less time on its IT problems

Challenge 4: Projected Growth – Inability to Scale

Opening new locations and adding new users when working with on-site communications systems requires a lot of legwork. If your communication platform isn’t designed to accommodate new and rapid growth, you’ll either fail to grow or you’ll fail to please customers. This will damage your brand name and reputation.

Cloud UC offers extremely scalable communication systems where new staff can be easily added, trained, and quickly be up and running. This facilitates their communication and collaboration with their team members, which improves their productivity and performance as they can focus on learning other aspects of your business and focus on your customers.

Cloud UC is the Advanced Solution

Cloud UC is a versatile and technologically advanced communications platform which can help your business solve many more challenges as well.

Since your tools and apps are on a unified system: duplication tasks are eliminated, collaboration improves, productivity (and therefore ROI) is improved, UC delivers a consistent user experience, BYOD becomes simple and easy to manage, your business agility is therefore improved, the list goes on…

Possibly the biggest benefit of Cloud UC is that Cloud isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It is therefore The Advanced Solution to your communication needs. Part of this can be explained by the obvious, Cloud is always updatable without the need to purchase anything additional. This means you can always have the most technologically advanced solution to serve your customers.

In fact, several studies show the use of Cloud is only projected to grow. Forrester, an influential research and advisory firm, predicts cloud services adoption will continue to accelerate – with an overall compound annual growth rate of 22%.

If your business is facing any of the above challenges, or any other challenges, it may be a good time to take a close look at Cloud UC. You can contact our team anytime to discuss what Cloud UC could do for your business at (317) 805-1090, or you can also visit our website. We have lots of information, blogs, and other resources, which can help you learn more about the benefits of Cloud UC.