How Cloud Phone Systems Reduce Costs

Cloud phone systems provide more cost-effective and scalable solutions that businesses can leverage to reduce costs while improving communication efficiency and adapting to the modern workforce.

Communication is vital to organizations’ success in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Although landline phones and on-premises phone systems have been used for communication traditionally, they can be costly to maintain and upgrade. Moreover, as companies evolve post-COVID, on-premises phone systems cannot keep up with businesses adopting flexible work practices. As a result, these systems fail to fulfill even the most fundamental requirements of such companies.

How do Cloud Phone Systems Reduce Costs:

1. Lower Upfront Investment: A Contact Center solution integrates various communication channels, such as phone calls, email, live chat, and social media, providing a seamless experience for customers and agents. This omnichannel approach ensures that customers can reach your business through their preferred method and receive consistent service across all platforms.

2. No Maintenance & Support Costs: Another significant cost-saving that comes with adopting cloud phone systems is eliminating maintenance and support costs. With traditional phone systems, businesses must invest in routine maintenance and upgrades to keep their systems running smoothly. Regular maintenance can be time-consuming and costly, requiring specialized expertise and equipment, and typically involves bringing in an outside vendor at high hourly rates. However, with cloud phone systems, all maintenance and upgrades are handled by the provider and included in the cloud phone system subscription costs, allowing businesses to focus on their core activities.

   On-premise phone systems require support regularly to address issues and necessary changes. Many companies lack internal IT staff proficient enough in the phone system, requiring unpredictable support costs from third-party phone system experts. Even organizations with an internal IT staff member with the requisite knowledge must still invest that person’s time in phone system support, increasing IT management overhead. Cloud phone system vendors also include ongoing support as part of the monthly subscription for the cloud phone system, eliminating or minimizing investment in support in terms of time and dollars spent.

3. Scalable Solution: Cloud phone systems are designed to be highly scalable, as businesses can easily add or remove users as needed without incurring additional costs. This makes it a perfect solution for businesses that experience fluctuations in demand, such as seasonal businesses and growing organizations. On the other hand, traditional phone systems can be costly to scale up, as they require additional hardware equipment, software, and licensing that must be purchased and deployed. Not only does that cost money, but it also can cause delays in preparing to scale. Furthermore, these solutions really cannot scale down cost-effectively – Once you’ve invested in expanding an on-premise solution, you do not receive some of your money back if you do not need it all in the future.
4. Reduced Phone Services Costs: Cloud phone systems also significantly save long-distance calling costs. Businesses often incur long-distance charges with traditional phone systems, especially when communicating with international clients or suppliers. However, cloud phone systems often lower costs, especially since most providers offer unlimited or low-cost domestic calling plans. As much as 50% of telecom costs can be saved when companies use VoIP, according to Hosting Tribunal, 2021. This makes it easy for businesses to communicate with clients and suppliers worldwide without worrying about high costs. It makes the phone service expense very predictable and easy to budget around.
5. Increased Mobility: Cloud phone systems provide increased mobility, which can be a significant cost-saving for businesses. With cloud phone systems, employees can access work phone numbers and extensions from anywhere, using their mobile devices or laptops. This means that companies can reduce their costs on office space, as employees can work efficiently remotely or from home without compromising on communication efficiency. Newer on-premises phone systems can also provide this mobility functionality. Still, this enhanced capability often entails even higher upfront investment in software and licensing. It is typically less user-friendly than the inherent mobility of cloud phone systems.
6. Reduced Downtime & Business Interruption: Downtime is costly for businesses, especially those that rely heavily on internal and external communications. With traditional phone systems, downtime can be lengthy and expensive, as it most often requires specialized expertise and equipment to fix the problem. However, with cloud phone systems, downtime is significantly reduced, as providers host the brains of the cloud phone system in redundant data centers and offer 24/7 technical support and maintenance to prevent downtime. This means that businesses can reduce their downtime and business interruption costs, as many interruptive issues are stopped by the provider, and they can quickly resolve issues that arise.

7. Integration with Other Business Applications: Cloud phone systems can often be easily integrated with other business applications like CRM, email, and chat, which can be a significant cost-saving for businesses in terms of increased efficiency. With integration, businesses can easily access customer information, history, and communication logs without requiring manual data entry or duplicative efforts. Companies can improve communication efficiency and reduce manual data entry and duplication cost.

Conclusion

Cloud phone systems provide a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to improve communication efficiency. With lower upfront costs, no maintenance and support costs, scalability, reduced phone service expenses, increased mobility, reduced downtime, and integration with other business applications, businesses can save money while improving communication efficiency. VoIP systems save small businesses about 45% each month on communication costs compared to traditional phone systems, according to Multicomic, 2021. Unsurprisingly, VoIP solutions will replace traditional phone systems in 61% of cases, according to Hosting Tribunal, 2021. As a result, cloud phone systems are becoming increasingly popular, especially among small and medium-sized businesses looking to reduce their costs and remain competitive in today’s fast-paced economy.

Not Sure Where To Start?

Looking to streamline your business communication and gain a competitive edge in today’s customer-centric world? With features like omnichannel communication, advanced call routing, and real-time monitoring and analytics, these solutions can enhance your customer experience, improve efficiency, and empower data-driven decision-making. Contact our experts today to learn how unified communications solutions can benefit your business.