• VOIP
  Voice Over Internet Protocol.
  Technology that allows voice communications over networks, like the Internet.
• PSTN
  Public Switched Telephone Network.
  The circuit-switched telephone networks used for public telecoms. For BT, this means the network of copper wires that connect the UK.
• ISDN
  Integrated Services Digital Network.
  The original digital technology that allows VoIP to function in a world of copper wires.
• SIP
  Session Initiation Protocol.
  A means of translating voice comms to a data network instead of a traditional PTSN. It enables all the cost and productivity benefits of internet-based telephony.

Consumer behaviour continues to change. Expectations are higher and we expect more personal, yet digitally-enabled, customer experiences. In a world of social media bubbles and instant review scores, more customers than ever are making buying decisions based on customer experience.

Thought leaders remain confident that, rather than dying out, contact centres will remain a key part of the customer experience for the foreseeable future whether, in reality, your contact centre is a team of 2 of 2,000, omni-channel or voice only. Most customers still prefer to use voice channels to resolve complex issues. But there are many stereotypes and challenges to overcome if contact centres are going to continue to deliver a satisfying customer experience.

Taking business telephony to the cloud doesn’t just improve how people can reach you. It allows you to create an infrastructure and process to capture call data and use it to improve customer experiences.

Not all occasions to upgrade your technology are about sinking or swimming.

As organisations grow, comms networks must scale alongside. Creating an infrastructure for growth is easy when building a business from scratch.

But for existing businesses with legacy hardware, it’s a much more complex situation.

Business cloud solutions help you tackle the question of scalability. The cloud allows you to quickly and cost-effectively scale up and down your capacity as required. Then, with data and effective forecasting, these systems can help you manage your capacity automatically.

A cloud-based telephony system gives you greater flexibility than an on-premise model. You can add or remove devices, increase or decrease bandwidth as needs require.

Switching to cloud-based VoIP cloud creates a network to connect telephony with a range of other productivity tools. This could include instant messaging or video conferencing. Over time, your phone system has ability to scale, if required, into an omnichannel solution that allows staff to collaborate more effectively and customers to engage in any way.

Cloud-based telephony systems enable you to seamlessly record calls and pass information from one platform to another. Storing call data in the cloud also enhances analytics to support strategic decision-making. This further helps you to build a higher quality customer service function, promoting trust in your brand.

Scalability means more than increasing capacity. It means having the transparency to review usage costs, forecast needs and react promptly. On-premise infrastructure is bought fixed. Any updates or expansions come at a cost to the business, which entails many hidden costs. Cloud systems enable flexible working – allowing you to spin up and cut back resources as required, in a matter of moments.

Securing stakeholder buy-in can be a challenge for any business. Especially in an uncertain climate. The idea of cracking open your war chest to overhaul the phone system can be a hard sell. And beyond these emotional challenges, companies face logistical challenges in switching to cloud telephony.

Stakeholder buy-in & training

Some staff members see switching something as seemingly fundamental as a phone system to be unnecessarily disruptive. Getting buy-in from all stakeholders plays a critical role in bringing every employee along the journey of digital migration rather than making it feel forced on them.
As well as simply telling staff the benefits of this new system, one of the best ways to get buy-in is to have them get their hands on the new system as soon as possible. Choosing a system with a user-friendly interface and proactive support will help staff feel more comfortable with new systems.

To address the disruption question, there are two solutions:

1. Choose an implementation partner with a track record for quality of service and reliability
2. Create a transparent roadmap so all stakeholders can understand the plan

Successful migration relies on knowledge of both legacy voice and your new IP network. Bringing together a combination of in-house and external expertise will help avoid any unnecessary mistakes.

When implementing a new solution, there will be a learning curve. You can’t rely on a single training session to provide the info they need to master the platform. Implementing a training programme and investing resources to help get every user up to speed is key.

To leverage the full benefits of cloud telephony, businesses need to
unite resources into a unified communications strategy. This will involve reaching beyond your IT department or call centre.

To unlock the value of your investment you need to know the capabilities
of your new solution, and the opportunities available to you. From there, new processes need to be created to leverage those opportunities and take the operation to a new level.

Working with a technology partner can help unlock this value. Working collaboratively to understand your needs, they bring knowledge and experience in cloud technology to help you find ways to work better.

Every business is at a different place in its journey. This makes determining the right time to switch rather difficult. We’ve already discussed some of the reasons why you should switch, but when is a question only you can answer. We recommend that businesses make the switch to VoIP and the cloud sooner rather than later. Don’t wait until 2025 to make the change.

We’re living in challenging times. Business leaders and innovators know that this is the time to invest and take advantage of the market to get ahead. They know that no matter what industry they’re in, their business is driven by technology. All businesses are these days whether we like to admit it or not. So the only question is: where do I invest?

Given the advantages cloud telephony provides and the ticking clock of the ISDN switch off, which will force change anyway, investing in a new phone system now could be a wise choice.

Doing so means you can bring better customer experiences to your market sooner and create a scalable framework for future business growth.

The technology that sits behind a hosted VoIP solution or a cloud-based telephony system is the same no matter which vendor or brand you choose. This is sophisticated technology where upgrades are built into the technology, not released in new versions of hardware, like smartphones.

The physical implementation is, therefore, standard wherever you go. The three things you need to think about are:

1. Business goals
2. Budget
3. Technology partner

Set clear objectives

What are you trying to achieve by adopting cloud telephony? Are you hoping to streamline processes, offer more personalised customer experiences, or free up IT resources for other projects? Or are you simply trying to futureproof your business?

Cloud communications offer plenty of benefits but understanding which outcomes are most important will help you select the right solution.

Accurately comparing costs for your existing on-premise system and a cloud-based alternative means looking at more than just the price tag. Gather data about your existing investment, including licensing fees, hardware, and infrastructure costs. Then there are all the one-off costs, such as upgrades and maintenance fee on legacy hardware.

Evaluate which outlays will go away under a new system and when, how expenses will change (i.e. Capex to Opex) and shifts in resource allocation to get a holistic picture of your communications costs.

With your objectives and budget in place, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and plan your cloud migration project. As with any initiative, giving your team proper time to plan, analyse, test, and communicate will be the key to success. Use this step-by-step timeline to keep your cloud migration on track.

Changing a phone system isn’t a static activity. Your operation is a moving vehicle, requiring minimal downtime and maximum business continuity. It’s important to work with a technology partner who understands this and can implement your new technology seamlessly.

It’s also important to engage a partner with the ability to provide a single window into your new systems. This is one of the key challenges to leveraging the power of cloud telephony and ensuring quality performances.

If you’re producing an RFP for the market, take care to include questions around experience in these areas, as well as your market specifically. When it comes to technology implementation, it isn’t always about the price – it’s about the quality of service and expertise on hand.

Make it easier to do business and deliver simply brilliant customer experiences with agile and effective mobile, networking, and communications solutions from Onecom. Whether your business is always on the move, you're working from home or you're just out of the office, we help you to be there for your customers wherever you are. 

We've created a customer engagement ecosystem that provides secure and simple access to best-of-breed tools. Delivered as a single cloud service, you can provide powerful digital customer and workforce experiences flexibly and efficiently. 

Our platform allows you to work smarter. Removing duplication, complexity and cost give you the agility to scale and flex in line with operational requirements. 

Five9 Intelligent Virtual Agent

Automate routine and repetitive tasks with Intelligent Virtual Agent so your live agents can focus on higher value work.

IVA uses practical AI technology to understand what customers want and provide it quickly—without the use of a human agent.

VOX

Increase your ability to delight customers by merging your landline and mobile numbers across devices.

Mitel Micloud Flex

Harness the power of Google Cloud to connect your teams and promote collaboration.

Connect4Teams

Link your existing on-premise telephony system to Microsoft Teams to leverage the full VoIP and collaboration capabilities of Teams, anywhere, on any device.

We hope the information in this ebook enables you to take the first steps in transforming your business into a mobile-first, truly agile enterprise.

Why not check if your town or city is 5G enabled to begin reaping the benefits of a superfast connection, or talk to us directly to discover how your business could become mobile-first, without compromise.