Thinking about investing in a cloud-based phone system for your business? But, you’re not sure whether they’re all that worth it or in fact how they can benefit your business at all? Well, don’t worry. This post will outline cloud-based phone system pros and cons for startup SMEs and how to make sure that you choose the right cloud based option when deciding on what to opt for.

We’ll cover:

• What is a Cloud-Based Phone System?
• Cloud-Based Phone System: Pros
• Cloud-Based Phone System: Cons
• How to Choose the Right cloud-based phone System

What is a Cloud-Based Phone System?

When you think of office phone systems, people often think of handheld desk phones that don’t stop ringing throughout the day. But do they all have to be like this? Absolutely not.

Cloud-based phone systems are delivered through the internet as opposed to cables (like your typical landline) or via satellite (like your mobile device). They can often be called “internet based phone systems” or you might see “VoIP” which stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol.”

Cloud-based phones are growing more and more popular in modern business set ups. Due to them being run from the internet, you can make business calls wherever you are in the world, you no longer have to be in the office to access your work phone.

It means that phone calls are made via the same connection as a sent email, relying purely on internet connection. So, long gone are the days of the telephone lines being down or you not being able to access any signal on your mobile device. You can read more about how cloud-based phone systems work, here.

Cloud-Based Phone System: Pros

As an SME, there are many ways in which having a cloud-based phone system can benefit your company. Here’s how:

• As a startup company, establishing a strong business culture is paramount. And to do this communication levels need to be sky high. With cloud based systems your staff will have the technology to connect quickly and easily through phone calls and instant messaging. You’ll find these methods can be accessed on the same interface and your staff will no longer face any barriers to internal communication.
• Productivity levels will sky rocket. As a startup, your business needs the hard work and focus of your staff more than ever. So, if something is going to increase productivity and the way they work, happy days.
• Your team can work remotely from anywhere and still access their work phones with ease. This means that should staff need to work from home on a particular day, it’s no problem. Also, if something should happen to the office, it reduces the potential downtime of your business as your team can carry on working as if there’s no disruption.
• It helps you sell more. Customers are more likely to pick up the phone and buy from a local phone number or they may respect a national (even international) number at other times. Cloud based systems offer such flexibility. You can set up calls from any UK or international code which means the potential for sales increases massively.
• Future growth or relocation is accounted for. You can easily add or change phone extensions which gives you the perfect level of flexibility a startup SME needs.

Cloud-Based Phone Systems: Cons

As with anything, there’s two sides to the coin. Here are some of the (manageable) drawbacks:

Employee Resistance to Change

Every office has those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix” or the “what’s wrong with the current system?” type of people. This isn’t necessarily a disadvantage of a cloud-based phone system, but it’s a fact of human nature. People don’t like change and won’t be prepared to put in the time to learn how to use a new system.

The best approach to combat this is to look at the comparative costs and the overall benefits. The majority of your workforce will be more used to mobile devices anyway and using Skype for web chats, so why account for the minority?

To cater for the people who prefer to use desk phones and legacy systems is a step backwards for your business. Place your business in good stead for potential technological changes by investing in cloud-based phone systems.

If Your Internet is Down, Your Whole Communications Are

As your cloud-based phone system will run off the internet, if there’s unfortunately a problem with your connection, your communication with customers and partners will be shut off completely. This is of course until you get your internet back up and running or switch to a 4G signal.

This may sound like a pretty serious issue, however if you choose a reliable internet service provider (ISP) you’ll experience very few issues with your connection and even if you do, the latest generation cloud-based systems allow automatic forwarding to other phone numbers (e.g. mobiles) in the event of a complete internet & data outage.

How to Choose the Right cloud-based phone System

When looking to choose the perfect cloud-based phone system for your business, there are a number of factors you must consider. As there are a lot of product on the market in 2018, you must consider:

• What setup are you currently using? Is it an upgrade or a completely new system? Will it be worth implementing it?
• How many calls do you handle per day?
• How much are you willing to invest?
• How do your employees work?
• What features do you need the most?
• How reliable is your office internet connection?

CircleLoop Can Help

The right phone system is more important than you think. By choosing the right system to fit your business mould it can contribute to how quickly your business grows and determine the success of it. It’s one big pain in the neck you don’t have to worry about once you’ve got it right. But, get it wrong and you could find yourself lagging behind where you intend to be.

That’s where we come in. We’ve put together a guide on how to choose the right phone system. So you don’t need to worry about not picking the right one or making the decision alone. Download it for free below.