The world of written business communication has changed beyond all recognition over the last 15–20 years. First we used telegrams, then fax machines, then email and now businesses are increasingly adopting instant messaging and team messenger services like Slack and HipChat.

The world of verbal business communication on the other hand, hasn’t evolved in quite the same way, or at quite the same pace. We always used line-based desk phones, and mostly still do. We always used a mobile phone, and now many of us have two of them — one for business use, and one for personal use.

So, whilst written business communication became faster, easier, smaller and more flexible, our verbal business communication pretty much stayed exactly where it was. Arguably, it got worse.

Business telephony in particular remains old-fashioned, complicated and expensive. With an increasingly mobile workforce, the prominence of personalisation and the rise of bring your own device (BYOD) schemes, many businesses are finding their existing telephony systems just too inflexible and no longer fit for purpose.

So, what’s the solution?

Cloud-based technology has been at the forefront of technological innovation for some time. Average 4G network speeds in the UK now run at 15Mbps average and the infrastructure is robust and tested. And with the planned implementation of 5G in the UK by 2020, we could be experiencing cloud speeds of up to 100Gbps in the not too distant future.

With BT recently announcing that it plans to switch off all ISDN lines by 2025, businesses will be pleased to learn that modern day technology is finally available for business phone systems.

And with the ongoing advancements in UK cloud infrastructure the time is now right for those businesses to take advantage of the benefits that cloud-based telephony brings:

1. Multiple phone numbers for each user, without the need for additional hardware.
2. Make and receive calls, on any device, anywhere.
3. Complete synchronisation of call and message activity, across all devices.
4. Reduce additional hardware and infrastructure costs.
5. Retire old-fashioned and inflexible desk phones.
6. Empower more flexible working for traditionally office-based functions.
7. Support bring your own device (BYOD) schemes.
8. Better control over contact preferences and time management.
9. Simple integration with other business communication tools.
10. Location awareness, enhancing colleague safety and your duty of care.

UK businesses can now take full advantage of all these cloud-based benefits, with CircleLoop. Start your completely free 7 day trial today and experience the future of business telephony.