What Businesses Should Know About Cloud Communication

We’re just going to say the thing you’re thinking…

Why do cloud communication tools have to be so confusing? No really, why?

We don’t make “the rules,” but our best guess is that these tools have been evolving so quickly that multiple names for the same technology, different technologies with overlapping features, and the rush to add branding to these new solutions have resulted in the chaos we see today.

Over time, people tend to settle in on one accepted word to describe something new, but that just hasn’t happened yet. So basically, welcome to the jungle. We’ve got fun and games, but you’re going to have to get through some rough terrain first.

What Is Cloud Voice?

Cloud voice is often used interchangeably with VoIP, hosted voice, internet telephony, IP telephony, virtual voice, and a few others. You’ll mostly just hear those first three, probably because telephony sounds ridiculous. But what exactly is it??

Cloud voice is just a virtual phone system that's hosted in the cloud. And basically, you’ve got two main options when it comes to cloud voice:?

1. Pairing cloud technology with an on-premises infrastructure, which can either be managed by an in-house team or by a managed services provider?
2. Ditching on-premises infrastructure in favor of an entirely cloud-based solution, which can either be managed by you or a provider

Got it? Good. Let’s push onward.?

What Is Unified Communications?

Unified communications (UC) is a cloud communication tool. But instead of just providing cloud-based voice calling and the many new and exciting features that come along with it, it also bundles together almost every other internet-based communication tool you can think of into one single platform.?

The best way to get a sense of it is to see it in action, but imagine if your phone, your Slack chats, text messages, email, video conferencing platform, meeting scheduler, whiteboard tool, file sharing solution, and more were just one user-friendly tool, so instead of having tons of communication tabs open at all times, you just had the one.?

Everything is just…right there. So you don’t have to dig around through multiple tools to find where a file is shared, and almost every other pesky admin task — like scheduling a meeting — is quick and easy.?

You also have two main options when it comes to unified communications:?

1. You can get a subscription to a top UC provider yourself and take care of implementing, managing, and securing it in-house
2. You can have a managed services provider implement, manage, and secure your UC solution for you, which is called unified communications as a service (UCaaS)?

What Does Any of That Have To Do With Collaboration and Productivity?

Depending on the solution you choose, cloud voice makes it easy for staff to work from anywhere. Add to that a few features, like being able to let your colleagues see whether you’re present, available, or busy, can help reduce unwanted interruptions.

Businesses that make the switch also tend to enjoy other time-saving features like call recording and transcription, CRM integrations, and advanced call routing and management to handle calls more efficiently, so there’s more time for what really matters.?

You can get all of these features and benefits with unified communications and more, and that’s, you know, nice. But the big deal is what bundling all communications tools into one mega-tool does for productivity.?

The numbers are now in, and a conservative estimate is that unified communications can save an organization with 100 employees with an average salary of $50,000….?

— wait for it —

…$464,000 in productivity, or the equivalent of having an additional 9.28 employees for FREE.?

So…How About Scaling New Heights?

If you’re not using on-premises hardware, you can get started with either solution without making a significant upfront investment. You can also add or remove users as needed at any location in just a few clicks.?

If you’re leaning towards cloud voice, you should be able to add or remove features easily through an online portal.?

So go ahead! Move locations, grow, give your staff the ability to stay home with a sick child or work from an Airbnb. That’s really hard to do with an on-premises system, but it’s not when you leave that all behind.

Where Does Cisco Fit In?

Yeah. So we get a lot of questions about this, but Cisco offers Webex calling (cloud voice) as well as a full Webex unified communications suite.?

They’re obviously not the only ones. You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to cloud voice platforms, but the top providers of UC solutions are basically Cisco, Microsoft, Zoom, 8x8, Vonage, and RingCentral. They’re not all that different from each other, and Cisco, Microsoft, Zoom, 8x8, and RingCentral are all featured in the leader section of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant.?

Our relationships with Microsoft and Cisco allow us to offer our clients more value with either of those two solutions, so we ultimately decided to shape our branded UCaaS offering on Webex, while VaaS 365 is based on Teams. Webex just has a few advantages when it comes to video and audio quality, integration with other Cisco hardware, interoperability with other video conferencing platforms, and a few other nice perks that make meetings more immersive and less frustrating.??

Newer Trends in Cloud Voice and Unified Communications

Several trends are emerging in the cloud voice and UC space:

• More AI and machine learning features, like note-taking and action-item tracking?
• More immersive collaboration experiences with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
• Integrating with smart speakers and wearable tech to allow voice commands and other automation
• Chatbots to help with scheduling meetings and retrieving information?
• Cybersecurity and privacy enhancements like end-to-end encryption, advanced access controls, and tools to help organizations meet compliance?

How To Get Started

Depending on the phone system you choose, getting a new one installed can take 45–90 days. Ideally, you should start planning 6–12 months in advance. But if you choose a managed solution that doesn’t require much physical hardware, the provider will do the bulk of implementing, securing, and managing your solution, not you.?

Now for the fun and games part. We do have an interactive quiz you can take to see which communication tool might be a good fit. Okay, so it’s not exactly Candy Crush. But it can help you navigate your way through what can be a dense amount of research in a few clicks.?