The new year always brings a feeling of renewal and of new hope. This year more than any other should be a time of resurgence and a renewed feeling of optimism.
We may not be out of the woods yet, but 2022 should begin seeing the end of lockdowns and the return to some semblance of normal. Which brings us to the topic at hand.
We have been fielding lots of enquiries from companies wanting to embrace remote and hybrid working but don’t quite know how to do it.
That’s what prompted this post.
Today we’re going to discuss cloud communications in 2022. What is it and how can it help your business?
What is cloud communications?
Cloud communications is a solution where everything required to run communications within your company is in the cloud. Whether that’s by using a third party provider like Cloud Heroes or using one of the many cloud solutions out there that let you manage your own.
Using a third party is the most common version as it offloads most of the costs and responsibility of running your communications infrastructure.
Cloud communications can include your VoIP solution, cloud PBX, cloud CRM, chat client, cloud storage and unified communications as a service (UCaaS).
If you’re planning to implement remote or hybrid working, this is exactly the kind of infrastructure you need to deliver it.
How cloud communications can help your business
Cloud communications reduce IT spend by removing the need to buy hardware, software or licences.
It means not having to employ an IT team, a network security team or worrying about viruses.
But there’s a lot more to it than that.
Let’s consider a scenario. You’re a customer service provider who runs a call centre. You want to revolutionise your current system so it enables flexible working including remote.
Rather than use the system you cobbled together to get you through the pandemic, you want to invest in something more robust, more scalable and more reliable.
Communications
A cloud PBX or VoIP solution can take care of call routing, call delivery, IVR, queueing, database dips and agent management.
You could even take it further with an enterprise product like Cisco ICM. A product that delivers full control over call routing, call handling, call delivery, inbound and outbound call handling and reporting.
Calls can be delivered to staff whether they are in the office, working from home or sitting on the beach.
The customer will experience the same high quality experience regardless of location. All while keeping their data and yours, secure.
Computing
You could use a hosted desktop solution to provide everything staff need to do their job. All within the cloud.
Access your productivity apps, office platform, data, storage and everything you need from anywhere, at any time.
No need to buy hardware or software. No licensing. No outages due to hardware failure, no having to call IT when things go wrong. Everything hosted in the cloud and managed by experts.
Your hosted desktop can also feature your favourite chat apps, productivity software and popular programs too.
As long as your staff has a laptop or desktop capable of accessing the internet and doing the job, the rest is easy!
Cyber security
Just because you’re working in the cloud, doesn’t mean your data is at risk. Cloud computing has come a long, long way since the days of old.
Now, everything is encrypted and protected on multiple levels. Networks are monitored 24/7 and your company data is as safe as it’s possible to be.
Security solutions can also include spam protection, phishing protection and social engineering mitigation too.
As you’re using hosted desktop and cloud storage, you don’t have to worry about firewalls, antivirus, malware or anything like that!
How much does it all cost?
The million dollar question. Fortunately, it doesn’t cost anything like a million dollars!
Most cloud solutions use a per seat licensing pricing model. You pay a set fee per person, per month to access your suite of tools.
That cost will depend on the variety of apps you want to use and how complex you need your solution. Rest assured, it will be many times cheaper than setting it all up yourself!
Contact Cloud Heroes to discuss how you want to embrace cloud communications in 2022!
