Just about any business can benefit from a company-wide, customer-facing communications system. But for many, the costs of incorporating branch office PBXs into the company phone system simply outweigh the advantages.
Conventional branch office PBXs are designed to operate as stand-alone systems supporting stationary office workers. Tying together autonomous branch office PBXs or adding support for nomadic users can be an arduous, costly proposition. And for companies who have deployed multiple PBX vendors, constructing a unified customer-facing system may not even be feasible. As a result, many businesses are stuck with independent branch office phone systems with distinct phone numbers and separate management and reporting capabilities. Until recently, a unified customer-facing phone system has been beyond the reach of many organizations.
Now, cloud-based services allow distributed organizations of all sizes to enjoy the benefits and convenience of customer-facing, company-wide communications systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. New services allow enterprises to leverage mobile phones, VoIP, Skype, Google and Internet telephony, and other forms of communication, to economically extend business communications to branch offices, teleworkers, and mobile users, as well as customers and business partners. These cloud-based services can be used to supplement an incumbent branch office PBX, injecting more features and doing so prior to hitting the premise, or they can be deployed as an alternative to a traditional branch office phone system.
Using new cloud-based communication services, companies can deliver rich call-center features to ordinary employees and everyday business functions at a fraction of the price of a full-fledged call center solution.
Traditional office phone systems were designed to support static telephones. They aren’t well suited for distributed, nomadic workforces. Cloud-based communication solutions, in contrast, manage people and business functions – not just telephones. They automatically track the workforce and monitor the availability and activity of employees wherever they are – in the office, working from home, or on the road. And they support various devices (PBX desk phones, soft phones, mobile phones), networks (PSTN, Skype, VoIP/SIP), and mediums (voice, chat, video) – enabling employees to stay engaged with customers, coworkers and business partners from any location, at any time.
By receiving business communications as a cloud-based service, companies can easily extend company-wide communications services to branch offices and mobile users. This allows any distributed organization to enjoy all the features and benefits of a rich, customer-facing communications solution without wholesale PBX swap outs or costly system upgrades.
