There is an old saying, “you get what you pay for”, and it rings true when it comes to your phone system.
As technology advances, it’s becoming increasingly clear that traditional phone systems, also known as legacy phone systems, are no longer the most efficient and cost-effective option for businesses. While these systems have been used for many years, they are now considered outdated and unable to keep up with the changing demands of today’s modern workplace. In this blog, we’ll discuss five reasons why businesses should consider hanging up their legacy phone systems and making the switch to modern communication technologies.
If you’re still using an aging phone system, it could be costing your business and eating away at profits. Communication is a critical aspect not only in customer service but also in driving new sales. Hence a legacy phone system may hold back your business from achieving its full potential.
A not-so-new solution to replace legacy phone systems is available. Cloud Phone Systems (often referred to as Hosted PBX) are a modern communication solution for businesses, which are hosted and maintained in ultra-reliable and secure data centers. This system is delivered to you via an internet connection, so it is location-independent.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Well, many enterprises are still apprehensive about making the transition toward cloud phone systems, so we have compiled a comprehensive list of reasons why it makes sense.
Top 5 Reasons to Hang Up Legacy Phone Systems
In this blog, we’ll discuss five reasons why businesses should consider hanging up their legacy phone systems and making the switch to modern communication systems.
Feature-Rich Phone System
One of the biggest drawbacks of legacy phone systems is their limited features. These systems typically only offer basic calling and voicemail functionality, which can make it difficult for businesses to stay competitive. In contrast, modern communication platforms provide a wide range of features and capabilities, including video conferencing, collaboration tools, and advanced call management. By switching to a modern communication platform, businesses can take advantage of advanced features that can improve productivity, collaboration, and customer service.
Today’s computing and telecom technology have come lightyears from where it was even ten years ago. What this means is that there are features and benefits that the latest and greatest telephone systems offer that those of years past could never do. This includes a lot of things, from simple modern conveniences like conference calling, follow me, and voicemail-to-email to novel features like website integration, messaging, and video calling. What this means is that in today’s world, any business that is clinging to legacy phone systems is doing itself a huge disservice in terms of capabilities.
Moreover, businesses can add and/or remove features according to their requirements with cloud-based phone systems. For instance, a call center or seasonally busy business can add advanced call queuing and automatic callback features to maximize customer service efficiency during a busy season. Similarly, companies can open up chat, social media, and video channels to communicate through any channel customers prefer thus customizing the experience. Unfortunately, none of this was possible in legacy phone systems.
Mobility
Legacy phone systems can tie employees to their desks, limiting their ability to work remotely or on the go. This can be a major problem for businesses with remote or mobile workers. Modern communication platforms, on the other hand, are designed with mobility in mind. They allow employees to work from anywhere and on any device, making it easier for businesses to support remote and mobile workers.
Accessing legacy telephone systems from anywhere off-site was a long, cumbersome process involving special dialing sequences or VPNs, which required quite a bit of technical expertise from the user. There was seldom an easy-to-use method to communicate and collaborate from remote locations.
However, the latest cloud phone systems allow users to log in from anywhere with a stable internet connection. Not only this, but they ensure the same security and encryption even over the internet.
This is an immense boon in the post-pandemic world where work-from-home and work-from-anywhere is a critical part of most businesses’ everyday routines. Having quick, reliable, and easy-to-use phones and collaboration tools that can work virtually anywhere is something no business should miss out on.
Scalability
Cloud-based phone systems are created to scale with your company’s changing needs. If your company is expecting significant growth or needs to scale up and down seasonally, cloud phone systems are great at efficiently scaling.
Traditional legacy phone systems require new and costly equipment, licensing, cabling, and professional installation whenever your company is expanding. Whereas cloud services are simple to scale; all you have to do is add user extensions allowing for a quicker expansion of the phone system without having to hire a professional.
Reliability and Security
Today’s cloud phone systems are designed to be more reliable than on-premise phone systems. Since cloud phone systems are hosted in secure data centers optimized for redundancy, security, and reliability, the achievable uptime will always be much better than an on-premise system which would become cost prohibitive to design at the same level. When any business location experiences a power or Internet outage, the cloud phone system continues to work normally handling calls and being accessible to all callers and users regardless of their location. Cloud phone systems offer tremendous peace of mind in knowing that minor outages at any given location will not impede your organization’s ability to function and operate normally.
Legacy phone systems may not have the same level of security features as modern communication platforms. This can leave businesses vulnerable to security breaches and data leaks. Modern communication platforms provide businesses with better security features and greater control over their communication data. This can help businesses to protect sensitive information and maintain compliance with industry regulations.
Cost Savings
Cloud-based phone systems are an affordable and worry-free alternative to legacy phone systems. Moving communications and collaboration functionality into the cloud can save money compared to legacy phone systems.
Understandably, businesses are always looking to cut costs wherever possible. Cloud phone systems cost much less in terms of upfront investment in equipment while also reducing or eliminating reoccurring maintenance and support costs. What’s more, cloud phone systems are often priced on a simple per-user basis.
Conclusion
Communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of business, but if the quality isn’t there, the customers won’t be either! By making the switch to modern communication technologies, you can take advantage of advanced features, reduced costs, improved scalability and mobility, and enhanced security with the help of a reliable partner who can make the process seamless.
We present the RingOffice Cloud Phone Systems and RingOffice Managed 3CX Cloud Phone Systems designed for businesses that want a reliable, secure, fully managed communication system in the cloud without sacrificing administration, control, and integration capabilities.
So what are you waiting for? Get professional help today!