Digital transformation is on the top of the priority list for a majority of Canadian businesses. The pandemic accelerated cloud adoption urgency and revealed just how quickly business operations could be impacted by the unexpected.
Approximately 90% of surveyed businesses have a digital transformation initiative underway (ZK Research). Some of the main reasons for this include:
Two other important reasons that companies are building robust cloud infrastructures include improving business continuity and enabling a remote workforce.
The pandemic has illustrated that companies need to be agile enough to quickly adjust to outside forces. If unprepared, one major cyberattack or another unforeseen event can quickly take a company down.
The remote and hybrid workforce is a legacy of the pandemic. 36% of Ontarians say their ideal working environment is primarily or entirely remote. The number of remote employees globally is expected to double this year.
What all this means is that cloud infrastructure has become vital if a company wants to remain competitive and resilient. One of the most important parts of a cloud strategy is to move your business phone system to the cloud.
One of the biggest benefits of switching to a cloud-based phone system is the ability to use your business lines from any location. This allows remote teams the ability to call out on a business line rather than having to use a personal cell phone.
It’s also convenient for hybrid and office-only employees because they no longer have to give out two numbers to business contacts (desk line and mobile) since they can answer their business line from a mobile device or desk phone.
In the event of a natural disaster or another event that makes it impossible to work at your office, your customers can still reach you and you can access your calls from any internet-connected location.
You can be looking at startup costs that are easily over $4,000 if you’re installing an on-premises PBX phone system. This is a hefty expense for a small business.
With a VoIP phone system, there is no expensive equipment to install, and no service fee to have someone come to your office to add new extensions when you need them. You can get started for a small fraction of the cost and don’t have to budget thousands of dollars to get your business lines up and running.
When you use an on-premises system, you are usually locked into a service contract for a specific period of time. And if you downsize in-office staff due to building a remote team later, you’re stuck with the additional extensions that you paid to put in.
VoIP is completely scalable, so you’re only paying for the number of users and lines that you need. You can easily add or remove services as your needs change.
A cloud-hosted phone system gives you all the enterprise-class features of an on-premises phone system, but for a much lower cost. So, if you’re a small business, you might now be able to afford all the “bells and whistles” that you couldn’t with a landline phone system.
Some of the many features of our Haxxess VoIP phone system include:
Because a VoIP system is hosted in the cloud, you don’t have any hardware maintenance costs to pay. With a landline phone system, the switches in the PBX box and all the lines that run throughout your building need ongoing maintenance and repairs, which increases your costs.
When employees are working remotely, a landline phone system becomes obsolete. They may be able to have their extension forwarded to their mobile phone, but they can’t transfer calls or make outgoing calls on their work line. The workarounds just to interact with customers can drag down productivity.
VoIP enables employees by giving them full access to a professional company phone system from anywhere. Both customers and employees get the same consistent experience no matter where a person may be working.
VoIP allows you to unify your office communications and keep track of everything in one place. Text, chat, and video are additional ways employees communicate with each other, customers, and vendors. VoIP can pull that all together in a way that landline phones can’t.
Some of the features you get with a cloud-hosted phone system that you won’t get in a landline-based system are:
Looking for a reliable managed cloud-hosted phone system? Haxxess can help your Northern Ontario business with affordable solutions that expand your business capabilities.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation! Call 705-222-8324 or reach out online.