by Tom Goldsworthy

With the seismic shift to home working in 2020, the benefits of cloud solutions such as Teams, Zoom and other collaboration applications have shown brightly. But this has been less true for cloud voice platforms.

Staff in organisations that had existing cloud solutions have simply carried on using MS365, GSuite, Salesforce and others without changing much at all. They simply picked up their laptops, went home and logged back in.

Why then, when cloud-based voice systems offer the same seamless functionality, were so many organisations scrambling to change their telephony setup by enabling diverts and emergency messaging?

The uptake of Zoom and Teams shows one trend. These are not the best tools for daily contact with clients and suppliers. Businesses seem to have over-compensated for the lack of day to day interaction of staff by replacing it with endless internal meetings. In a recent conversation with a sales director of an insurance firm, I discovered that they had 2 to 3 internal Zoom meetings a day. “How many did you have when you were all in the office?” I asked. “One to two per week,” he replied.  Pre-covid, staff time was spent in face to face meetings with customers and prospects, or talking to them on the phone.

Understandably face to face meetings need alternative solutions, but the ability to make calls and receive calls, fully monitored and managed from any location with a decent internet connection (i.e. exactly what cloud voice solutions deliver) didn’t need an alternative solution; many businesses already had good cloud voice solutions - and this seems to be forgotten.

The overriding theme seems to be that many of businesses simply don't understand the power of what they have. There is a mindset that nothing has changed from their old ISDN lines and onsite PBX. But this is not the case, cloud voice is a completely different kind of telephony from traditional phone systems, and it is every bit as flexible as other cloud solutions. Companies using it properly can continue to work seamlessly from office or home, maintaining productivity and levels of sales or service.

To learn more about cloud voice solutions please contact me at tgoldsworthy@vtsl.net.

About VTSL

VTSL is a leading cloud communications technology company, providing organisations across the UK and Ireland with the solutions they need to work smarter. From integrated telephony-CRM systems, to video conferencing, to fibre connectivity and work-from-home solutions, VTSL is committed to helping companies use technology to get ahead. Find out more about VTSL's award-winning cloud business telephony system, network solutions and software integrations by emailing info@vtsl.net or giving us a call.