“The Cloud” is a term that drove my son nuts. He was a software engineer, and to him, “The Cloud” was a marketing term. I guess that makes sense since it made its way through Gartner’s Hype Curve. I’m old enough to remember the first network line diagrams that had a big cloud drawn for the wider network. Now, more than a decade after I first started to convince businesses to “go to the cloud”, hosted business phone systems are the norm. Companies understand the benefits of cloud-based phone systems: business continuity, operational expenses versus capital expenses, and the unification of communications (Unified Communications as a Service – UCaaS) across voice, messaging, meetings, etc.
So, what is the best cloud-based phone system, after all? You’re going to hate my answer. It depends. But wait, before you go, consider these factors when choosing your new system.
How To Select The Right Cloud-based Phone System
I was a Sales Engineer for much of my “telecom” career, and I know that not many people get excited about plastic phones or business phone systems. What they want is to communicate better, inside their own teams, with customers and prospects, and with vendors and suppliers. That’s why it’s important to do a little discovery in figuring out what the best option is for your business.
Ask yourself some of these questions:
- What is the biggest bottleneck in your business, from Sales to Production to Finance, that could be cleared up with better communication?
- How do your employees prefer to communicate? Text? Voice? Chat?
- How do your customers and/or prospects prefer to communicate? Think sales, support, marketing, finance, and more. Would they prefer to text or chat? Do they want online meetings rather than board rooms?
- Are you currently using a hosted solution? What do you love about it (like, you couldn’t do without it)? What do you absolutely hate about it?
- What other technology or software is on your roadmap that would really benefit from being integrated with your phone system?
- What kind of workers do you have? Leaders, remote sales, support, call center, etc.?
- Are you looking to spend about what you spend today, or are you looking to invest a little to get a bigger bang from your communications buck?
Pick The Best UCaaS Solution
Now that you – hopefully – have a better understanding of what your communication needs are, you’ll be able to select the best cloud-based phone system for your business. There are many options (heck, I offer nearly 100 options!) out there, so choosing can be daunting. Obviously, the best way to do this is through an expert like myself. But you can do it yourself.
Answer those questions, then start your research. You’ll soon start to see the features available out there and how the different providers separate themselves within the market. And then, you’ll find the best option for your business.
Or try this. Answer the questions, then contact me. I’ve got a great tool that I can plug in those features that really matter most to you and get a quick list of the best options. Then, you can decide from there.
