4 Ways Business Can Make Cloud Telephony Work for Them

Cloud telephony is one of the most innovative and powerful tools that has impacted the strategy of many businesses. It has facilitated businesses with a platform for growth and scaling without having to worry much about the costs involved. Cloud telephony is as beneficial for large businesses as it is for small enterprises.
 

Steve Ballmer, CEO - Microsoft says about the potential of cloud,

“Our industry is going through quite a wave of innovation and it's being powered by a phenomenon which is referred to as the cloud.”

With a good strategy and a segmented audience to target, cloud telephony can do wonders for companies.
 

Here are 4 ways businesses can make cloud telephony work for them:
 

A toll-free number is the fastest way to generate leads through sources such as television, radio or billboards. And the best part is that it works for both large and small enterprises in the market. A toll free number can facilitate in a friendlier and lasting relationship with your customer as well.
 

Since toll free numbers do not charge a penny to the caller's, it is a wonderful way to spread the message that your business would love to have people come up to you with their queries. One way by which businesses can make cloud telephony work for them is adopting a toll free number for their business.
 

The more leads you generate, the more opportunities you have to get them converted to prospects. And for your customers, it is a great way to reach up to you without hesitation.
 

Market research indicates that a significant number of customers prefer getting their issues sorted out on the telephone. So having a toll free number for your business can be a great way to let customers open up to you. And the more interaction they will have, the more trust will develop with your company.
 

Jamal Mazhar, Founder, and CEO – Kaavo says,

“Cloud is empowering, as anyone in any part of world with internet connection and a credit card can run and manage applications in the state of the art global data centres; companies leveraging cloud will be able to innovate cheaper and faster.”

Cloud telephony comes with many benefits. No doubt it is an innovation of technology that is changing the lives of businesses like never before. Another way by which businesses can make cloud telephony work for them is by having an interactive voice response for their businesses.
 

IVR is a smart innovation that basically has pre-recorded responses to play as per the requirement. It has many benefits in store for businesses. First, it helps you stay on board all the time and second, it provides a distinguished level of customer satisfaction. An interactive voice response responds to customer's queries in no time.
 

Consider for example that a customer calls you up to know the status of their order. In order to assist this query of the customer, the IVR can ask the customer to enter their order number on the dial-up pad and give a response immediately. This is not only saving you time but your customers as well. Your customers have to no longer wait to get their smallest issues answered.
 

Meanwhile, you can utilize this saved time in creating better content and strategies for your marketing campaigns.  All this is ultimately benefiting the businesses with a higher level of customer satisfaction.

As the name suggests, virtual receptionists do the exact same thing for the customers as physical receptionists would do. They let your business stay online 24 * 7. This means that even when you are not around, the virtual receptionist will still be answering your calls.
 

Isn't it something that every business wants! Ideally, your business doesn't go to sleep when you do.
 

So, your prospects might still be calling you after the office hours. By having this feature of virtual receptionist for their business, companies have a much greater level of satisfaction for their customers. Another hidden opportunity that VR facilitators is by helping the business turn global, even though you might be actually located in a particular part of the world.
 

Since you have virtual receptionist the calls from your customers from all over the world can be successfully answered no matter from which time zone they are calling. This becomes another successful way of making cloud telephony work for businesses.
 

Brad Jefferson, CEO – Animoto, finds the importance of cloud computing for companies,

“Cloud computing is really a no-brainer for any start-up because it allows you to test your business plan very quickly for little money. Every start-up, or even a division within a company that has an idea for something new, should be figuring out how to use cloud computing in its plan.”

One of the best advantages of cloud telephony remains its integration with the businesses' CRM software. The integration not only facilitates storage of customer data on the cloud, but also saying goodbye to a large pile of files and other such maintaining software of your business.
 

The telephony system integrates with your existing software and keeps a track of all your customer information. So, when the customer calls, the system already has a history of them. This is also an excellent way to engage your customers with personalization.
 

Consider, for example, when your customer calls, your cloud telephony system picks up the call and answers, "Hello Mr. John, how can I help you today?"
 

Not only does it seem futuristic, but imparts a feeling that you actually care about your customer. Storing information on the cloud will also help the sales rep in taking notes of the customer's issues so that when the issue comes to the next representative, they don't actually have to ask and understand everything from scratch.
 

Not only is this behaviour much appreciated by the customer, but also from your employees, keeping everyone satisfied.
 

Thus, with the cloud, individuals and small businesses can snap their fingers and instantly set up enterprise-class services for their customers. This is not only magnifying their efficiencies, but also helping reach out to the customers on a global level.
 

Marc Benioff, CEO - Salesforce.com writes about the freedom of cloud, “The cloud services companies of all sizes. The cloud is for everyone. The cloud is a democracy. ”
 

So, if you haven’t tasted the success of cloud telephony yet, I’m sure these benefits will definitely make up your mind to take your business to the cloud.