For an increasing number of small business owners, moving their phone system to the cloud looks like the smart move. The market for VoIP phone services, valued at $83 billion in 2015, will expand at a compound annual growth rate above 9.1 percent over the next five years to reach $140 billion in 2021, according to Zion Research projects.

Hosted business VoIP services from companies like Vonage account for the largest part of this revenue. Lower costs, greater mobility, and more unified integration are a few of the top draws attracting entrepreneurs to the cloud. Here are a few reasons why your business might benefit from moving your phone to the cloud: 

1) Lower Costs

Infrastructure cost savings are the biggest motivation drawing businesses to the cloud. Cloud-based phone services avoid the equipment hardware costs associated with traditional phone lines. They also cost less per month than traditional phone services. Additionally, cloud communications services are administered from the provider’s end, avoiding on-site maintenance costs. When all these costs are factored in, the average company with 20 employees who averages a combined 1,000 minutes of inbound and outbound calls per month can save up to 49 percent per month, or 69 percent per month when hardware costs are factored in, a Virtual PBX analysis found. For example, here at The Sherwood Group, we lowered our phone bill from about $300.00/month to $50.00/month. 

2) Mobile Flexibility

Another compelling advantage of cloud-based phone services is mobile flexibility. Over nine out of ten small businesses use a mobile device with superior memory and battery life like the Samsung Galaxy S7 to conduct business. One in ten small business owners even run their companies entirely from their smartphones, Forbes Insights research shows. And 37 percent of employees now telecommute, including a significant number who work from home over their mobile device. For employers who work on their smartphones and for companies with employees who work from mobile devices, cloud-based phone services represent the most natural fit with their existing infrastructure.

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3) Smoother Integration

Communicating over the cloud enables companies to unify their communications channels around a single platform. Cloud-based phone services can be integrated with text chat, video, email, web and social media communications channels. This is enabling companies to shift away from email-based communications, which can be difficult to manage when multiple emails and recipients become involved, to a new communications paradigm which emulates the look of social media, where multiple participants can all view the same conversation at once. This makes it easier for project managers to add new team members and share files without the conversation getting out of sync.

4) Improved Customer Service

Using the cloud as a unified communications base also makes it easier for companies to deliver superior customer service. Traditional phone-based support tickets can get disrupted when a call is transferred from one representative to another or from one channel to another, resulting in frustrations when customers have to repeat the same information they just gave another agent or start all over after a dropped call. Cloud-based phone systems can avoid this problem by providing a single platform where representatives can view the entire history of a ticket even when it moves from the phone to email, live chat or another medium. This smooth flow of communication results in more efficient ticket resolution and more satisfied customers.

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This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising,  graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering,  Now what do we do?”  We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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