The Transition From Small To Smart – 6 lessons From Virtual Telephony For SMEs, SMBs

SMEs and SMBs are often hailed as the backbone of the Indian economy. However, unfortunately, they often rely on outmoded ways of doing business because of which they aren’t able to boost efficiency and realise their true potential. Gradually, however, things are looking up in the SME sector, as it is waking up to the ways in which technology infrastructure can help it go to the next level of evolution.

Cloud telephony is one such technology that the SME and SMB space is embracing with a certain degree of alacrity as business owners begin to understand how it can help them enhance customer retention, loyalty and decrease operational costs. Enlisted below are six of the most important lessons that need to be grasped by SMEs and SMBs to help them decide on why virtual telephony processes are ideal for their business.

Improves Productivity

Many SME and SMB owners have grown tired of the long installation period and the rather leaden-footed functioning of Private Branch Exchange (PBX) telephone systems. Cloud communications, on the other hand, provide a high degree of seamless operational experience.

For instance, a virtual call response service can be aligned to the latest cloud communication devices, handling inbound as well as outbound calls. It also ensures critical calls are not missed. With smooth installation processes, quick setup, low maintenance, and ease of scaling, ROI of an organisation improves significantly with implementation of virtual telephony. Even the CRM applications of a business can be easily integrated with virtual telephony, leading to increased efficiency.

Cost-effectiveness

Being a third-party provider, software, and data storage involve negligible amount of initial investment in cloud communications. On the other hand, traditional PBX mechanisms utilised phone connectors which cost a lot of money, as well as time.

A cloud phone service is more cost-effective than traditional landlines as it doesn’t use traditional phone lines leading to no line rental fees. And it doesn’t require a big, expensive PBX system. Through the call functionality feature, clients are able to save while entrepreneurs who depend upon regular phone communications for their business can also add up on their savings.

Ease Of Location And Collaboration

Being based on a virtual platform, there is no need to place a central hardware for cloud communications, as required in PBX systems. This greatly assists SMEs and SMBs looking to establish offices at multiple locations or with employees who are working from remote areas. The common database of the office can be accessed from anywhere, thus easing operations. Collaboration services for internal employees is also improved greatly. Virtual telephony services allow employees to connect with each other easily to ensure different verticals are performing in tandem.

Facilitating Tailor-made Marketing Strategies

Data analytics and cloud communications go hand-in-hand. As a result, a plethora of information is recorded and stored in the cloud platform, which provides relevant insight on the likes and dislikes of individual customers, resulting in the creation of tailor-made strategies to create loyal customers.

As Lauren Freedman, President of the E-tailing Group said: “Always keep in mind the old retail adage: Customers remember the service a lot longer than they remember the price.”

Integrating With Various POS Systems

Devices such as tablets and smartphones are now serving as POS systems. They handle all business requirements such as inventory, payments, and location information. These POS systems and devices are better equipped to work on the cloud platform and also generate data, which is recorded on a real-time basis for quick analysis and interpretation by cloud platforms.

Reliability And Security

Cloud telephony can ensure that unexpected events such as floods, strikes or even demonetisation won’t disrupt business workflow. As cloud telephony allows business continuity features, SMEs, and SMBs can carry on making and taking calls with the confidence that the business is using the most reliable telephone system available and that work and transactions can go on uninterrupted.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.