Modern cloud communications platforms are changing how work gets done

Traditional ways of working have changed. No longer do you require a multi-terabyte hard disk to store your data on your PC. Now you can use the wonders of cloud communication and cloud storage. The other great benefit is that working at home or remotely is now much easier as all the information you need is stored securely in the cloud – and this includes all the office tools needed to do your work. Not all businesses have opened their eyes to these benefits, but they will find that they have to change their ways of working as competition is rife.

According to Vivian Maza, a Forbes Councils Member writing for Forbes in her article: “Three Keys to Managing Remote Workers”, “The remote work revolution is officially underway. Over the last several years, the rise of cloud computing has made it possible for people to work from anywhere they can access an Internet connection, evolving our expectations about work and management in the process. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that nearly a quarter (23%) of U.S. workers now work remotely at least part of the time, and flexible work arrangements have become an increasingly common benefit for attracting top talent.”

The Advantage of Cloud Communications

Cloud communication platforms are readily available for all types of workers doing a variety of tasks. There are cloud-based platforms for telephony, banking, CRM and a whole range of productivity and office applications. Of course, there are also cloud storage facilities where multi-terabytes of storage can be uploaded and accessed by all workers with each worker only having password access to their particular areas in the cloud.

The use of cloud communication also makes application software development easier and quicker. According to John Peak, a Forbes Councils Member writing in Forbes in his article: ”Strategies for Cloud Deployments”, “As more enterprise operations transition to cloud-based environments, and as product teams use these environments to deploy releases to production faster than ever before, months-long release cycles are becoming rarer. Release early, release often is the new mantra.”

Cloud Telephony Advantage

Whilst there are many companies that still use legacy phone systems, such as digital PBX systems with fixed-wire handsets, there has been a move to IP-based phone systems where the handset is attached to the LAN and the telephony server is put in the local switch room. Many companies have seen the advantage of moving all the telephony back-office hardware into the cloud, using a single tenanted or multi-tenanted hosted solution The main advantages of having the telephony systems in the cloud is that access to telephony services can be from anywhere where there is WiFi, 4G/5G service or an Internet connection. Also, the telephone handset can be a simple IP phone or a headset attached to a PC and, of course, cloud telephony frees up space in the switch room.

The features and functions of the cloud telephony system are numerous, and if special features are required, say a totally customised dial plan or all voice calls being recorded, this can be easily programmed in a platform, such as the Voximplant communication platform. Cloud telephony, coupled with other cloud services such as cloud contact centres with an IVR system, means that the company’s back-end infrastructure and links to the cloud can be used as a shared medium. No longer will a company need separate data systems and separate voice systems.

What Foes the Future Hold?

As technology advances, the worker’s platform will be a multi-functional computing device that not only provides all the functionality of today’s PCs, but also handles all voice communications, video conferencing and a vast range of collaboration tools all hosted in a cloud system so that workers can be in any place in the world and still be, and feel, part of the company’s workforce. Access to contact centers with sophisticated IVR systems, e-commerce and banking sites, and cloud CRM systems will be just a click away. Companies are already offering these services so that Working at home will become Working anywhere in the world.

Conclusion

Cloud communications is becoming the future way of working for companies. This can provide all the data, storage, tools, applications and communications that companies will ever require. The world is changing, roads are getting more congested and travel by public transport not wastes time, but can be expensive. Cloud communication is the answer so that people can start work wherever they are without having the need to travel to a particular place of work.

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