EN-CA
When you combine business communications, mobility and the cloud, something wonderful happens: borders disappear, barriers collapse, costs drop, and productivity rises. It’s happening today at businesses around the globe through the power of cloud communications. If this sounds like the kind of business you want, it’s time to move your voice, collaboration and customer service to the cloud.
Hosted VoIP: What is it?
Hosted VoIP. Cloud IP. Virtual office phone system. There are a lot of names for this newest advancement in telecommunications technology. Basically, a hosted VoIP phone system is just like a high-end, on-premises PBX—only the infrastructure and hardware that makes it work are taken care of by a hosted VoIP service provider like Mitel.
Who uses it?
To understand cloud-based VoIP service, you have to start by understanding the cloud. You’ve probably heard of the cloud before—it’s that thing that exists in a faraway galaxy, only accessible by IT geniuses. Actually, not so much. The cloud is just a network of servers, each designated to perform a specific function or set of functions. If you’ve ever used email or any kind of social media, you’ve used the cloud. When information is stored somewhere other than a physical device, it’s stored in the cloud.
What can it do?
Cloud technology can also provide online services. In the application of a cloud-based phone system, your day-to-day business communications are handled remotely by secure servers. That means you don’t have to worry about any physical equipment or hardware. Mitel’s hosted VoIP phone systems give you the freedom to grow at your own pace. As a VoIP cloud provider, we take care of the infrastructure—and you’re free to use as much or as little as you need.
How does it work?
In short, it works like a dream. That is if you dream of a business phone system with full-range scalability, advanced capabilities and no maintenance—all at one low monthly cost.
More specifically, it works by converting analog voice signals to digital packets so voice traffic runs on the same high-speed network as your existing data and internet traffic. And because today’s cloud servers are incredibly fast, highly redundant and use advanced encryption, voice and data traffic are reliable, crystal clear and secure.
A hosted VoIP solution may be just what your business needs. Check out our Cloud Basics page to find out more specifics about the cloud and how it works.
Capabilities & features
You get access to a slew of unique features and functions with a cloud-based phone system—capabilities previously unavailable and unimaginable to traditional phone systems. With cloud technology, your business phone system can go even further. That means it can take your business further. These days, telecommunications doesn’t just refer to voice anymore. A hosted VoIP phone system gives you complete communication integration—that means you get all the powerful tools a modern business needs. Mitel’s cloud service includes:
- Web conferencing
- Video conferencing
- Screen sharing
- Receive voicemails as emails
- Voice-to-text technology
For a full list of features, check out our Cloud Features page.
Benefits of the cloud
Cloud-based VoIP service gives businesses of any size and with any budget the same outstanding capabilities previously available exclusively to large businesses. A hosted VoIP solution gives your business the tools it needs to gain a competitive edge for a fixed, monthly cost it can afford.
- Save money with hosted VoIP. Get the same great voice quality and features you’ve come to expect out of a communications and collaboration system without all the hardware and maintenance costs—just a predictable, low, fixed monthly cost.
- Public, private and hybrid cloud communications. Cloud communications isn’t an all-or-nothing endeavor. There are several deployment models you can choose from depending on your business’s unique situation, and you can shift from one approach to another over time.
- Replacing, expanding and upgrading hosted VoIP is a nonissue. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. And business communications systems are not immune from this. With a hosted VoIP phone system, you don’t need to worry about maintenance or upgrades—we take care of that.
- Customer experience tools. Help your business deliver exceptional customer service on every call with a cloud-based contact center solution. Plus, take advantage of unlimited scalability, seamless mobility and integrated technology that brings business communications and business intelligence together.
- Support BYOD with your cloud-based VoIP solution. With more flexible work arrangements and more powerful electronics available to the general public, users are getting more and more insistent on using their own devices. And new devices with new capabilities are released all the time. A smart cloud communications provider like Mitel can pool resources from all of its subscribers to work on common compatibility requests, so you’re never out of date.
- Simply manage phone system integration across multiple locations. With a virtual office phone system, you benefit from standardized capabilities and total interoperability across locations. When upgrades happen, they happen everywhere simultaneously. Maintenance is outsourced to the hosted PBX provider and far fewer resources are required to understand and use systems across the business. And processes and procedures can be standardized for greater efficiency.
- Create a cloud-enabled workforce. We work in a mobile world where smartphones, mobile apps and the cloud have replaced traditional business tools. With a cloud-based VoIP phone system, your business can turn your communications into a competitive advantage that drives productivity and delivers an exceptional customer experience.
Learn more
If you find yourself wanting to learn more about cloud communications, Mitel can help. Download Cloud Communications For Dummies today and learn how moving to the cloud now can help your business continue to be successful.
