2015 has been a banner year for enterprise cloud communications in multiple sectors. With the year nearly over, however, it is vital for enterprises to start shifting on-site communications and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions to the cloud. This will prevent businesses from falling behind while enabling them to tap into this burgeoning trend.
With on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) systems declining at rapid rates, countless businesses have simply moved over to the cloud. This is partly due to hosted VoIP services, which have grown by double digits in 2015. According to Infonetics, PBX revenue, including time-division multiplexing (TDM) and IP PBX systems, dropped 6% in 2014. Conversely, Frost & Sullivan reported that IP telephony is now a $2.5 billion market that is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2020.
Rethinking Enterprise Communications
Even with cloud services continuing to dominate the market, countless companies have not secured unified communications platforms. Following are reasons many companies are still not adopting cloud environments despite the growth of mobile and global workforces.
- Bimodal IT Technologies – To enable enterprises to run and operate at customer speeds, countless CEOs are moving budgets away from IT to line of business (LOB) platforms. This allows business owners to secure more responsive services that meet customer needs.
- Faster Response Times – Operations are now strategically planned to secure optimal results in days and weeks rather than months and quarters. From sales and marketing to customer-facing executives, the bimodal IT market seems to parallel cloud growth in several areas and divisions.
- Personalized Customer Experiences – Customers demand more personalized experiences when it comes to products and services. This has put a tremendous amount of pressure on enterprises to deliver flawless services that will secure recurring business and ensure customer loyalty. According to Accenture, providing a personalized customer service experience ranks in the top three priorities of 81% of organizations that were recently surveyed.
Integrated Cloud Communications
Business leaders and owners should rethink existing protocols while implementing integrated cloud communications across their respective enterprises. This will meet the requirements of both IT and LOBs while ensuring a comprehensive and cohesive communications platform.
Choosing the Right Vendor
As consumer buying trends continue to evolve at rapid rates, companies must stay abreast of all the latest developments. By shifting towards integrated enterprise cloud communications, businesses will be able to keep pace with their new and existing customers.
The consequences can be disastrous for companies that still opt to ignore this shift. Though it may require extensive legwork and research, the key to securing optimal enterprise cloud solutions is to find the right vendor.