Cloud telephony: how it works!

Why switch to cloud telephony?

The quality of collaboration is a decisive factor for the success of any company. Employees, customers, partners: everyone must be able to communicate easily and quickly, regardless of their location. Cloud telephony is the solution for this. Flexibility, efficiency, cost optimisation: this technology has it all. Find out below about the many advantages and how you too can switch to a cloud phone system.

Making calls in the cloud: what is it?

A phone system that is hosted by the provider in a data centre rather than on your company’s premises. Your calls are then routed via the internet instead of a conventional telephone line, which no longer really exists in Germany anyway: Deutsche Telekom has already fully converted its analogue and ISDN network to IP. The technology used in the backbone is therefore nothing new. A conventional telephone uses analogue signals to transmit information, which is then converted into digital IP packets in the backbone. With IP telephony, voice is converted directly into small digital packets, which are then forwarded like web data. The whole process is coordinated by the phone system, which now sits in the cloud rather than on your premises.

Why move your company telephony to the cloud?

Cost control: The company achieves significant savings. Cloud telephony solutions are typically billed at a flat rate per employee (per seat) including flat-rate calling, and no longer incur hardware, maintenance or step-fixed expansion costs.

Greater mobility: Employees can access the service from anywhere as long as they have internet access. Cloud solutions are ideal for companies with multiple locations and for employees who travel frequently and/or work from home.

Simplified administration: When you outsource your phone system, you put administration in professional hands, giving you more time and resources for other tasks.

Extended functions: Many cloud telephony software solutions enable the use of additional services, for example unified communications. This lets employees access shared calendars, video conferencing solutions or even instant messaging directly within their telephony app.

Switching to cloud telephony: how it works

Once you are convinced of the many benefits of IP telephony, all that’s left is to take the step and start your digital transformation. To make the migration a success, consider the following points:

Internet connection: It’s important that your internet connection is powerful enough to support an IP telephony solution. Best to clarify this directly with SAVECALL or your network operator.

Number of extensions: Subscriptions usually offer a plan based on the number of users. Calculate your telephony requirements and check whether a flat rate is worthwhile.

Options: Landline telephony, mobile telephony, video conferencing, instant messaging: think about which functions matter to you when choosing the right package.

Devices: You can use IP phones or run the application directly on your devices, such as a PC, smartphone or tablet. Check whether and how many users need desk phones, whether you need a DECT solution, and whether dead man’s switches in production or building systems are controlled via the phone. These points often raise challenges worth considering.

Product recommendation: Avaya Cloud Office

Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral is a comprehensive cloud phone system and collaboration tool that unifies communication across all in-person and remote teams and locations. Calls, chats, meetings and collaboration, no matter where your employees are. File sharing, task management and virtual team rooms help you stay focused on tasks and keep to schedules. With the ability to integrate more than 100 business applications such as Google Drive and Salesforce, you can tailor a unified, cloud-based company communication set-up. As an experienced partner for both classic and cloud-based phone systems, SAVECALL can meet almost any special requirement together with Avaya. Avaya understands where German companies are coming from with their phone system requirements and does not demand revolutionary changes. On the contrary: we typically run hybrid environments for our customers, which we migrate in a cost-optimised, flexible way depending on requirements, contract terms and hardware lifecycles. Find out more about Avaya Cloud Office and current terms on our product page.