5 ways cloud phone systems can drive hybrid work success

We are now coming out of the most significant remote working experiment in history - and the verdict is out: 78% of workers want to stay working from home. In fact, 30% of workers will change jobs if no remote working options are available. 

Hybrid working is the perfect compromise for businesses worried about the impact remote working will have on company culture or who want to protect their long-term investment in office premises. 

This month, we conducted a poll on our Linkedin page, and we found out that 67% of business people believe the hybrid option is the future in their industry. Coming a distant second, at 27%, is remote working. In total,  94% of respondents believe the future of work is flexible, mobile and dynamic. 

So how do you make flexible work, work?

The good news is the transformation to new working options is aided by the advent of new tech - and there is no better tech to adopt first than a cloud-based phone system.

The telephone is still king; even in our digital-first world, a modern phone system is still the central hub for most businesses. 

When building the pillars for hybrid work success, you can rely on a cloud-based phone system to power you into the future of work by bridging the communication silos in your business and strengthing your relationships with your customers.

With a cloud-based phone system, you are unlocking limitless possibilities for your business. So, let's look at five ways a migration to a cloud-based phone system can give you an edge in a competitive, dynamic, hybrid work environment:

Enable real mobility and flexibility with softphones

Distance shouldn't mean disconnect! Connecting remote teams and improving new remote working practices should be a priority for IT managers. Softphone apps are easy to deploy and device-neutral, so your staff can use their current device to power their work phones. With the future of work meaning a combination of off-site and on-site employees, softphone apps bring everyone together under the umbrella of one phone system, facilitating collaboration and improving productivity.

IP Telecom's softphone solutions, IPT for Teams and IPT for Softphones, are easy to deploy. It affords a truly unified communication hub to your team, meaning calls can be transferred to team members while granting accessibility to dispersed teams through short extension codes.

Hot Feature: Find me/ Follow me will ensure you never miss a phone call again. This feature allows users to route their calls through the devices assigned to a user, one after the other until the call is answered. Different configurations let all devices ring simultaneously, according to the users' preference.

                                At home or on the go, Find Me, Follow Me, allows you to have your phone system with you wherever you are 

Better customer service with IVRs

With face-to-face interactions being limited, your customers' virtual interactions with your team should not suffer as a consequence. Automated voice greetings enable external calls to be diverted to the most appropriate department. This means queries are answered accurately and quickly, saving time for a busy team while maintaining a quality experience for the caller.

Hot Feature: Advance Call Flows means a business can customise their call routing around how their business works. This feature also allows pre-programming of time of day routing for lunch hours, closing times, and holiday times.

                   You don't need to compromise on customer service with a Hosted PBX

Give the Individual User unique features.

With a cloud-phone system, each individual user can bring all their phone system features with them wherever they are as a desktop. From a user portal, you can view call history, access and download voicemails and set up call diverts without the need for consulting an administrator.

Hot Feature: Voicemail to Email allows users to access their voicemail at a dedicated email account. The voicemail is available on the go as an audio file.

Activate conferencing rooms for virtual meetings

A crucial fixture for remote working teams is virtual meetings; team meetings and client meetings have changed forever. With a cloud phone, you can conduct meetings with a safe and secure cloud-hosted conferencing facility.

Hot Feature: Conference Bridge allows users to create virtual rooms that allow multiple people to participate in a group call. Each user or group can assign numbers for external callers to dial in, passwords and pin codes for access. Conferences can be moderated by the creators with features that allow users to mute, remove and block callers.

     Conference Bridge allows you to facilitate virtual meetings and its available on IP Telecom's Hosted PBX

A dream for managers

With the modern workplace expanding every time, for remote managers, the job of ensuring productivity doesn't have to be tedious. A Hosted PBX allows team managers to have visibility on productivity with access to daily stats such as:

• The number of incoming calls
• Total call duration
• The average call duration
• The wait duration
• The average wait duration

Team members are also accessible through quick and easy extension codes. Managers can contact their remote team irrespective of their locations globally without worrying about expensive call charges, as calls are charged internally because of the unification of a business' telephony through Hosted PBX.

Hot Feature: Dial-by-Name directory allows managers to have access to a company-wide database of contacts that is accessible at a click of a button

Security Tip: Using VoIP over a VPN ensures that everything stays within your protected environment.

Are you ready to enable hybrid work?

Migrating to a cloud-based phone system is a no-brainer for businesses that want to excel in the modern world. IP Telecom's team of experts are willing to help companies onboard, train, and equip their staff with business-class tools to make them adjust to their new workplace reality.

IP Telecom's product suite is designed for teams in various industries and sizes, allowing businesses to scale up at their own pace.

Consult our team today for a free telephony audit: sales@iptelecom.ie; 01 687 7777