As the person responsible for the telephone, you might not be looking for a particular telephone for your business - you are looking for a solution that ensures that your employees can make calls. And whether this happens through the cloud or internally, it doesn't matter. Or is that? Think again. This is the right time to move to the cloud, especially now because ISDN is almost over and support for this solution will be lost. Does cloud meet your needs? And how does a process like that work? We highlight the main steps of cloud migration.
1. Analyze your situation
Do you want to make informed decisions? So a disaggregated presentation of your situation is very important. Start by analyzing your practical business needs. What is the current work organization? Do your employees have their own tables or their workplace changes every day? Then look at your existing network. Is Local Area Network (LAN) ready for Voice over IP (VoIP)? Is the cable suitable for gigabit transfer speeds? How is the bandwidth in your company ordered? And does the network provide adequate switches? Don't forget to list the licenses for the telephone software that you currently have.
2. Think about the future
Besides analyzing your situation, it's also time to take a closer look at your company's growth plan for the future. Will the number of employees remain stable for now, will you hire new colleagues in the future or do you assume downsizing? All of this affects the choice of your telephone system. Cloud allows you to increase or decrease, or in other words, grow or small. You pay per user and thus ensure the transparency of telephone costs.
3. Think about security
An important element of your assessment is related to rules and regulations. Some companies (especially in the government sector) are bound by strict rules about data storage. Also regarding the telephone, consideration of this point is important. For example, it is possible to set up a cloud telephone system so that certain calls (eg those held internally) do not occur in the cloud. In addition, cloud traffic provides the ability to use encryption, so calls are always safe.
4. Invest specifically made suggestions
Professional distributors will be able to advise you on the right choices for your business based on your comprehensive analysis. Costs will be an important factor in this case, because even if you are sure of the benefits of cloud telephony, if you recently invested heavily in a PBX system, you will not immediately benefit from a switch. And even if your hardware is outdated and needs to be replaced, there is a possibility that the investment return will be delayed. Take for example, analog telephones that require special adapters to switch to the cloud. You might even be advised to invest in an internal PBX system or simply migrate part of your business to the cloud.
5. Choose automatic provisioning
You don't need to worry about the implementation. Cloud solutions ready to use: just connect the cable and your employees can use the system. Many devices - or at least all Gigaset Communications GmbH devices - support automatic provisioning. This makes it very easy to connect to various platforms, including BroadSoft, NFON, TeamFON, Deutsche Telefon, Wirecloud, and Kwebbl, and to download provider and user-specific parameters. This means that many Internet providers based on the platform are compatible at the same level.
6. Don't worry about management
Management is also easy. Usually, you, the person responsible for telephone or IT, will receive a full two-day training from the distributor. You will learn everything about everyday management - from connecting telephone devices to cloud networks, to making conference rooms - and how to configure the required parameters. In this way, you can easily create a telephone solution that suits your specific situation.
Moving to the cloud can benefit your business. But it is important to know whether this solution fits your business and to determine the right migration process. Only in this way will your company really be proof of the future.
