Cloud PBX has made professional business telecommunications a lot more accessible to smaller businesses. A business no longer has to invest in a large, physical phone system to get access to features like internal extensions, call routing, conferencing and professional business numbers. Cloud-based PBX systems give businesses access to many of these features without needing to maintain the central PBX infrastructure on their own premises.
As a small business, the need for something more advanced generally becomes apparent as the business grows and the existing phone system shows its limitations. Calls may go unanswered, new employees may need additional extensions, people may start working remotely, or the company may even be expanding by adding another location. At this point, it may make sense to upgrade to something more convenient, like a cloud-based PBX system.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the signs that your business may have outgrown its current phone setup and explain where cloud PBX fits into your future telecommunications plan.
What is Cloud PBX?
A Private Branch Exchange, or PBX, is essentially the system responsible for managing calls within a business. It connects internal extensions and controls how incoming and outgoing calls are handled.
Traditionally, the PBX itself would be located at the company’s premises. Cloud PBX performs many of the same functions, but the central platform is hosted remotely and accessed through an internet connection. TRUENAV’s cloud PBX systems, for example, support capabilities such as voice calling, instant messaging, video conferencing, voicemail, call recording and real-time status information.
For smaller businesses, one of the main advantages is that they do not have to build an extensive telecommunications environment before they actually need one. They can begin with a relatively small system and increase capacity as the company develops.
TRUENAV offers personalised cloud-based solutions for businesses of all sizes. View our range of PBX services here.
Why Small Businesses Often Start With Basic Phone Systems
There isn’t anything wrong with starting small, and many small businesses prefer to keep things basic in the beginning. For example, a new business with only three employees probably does not need a complex telecommunication system with dozens of extensions, sophisticated routing rules and extensive reporting.
Problems start to pop up when the business grows, but the communication system stays the same. Employees may start using their personal phone number to handle overflow calls, a second number may be added for another department, and staff members may be working from home; this all leads to customers being given several different numbers depending on who they’re trying to reach.
None of these individual changes appears serious, but together they create a fragmented communication system that becomes more and more difficult to manage. This is where cloud-hosted PBX becomes an incredibly valuable option.
When Is It Time To Upgrade To Cloud PBX?
While many businesses opt for a cloud communications system from the beginning, some wait until it’s absolutely necessary to replace the traditional system. Here are a few indicators that it may be time for you to upgrade.
You Are Constantly Adding Employees and Extensions
Growth is probably the clearest sign that your business may need a more scalable phone system. Adding another employee to a traditional setup can mean needing new hardware, telephone lines or changes to the existing PBX. If this happens every few months, your business may spend a growing amount of time and money expanding a system that was never designed for its current size.
Cloud-based PBX approaches expansion differently. New extensions can generally be added to the existing environment without installing an entirely new telephone system each time the team grows. For a small business, this means you can start with the capacity you require and expand from there. TRUENAV’s PBX services make this easy, allowing you to scale up and down as you need with ease.
Your Employees Are No Longer Working From One Office
The traditional office phone made sense when everyone sat in the same office or building five days a week. The reality of modern-day business is that employees sometimes tend to work from different branches, from home, and occasionally, even in another country. It’s easier today for small business owners to hire employees from overseas than ever before.
This makes communication more difficult. Communication becomes fragmented and can easily get lost. Employees using their personal phone numbers may lose the distinction between personal and professional communication.
Cloud PBX makes a business extension less dependent on one physical desk. Depending on the chosen platform and configuration, employees can access business communications through compatible desk phones, computers and other connected devices.
This allows the business to maintain a more consistent communication environment even when the workforce itself is spread out across multiple locations. TRUENAV’s advanced cloud-based PBX services are especially well suited to hybrid working requirements.
You Are Opening Another Branch
Expanding your business often means opening another branch. A second location, however, can quickly expose the limitations of a basic telephone system.
Without a central system, each branch may end up with its own telephone numbers, equipment, contracts and administrative processes. Employees in one location may not be able to transfer a customer directly to another, meaning the caller has to hang up and phone a different number.
Cloud PBX allows multiple locations to operate through the same wider communication environment. This can simplify internal calling, administration and the addition of future branches. It also gives a growing business the chance to think about telecommunications at a company level rather than treating every new branch as an independent project.
Customers Are Struggling to Reach the Right Person
A phone system should make it easier for customers to reach your business. If it regularly fails to do so, it’s time to make a change. Warning signs include calls being transferred several times, reception repeatedly having to take messages, customers being asked to dial alternative numbers and employees constantly forwarding calls manually.
Cloud PBX offers a much more effective call management system, including features such as call forwarding, auto attendants and voicemail-to-email. The goal is to make the process of reaching the right employee or department faster.
A small company may only need a basic menu directing callers to sales, accounts and support. A more developed business might need additional routing based on office hours, employee availability or departments. The system can be upgraded with ease as those requirements become more complicated.
Your Business Is Missing Calls
If your business is missing calls on a regular basis, this means missing potential revenue and damaging your professional reputation.
Missed calls may represent potential customers, existing clients looking for support, suppliers or other important business contacts. If your existing phone setup gives you very few options beyond answering immediately or allowing the caller to reach voicemail, you may be unnecessarily limiting your availability.
A cloud-hosted PBX system creates additional paths for those calls, so you never have to miss any. Depending on the configuration, incoming calls can be directed to another employee, department or available device rather than just getting lost.
The business also gains more control over what happens outside normal working hours. Instead of leaving customers with an endlessly ringing line, the system can direct them towards voicemail or another predetermined destination. As call volumes increase, this type of structure becomes increasingly valuable.
You Have Little Visibility Into Your Business Calls
One of the major weaknesses of traditional, basic telephone setups is that you get very little visibility into what’s happening. As a business, it’s important to track how many calls you receive per day, when the busiest periods are, how many customers don’t get an answer, and which teams are handling most of the volume.
Smaller businesses may have an intuitive understanding of these patterns. As the business grows, it becomes more difficult to track, as more employees and departments are added.
Cloud-based PBX platforms can provide reporting and management functionality that creates far greater visibility into communications. TRUENAV’s 3CX-based cloud solutions, for example, include call recording and status functionality alongside broader unified communications features.
Access to this information can help your business make better operational decisions rather than relying on assumptions about how and when customers are contacting you.
Your Existing Phone System is Becoming Too Expensive to Maintain
If older telecommunications hardware is becoming difficult and too expensive to maintain, the system stops making financial sense. Technician visits, replacement hardware and incremental upgrades can slowly increase the total cost of keeping the system running.
Cloud PBX changes this cost structure by shifting much of the central infrastructure away from the company’s premises. Cloud-based telecommunications can reduce the requirement for physical hardware upgrades and ongoing local maintenance compared with traditional on-site environments.
The relevant comparison is the total cost of each option, not necessarily just the advertised monthly price.
Employees Are Relying Too Heavily on Personal Phones
Smartphones can be a useful business tool, especially for smaller businesses. They become less practical when they start replacing the actual company telephone system. For example, a customer may save an employer’s private number and continue contacting said person even after they leave the company. Employees may also end up receiving work calls outside of business hours, giving management very little visibility into those conversations.
Your business can also begin to look fragmented when customers have five different mobile numbers instead of a single, recognisable point of contact. Moving to Cloud PBX gives you and your employees greater flexibility without requiring the company to give up control over its business communications. The idea is to integrate flexible working into a professional telecommunications setup.
Small Changes Have Become Difficult
If small changes are becoming increasingly difficult, it may be time to upgrade your communication system. Adding an extension should not become a full-scale IT project. Neither should changing a call-forwarding rule, adding a new employee or adjusting how incoming calls are distributed.
Cloud PBX offers a more centralised environment for managing users and communications. More advanced systems can also provide businesses with management access over their own platform. TRUENAV’s advanced cloud PBX offering includes full management access as part of its service structure. This makes routine administration a lot easier while the provider remains responsible for more technical requirements.
Your Business Has Outgrown its Communication Tools
Many businesses start out with whatever communication tools are available. Smartphones, messaging apps and basic calling platforms can all serve a purpose during the early stages of a company. Eventually, though, your business may need something a lot more structured.
A growing organisation may require professional business numbers, proper internal extensions, company-wide call routing, reporting, conferencing, consistent support and better control over how employees communicate with customers. At this point, cloud PBX starts becoming an important and practical business infrastructure.
Final Thoughts: TRUENAV’s Cloud PBX
At TRUENAV, we assess your existing telecommunications system, connectivity and future requirements before recommending the most appropriate solution. Whether this means moving to cloud PBX, retaining an on-site PBX system, or using a hybrid system, our goal is to give your business a communication system that supports the way you actually work.
Get in touch with TRUENAV today to speak about your existing phone system and where your business is heading. We’ll help you identify a practical PBX solution that supports your employees, customers and future growth without adding unnecessary complexity.