Today’s rapidly evolving digital environment requires a modern cloud presence, including advanced solutions that ensure workplace connectivity, network security, and long-term profitability.
Business owners and IT decision-makers are solving complex issues caused by the disconnect between the software solutions they need to stay competitive and the limitations of the analog services they’ve relied on for years. They’re achieving this by investing in managed services like SIP trunking, enterprise voice, and unified communications as a service (UCaaS).
As you compare their features and benefits, you’ll find considerable overlap between these in-demand NextGen services. Take SIP for example. Session initiation protocol (SIP) is a core component of voice over internet protocol (VoIP). SIP converts analog voice signals to digital data packets, and VoIP technology transmits those packets over high-speed internet. A single SIP session can transmit any combination of media, which makes SIP trunks an integral part of the six expertly managed enterprise voice essentials your company should be using now.
Why Decision-Makers are Transitioning to Cloud-Based UCaaS and Enterprise Voice
Most organizations use an ample amount of technology to automate repetitive tasks, optimize their workflows, and keep production costs in line. When business owners first began using advanced software in the workplace, the disparities between analog and digital formats were relatively easy to overcome.
Today’s digital landscape is a lot more complex because the technology is infinitely more advanced. Most companies are investing in broadband internet, multiple software applications, and cloud-hosted platforms to support remote and hybrid workers. They’re also spending considerable sums troubleshooting, repairing, and upgrading their legacy phone systems.
Many IT departments are overwhelmed trying to keep the mix of technologies from compromising security, interfering with workplace efficiency, and draining corporate resources. Migrating to the cloud with enterprise voice or UCaaS is a cost-effective alternative to analog technology that provides access to advanced features not available with legacy service.
Why Enterprise Voice is the Future of Business Communication
Cloud-based enterprise voice services, whether implemented on their own or incorporated into a UCaaS platform, deliver exceptional call quality and reduce (or eliminate) the burden of monitoring and maintaining secure, reliable connectivity.
With SIP trunking added into the equation, business owners have the flexibility, scalability, and transparency needed to reclaim control of their expenses, streamline their processes, and optimize overall productivity without investing in costly hardware upgrades.
Related: What Is Enterprise Voice Service?
Together, SIP trunks and VoIP eliminate the need to install or maintain an on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) to support analog business phones. Plus, a single SIP session can transmit multiple data types simultaneously. The demand for hosted IP PBX is so strong that experts anticipate a growth rate of 20% through 2027 as IT decision-makers continue to embrace the value of the following advantages.
Flexible Solutions that Fit Current and Future Business Needs
As the demand for omnichannel communication increases, business owners and IT decision-makers have grown to appreciate the flexibility and scalability of enterprise voice. It’s not a one-size-fits-all service. Businesses choose the ideal communication stack for their present circumstances. They can increase or decrease the number of active users and the features included in their cloud-hosted service as their needs evolve.
Enterprise voice requires no physical infrastructure, and subscribers gain access to a wide range of advanced features that can include fax to email, inbound DID telephone numbers, e911, last number redial, directory assistance, and call center support. With voice signals digitized, business communication and collaboration solutions are accessible from nearly any internet-capable device, but all calls appear to originate from a central location.
Seamless Integration with Unified Business Communication Solutions
Enterprise voice is ideal for corporations looking for a cost-effective way to modernize their communication capabilities. It’s also a vital component of top-tier UCaaS platforms. This multi-channel communication solution merges advanced voice capabilities with video conferencing, business SMS, AI-enhanced chatbots, desktop sharing, and more into a single, user-friendly interface.
Account administrators can scale the number of users on their platform and modify access to specific features and functions at will. Companies investing in UCaaS gain a robust list of advanced capabilities, including application integrations, expertly implemented software customizations, and unlimited growth potential.
System Security and Service Reliability
With cloud-hosted enterprise voice, management teams can count on more than exceptional call quality. Experienced, reputable business communication platform providers go to great lengths to ensure business calls are private and sensitive files protected with the latest encryption technology. The best service providers have advanced systems in place that detect and deter unauthorized network access.
Top-tier providers also leverage robust technology that detects performance anomalies in milliseconds. Their built-in redundancy helps keep communication flowing despite internet disruptions, power outages, or gateway failures by having “standby” services ready to take over as needed. That’s how the nation’s best communication solution providers maintain 99.99% service uptime or better.
Which Enterprise Voice Essentials Should Your Company Be Using?
With less time devoted to navigating disparate tools and technologies, your associates have more time to focus on identifying inefficiencies, optimizing productivity, and achieving organizational goals. Now that you’re familiar with the core advantages of SIP trunking, enterprise voice, and UCaaS, you’re probably wondering which of these modern business essentials your company should be using.
The answer generally depends on the size of your business and an assessment of your current and future needs. For small businesses, for example, self-managed voice is relatively easy to monitor and modify. For large organizations accommodating the needs of employees working across multiple locations, however, the following managed enterprise voice essentials are the better option.
Essential #1: Managed Connectivity
Global enterprises don’t typically have the luxury of choosing one service provider to ensure optimal connectivity between diverse geographic locations. There are usually different privacy regulations, technologies, and data security measures to consider. Investing in managed connectivity ensures the unique needs of each location are well-supported with the best combination of solutions, everything from private and public wide area networks (WAN) to multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) or wireless global broadband. Plus, you’ll have a single point of contact for your communication services.
Essential #2: Managed System Security
For some large enterprises, network performance and system security are ongoing concerns, especially when IT decision-makers consider the challenges of monitoring and maintaining a hybrid telecom infrastructure to take advantage of cloud-hosted enterprise voice. With managed system security, your business is protected by advanced automated technology that continuously monitors your network—in real-time—every hour of every day. You’ll have the ability to determine which associates need additional security 24/7 and which are better served by on-demand access.
Essential #3: Managed SD-WAN
Today’s work-from-anywhere business model typically requires remote workers to connect to their employer’s private network from multiple access points across vast distances. As bandwidth needs increase, problems can surface, including anything from slow data transmissions to video “lag.” Investing in managed SD-WAN ensures optimal performance across all devices.
Related: Complete Guide to SD-WAN
Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology keeps every connection fast, secure, and reliable by analyzing circuit performance and prioritizing transmissions based on service level agreements (SLAs), QoS settings, and priority policies.
Essential #4: Technology Expense Management
Technology expense management automates billing verification, identifies potential issues, and manages invoice payments. It’s also designed to analyze current commitments, reconstruct historical spending, and compare costs against market averages. Discrepancy alerts can give technology expense management subscribers a distinct advantage during contract negotiations or identify alternative service providers as needed. Many organizations with access to this service find they spend up to 20% less on their tech needs by making informed payment and purchasing decisions.
Essential #5: Network Monitoring & Management
Organizations with complex communication networks often devote considerable resources to tracking system usage and monitoring overall health across multiple portals. Managed service providers (MSPs) remove the barriers obstructing proactive monitoring by consolidating vital information into a single pane. Their solutions also eliminate the need to toggle between systems or pinging individual devices to identify problems. But before partnering with an MSP, verify that they offer 24/7 monitoring and restoration services covering all devices and service providers on your network.
Essential #6: Managed SIP Trunking
Standard SIP trunking serves the needs of a vast number of companies looking for a cost-effective solution, but not every company. Managed SIP trunking is the better option for enterprise-level organizations needing specific service guarantees. With managed SIP trunking (mSIP), subscribers gain edge router traffic prioritization, multi-site trunk sharing capabilities, real-time call quality analytics, proactive monitoring, and more on a HIPPA-verified network.
Which Enterprise Voice Essentials Are You Ready to Start Using Now?
There are multiple ways to bridge the disconnect between legacy phone service and the advanced technologies business owners need to ensure workplace efficiency and business productivity. But not all companies give business owners the ability to take advantage of everything enterprise voice has to offer without investing in expensive hardware upgrades. Even fewer offer the option of investing in fully managed business communication essentials.
BCM One is an experienced partner and IT leader in providing managed services and NextGen communications. Contact us to learn more about the advantages of SIP trunking, enterprise voice, UCaaS, and our managed IT services.