What is enterprise voice? For most businesses, it’s a simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. At its best, enterprise voice is a comprehensive and integrated communications solution for all your business needs. But that’s just the beginning.
Over the last few years, business communications continue to see drastic changes as companies adjust to a more remote, flexible, and hybrid workforce. The enterprise voice and cloud telephony market.) demonstrates this transformation’s momentum, with the global market projected to grow from $23.20 billion in 2024 to $42.7 billion by 2032.
This robust growth, marked by a 7.92% compound annual growth rate, is driven by increasing demand for cloud-based services, particularly among small and medium enterprises, and ongoing technological advancements in voice networks.
In that environment, enterprise voice has become an increasingly important consideration. Implemented the right way—and with the right features—it brings significant benefits to businesses of all sizes.
The fundamentals of this concept begin with the obvious question—what is enterprise voice?— but they go far beyond that to consider the increasing need for a cloud-based enterprise solution, its typical features and benefits, and how it can integrate with your existing communications tools like MS Teams. This makes it a cost-effective option for businesses looking to enhance their communication infrastructure.
Just the Basics: What is Enterprise Voice?
At its core, enterprise voice refers to the stack of technology that helps businesses of all sizes communicate with each other and with external audiences. It’s a unified communications tool that may include anything from traditional desktop phones using landlines to VoIP phones leveraging internet connections and cloud technology.
Of course, most organizations asking what enterprise voice is likely look for answers more specifically related to cloud technology, which offers much-needed flexibility and scalability. The idea, though, remains the same. If you are looking for technology that helps you communicate more efficiently via any voice-based channels, from audio and video conferencing to customer support lines, you’re looking for an enterprise voice solution.
Enterprise voice stands apart from standard business voice solutions through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, offering comprehensive capabilities that span global locations and complex deployments. Beyond basic phone lines, it includes essential business communication features like advanced call routing, unified communications integration, and enterprise-level security and compliance—all designed to create a robust, scalable communications framework. Additionally, integrating a phone system within Microsoft Teams enables users to make and receive calls, requiring specific licensing and configurations to activate these voice services.
The Increasing Need for Modern Enterprise Voice Solutions
As mentioned above, enterprise voice in theory can refer to both legacy systems and more modern, cloud-based solutions. In reality, though, the need for cloud-based enterprise voice systems becomes increasingly clear every year.
The modern workplace has fundamentally transformed, with distributed and flexible work arrangements becoming standard practice across industries. This shift isn’t temporary – it represents a lasting evolution in how businesses operate. With 26% of today’s workforce operating remotely and 55% in hybrid arrangements, organizations need communication systems that can seamlessly support employees regardless of location. Efficiently managing configurations for multiple users is crucial to ensure seamless integration with communication tools like Microsoft Teams.
Against that backdrop, more flexible communications systems are an absolute key element of today’s successful businesses. In addition, legacy on-premise enterprise voice systems have some distinct drawbacks that further suggest an increasing need to digitize and modernize:
- Cost control, with on-premise voice systems costing significantly more in both installation and maintenance.
- Physical boundaries, limiting the ability to use voice solutions anywhere beyond the premises where the system is installed.
- Stagnancy, particularly making it difficult to scale up and down as business needs change.
- Typically separated voice from other communications and collaboration tools.
- A lack of reporting and analytics data that could help businesses better understand their performance and phone needs.
These drawbacks have made legacy business and enterprise voice systems difficult to manage for businesses of all sizes. Modernization is a necessity—if only to simplify and streamline all of your communications into a single, flexible, scalable solution.
The Core Features of Modern Enterprise Voice Services
In many ways, modern and cloud-based enterprise voice has rapidly gained popularity specifically because of the above-mentioned drawbacks of more traditional systems. Solutions that truly embrace enterprise voice technology tend to share several core features:
- Global PSTN replacement services for comprehensive coverage across multiple countries, including PSTN connectivity for integrating with the Public Switched Telephone Network
- Geo-redundant infrastructure ensuring business continuity and reliability
- Enterprise-grade security and compliance measures
- Conference calling capabilities for complex communications needs
- Advanced call routing with intelligent path control
- Integration capabilities with leading unified communications platforms
- Comprehensive analytics and reporting features for optimizing voice performance
- Flexible deployment options supporting cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments
Of course, not every system is the same. The solution you choose may not include all of these features, or it may go beyond them in some ways. A close examination of what you get when moving to a new enterprise voice system is vital to ensuring that all of your current and future business needs will be met.
5 Benefits of Enterprise Voice Solutions for Businesses
Find an enterprise voice system with just the right features, and the benefits to your business can be immense. Those benefits are especially clear when comparing enterprise voice with both legacy voice solutions and more limited business voice alternatives. Generally speaking, they include:
Global Coverage and Reliability
Modern enterprise voice solutions offer comprehensive coverage across multiple countries with full PSTN replacement services, ensuring consistent quality and compliance worldwide. With geo-redundant infrastructure built around strategic global points of presence, businesses can maintain reliable communications regardless of location.
Reduced Complexity and Costs
From complicated billing to ongoing on-premise maintenance, legacy phone systems can quickly become cost-prohibitive. Moving to a cloud-based enterprise voice solution eliminates unnecessary infrastructure costs while simplifying management through a single, unified platform.
Enterprise-Grade Security and Support
Working with an enterprise voice provider means gaining access to robust security measures, compliance frameworks, and 24/7 technical support from voice experts. This expertise becomes increasingly valuable as communications requirements grow more complex, and the need for ongoing support ensures continuous assistance and service throughout the client’s journey.
Streamlined Operations
With modern enterprise voice, you no longer need separate networks for phone and data. The solution can integrate seamlessly with your existing unified communications platforms, contact centers, and business applications, creating a cohesive communications ecosystem.
Advanced Analytics and Control
Digitizing your voice needs also means gaining access to comprehensive analytics and management tools. Through intuitive management portals, businesses can monitor usage, analyze performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions about their communications infrastructure.
Combine these advantages, and the overarching benefits of moving to a cloud-based enterprise voice solution become clear, especially as you consider the opportunities presented through integrating with a solution like MS Teams to streamline all of your communications needs.
Integrating Enterprise Voice With MS Teams
There’s a close connection between enterprise voice systems and MS Teams. Both solve similar needs as communications platforms that are designed to create a more flexible, distributed environment. But both have slightly different purposes, with Teams focusing largely on internal collaboration and communication and voice adding high-level phone capabilities to the mix.
While Microsoft offers Teams Phone as a basic voice solution, organizations often need more robust enterprise voice capabilities. The key is finding a provider who can deliver enterprise-grade voice services that integrate seamlessly with Teams through either Direct Routing or Operator Connect, ensuring you get the best of both worlds.
The Importance of the Right Partnership for Integrated Enterprise Voice
Of course, all of the above benefits are merely theoretical. They might be true for your business, but only if the implementation goes well. This is where choosing an experienced enterprise voice provider becomes crucial—one with proven expertise in global voice services, strong technical capabilities, and a track record of successful deployments.
The right enterprise voice partner should offer:
- Global coverage with full PSTN replacement services in key markets
- Proven expertise in voice technology and integration
- Comprehensive implementation and support services
- Flexible solutions that can adapt to your specific requirements
- Clear commitment to security and compliance
Your partner needs to do more than simply answer the question, what is enterprise voice? Far beyond that, you should expect a partnership that embraces the underlying benefits and reasons for this type of service to begin with. Customization for your unique business needs, improved cost efficiencies, professionalism, and a problem-solving mindset are key.
Pure IP has been delivering these essential elements through secure, resilient enterprise voice solutions for organizations worldwide. With coverage in 137 countries and full PSTN replacement services in 50 countries, Pure IP offers the comprehensive voice technology expertise modern enterprises need. Contact us today to learn how we can help transform your enterprise communications infrastructure.