The competition to stay on top of market trends and consumers' minds for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is fierce. To flourish, companies must find ways to reduce their overhead, enhance offerings, and streamline services, especially when it comes to communication solutions.
Implementing, maintaining, and fixing private branch exchanges (PBX) is becoming cost prohibitive for the average company due to outdated technology, maintenance, and limited support. As a result, PBX phone systems are becoming obsolete since they're out of the question for many SMBs.
And so, more SMBs than ever are turning to the convenience and cost-effectiveness of UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) to stay competitive. Here are the top reasons that SMBs are migrating to UCaaS:
Streamline Communication
There was a time when companies mainly relied on phone calls to conduct their business and reach clients. With today's new technology, communication and collaboration are more complex, with companies utilizing various innovative communication methods, including SMS, project management apps, VoIP, and more.
Plus, UCaaS offers companies a convenient way to streamline communication platforms while supporting several forms of collaboration, such as:
UCaaS keeps essential communication all on one platform and enables team members to see each other's availability. It also provides employees with several ways to interact internally and with customers who can choose the medium they prefer while dealing with a business.
Increased Savings
Price has long held SMBs back from investing in a business phone system. One of the biggest draws of UCaaS is its competitiveness in the market. It is typically more cost-effective than the traditional on-premises PBX. From hardware and on-site maintenance to phone lines and many other associated PBX costs, UCaaS can offer substantial savings.
UCaaS is also more cost-effective than the price of developing an app to unify communication. In some cases, app development can run anywhere from $10,000-100,000, depending on the complexity of the product.
In addition to saving on equipment and development, UCaaS also saves time for IT teams. With a single user profile, IT managers no longer have to oversee multiple accounts for each employee. And because UCaaS puts the complexity and infrastructure in the cloud, IT no longer has to maintain it and can focus on higher-value, strategic initiatives to drive business.
Enhanced Uptime
Downtime is costly to businesses of all sizes, but SMBs have more difficulty rebounding from that kind of setback. Recent reports by RingCentral show that downtime costs small businesses an average of $423 per minute.
UCaaS offers SMBs almost unparalleled reliability with solutions that can deliver 99.999% availability. Considering how critical uptime is for the average business, many companies can't afford to not have a reliable solution. UCaaS is particularly attractive to the SMB segment since it removes location from the equation. Even if a local site is without power or internet, employees can work from home or other locations without disruption.
Improved Security
Security is paramount for businesses, but it's getting more challenging for companies to stay safe. As cyber criminals grow more sophisticated and communication is scattered across different platforms, UCaaS helps them ensure that sensitive information about customers and the business stays safe.
Keeping everything together on one platform gives hackers less access to your communication systems. Plus, most services offer high-level encryption as a standard, making it challenging for fraudsters to access sensitive and restricted information. Instead, streamlining to one solution helps businesses and their IT teams concentrate their efforts on a single platform.
Improved Scalability
In-house scalability is challenging for most SMBs. It requires ensuring that the network can handle additional use, purchasing more equipment, and tying everything together. Whether a company experiences peak volume times (such as during the holiday season) or just facing a season of growth, ensuring everyone has access to the tools and collaboration platforms they need can feel overwhelming.
UCaaS solutions make scaling easier. They can prevent bottlenecks to growth by quickly adding new users, deploying equipment, and expediting onboarding. Because the infrastructure is in the cloud, it doesn't require the same slow process as PBX or more traditional communication methods.
Times of growth can be stressful for SMBs. UCaaS providers help reduce the pressure leaders feel by ensuring seamless communication.
Uniquely Suited to Meet the Needs of SMBs
The right UCaaS provider allows companies to save money and invest in what is needed most. They understand the pressure that SMBs face to remain competitive and are focused on helping companies save money on business communications.
For example, saving on IT maintenance costs leaves more funding for hiring business development managers to reach new target audiences.
It is challenging for many SMB leaders to find new ways to save on costs and make their investments go further. More SMBs are discovering the cost-saving benefits of a streamlined UCaaS solution, helping them stay competitive in even the toughest market.