Make a seamless migration to cloud calling

Many mid-sized to large businesses are leveraging their existing cloud communications infrastructure to introduce external calling and voice service features. Cloud Calling enables them to extend this capability with external calling and voice service features.

Which provider should they choose to implement this extension into the cloud?

IT leaders should consider several factors when choosing a voice operator for their cloud communications platform. It goes beyond cost, including such things as telecom budgeting, reliability, security, connectivity and a partner ready to help meet your enterprise’s specific needs.

Making a smooth migration from a well-established PBX or legacy system requires care and expertise; finding the right operator is essential to getting the most from your Teams upgrade.

The art of keeping it simple

For IT leaders, telecom budgeting can be a recurring headache.

Tracking call paths and minutes per use allotments across an enterprise is a recipe for operational confusion. Worse, it can become expensive quickly without a system designed to offer its user transparency and oversight. This is widely acknowledged to be a key driver of cost. 

For younger IT leaders, who likely grew up with the concept of all you can eat calling plans in place, having to manage minutes for their business voice plans is a chore they would prefer to avoid. 

Cloud communications as a rule prioritizes simplicity. For example, Cloud Calling removes this concern when set up by the right provider, enabling users to make calls directly from their desktops or mobile devices. Under a simple and clear price plan, the enterprise purchases one non-blocking voice solution. This enables every system user to make all their local and long distance calls via their Teams service.

Managed support for the installation process

A critical component to any successful cloud voice setup is having experts on site ready and able to ensure a seamless transition. It is important to know up front that not every cloud communications provider offers this.

Having the right installation partner solves many issues before they have a chance to happen. Number porting from the legacy voice service requires careful planning to happen smoothly. So does the process of implementing a gradual cut over, ensuring dial tone is available as needed to all parts of a workforce.

Considerations need to be made for setting up a solution fully in line with 911 compliance laws like Kari’s Law and the Ray Baum Act. This needs to be thorough enough to encompass end users not only at fixed end points within an enterprise’s main premises, but also to nomadic users and outside end points.

The right cloud voice provider will have a team of engineers and technicians available to ensure an installation is fully completed. This process should not be considered over with the set up alone; rather it extends through to the point where IT leaders enjoy full clarity as to how the service operates.

Reliability baked into the platform

Cloud voice services address user demands around not only simplicity, but security and reliability, too. Determining the best network access parameters for optimal performance, traffic grooming capabilities and low latency is essential when setting up a platform built for the long haul.

Does the cloud service guarantee such things as seamless access to your existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)? Does it offer a backup plan where employees can access or make calls from their mobile devices in case of a service outage? Most importantly, does the provider offer a 100% uptime service level agreement (SLA), especially when supported by the right fiber connectivity?

Make sure you consider these concerns when choosing a provider. This is a first step to ensuring both a seamless transition for the enterprise and peace of mind for IT leadership.

Making Cloud Calling a centerpiece for comprehensive connectivity

The growing use of Microsoft Cloud Calling by large and mid-sized businesses is part of a larger migration to stronger connectivity. The installation of high-speed fiber circuits creates more opportunities for scalability and growth as well as the addition of other platforms critical to an enterprise’s mission.

The right fiber circuit can provide users with fast, symmetrical service of up to 100 Gbps. A fiber circuit can also be bundled with a robust cybersecurity platform to provide a single package on which to set up a Cloud Calling platform.

Spectrum Business can help

Microsoft Cloud Calling is a choice for many large and mid-sized enterprises. But not all providers are the same. Spectrum Business Cloud Calling offers users a 100% uptime SLA, call path simplicity and transparency, a managed installation process (which includes the porting of new and existing numbers) and compliance with Ray Baum Act and Kari’s Law. It also included continuous maintenance and 24/7/365 support.

Want to know more about ways to utilize Cloud Calling and other voice and connectivity services? Learn how Spectrum Business can help you channel opportunities for success.