Cloud Communications Advantages Explained

Many companies are scratching their heads, wondering if it makes sense to move their communications to the cloud. XO Communications, a major competitive networking and telecom services provider, has a quick explanation of just why moving to the cloud makes sense. Take a minute and a half and see if this looks like something you should be doing...



XO’s Enterprise Cloud Communications does for multi-location businesses what basic hosted PBX services do for the SMB. It gets the organization out of the business of owning and managing a telephone system and into the role of a service user, albeit a sophisticated one.

By moving to a cloud hosted PBX and connecting via the extensive XO network from each location, you gain advanced features while keeping your calls “on net” to avoid telco toll charges. In addition to the usual local and long distance calling with standard business phone features, you gain high definition voice and video enterprise-wide and the ability to move calls seamlessly from your mobile phone to a fixed phone. Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) lets you make and receive calls from any device at any location with only one phone number, dial plan and voice mailbox.

Regardless of how many regional and branch offices you have and where they are, you may be able to integrate your entire operation in the XO cloud and avoid the headaches of capital investment, ongoing maintenance, full time staffing and periodic upgrades. All of that responsibility moves to the provider and you have peace of mind of knowing what it’s going to cost per employee per month.

Does cloud communications sound like it might be the right next move for your company? If so, get complete features, pricing and consultation for cloud networking services now. There are advantages for all size companies from small offices on up to the largest corporations.

Fixed Mobile Convergence Includes Android and iPhone

When we think of network convergence, it is generally in terms of engineering the LAN, MAN and WAN to support voice, video and data. Network convergence is at the heart of the productivity and cost savings offered by enterprise VoIP solutions. Even so, there is still one piece missing. That’s the mobile phone. This is where FMC or Fixed Mobile Convergence comes into play.

The idea behind FMC is that cell phones, especially smartphones, are now so ubiquitous that they have to be included in the corporate communications structure or there will be a big hole in the system. It’s especially true for sales people, field engineers, and anyone else who spends a significant amount of time out of the office and away from the desk phone. It’s also true, perhaps unfortunately, that we’re in a 24/7 world where important calls may come in at any time.

Some employees handle this situation with workarounds, such as setting up the office phone to forward to their cell phone when they leave the office. That’s fine when they remember. If not, voice mail becomes the communications method of last resort. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the office phone system extended to include your mobile phone?

Smoothstone IP Communications thinks so and is now making their Mobile Connect app available to both Android and iPhone using customers. What Mobile Connect does integrate your smartphone into the enterprise communications platform. You then have one number, your work number, that rings on both your desk phone and your cell phone. When you place an outgoing call, the Caller ID reflects your work number, not your personal mobile number. Other calling features include access to the company directory, low cost international calling, 4-digit on-net dialing, visual voice mail and one-touch access to listen to and manipulate voice mail messages.

There are also advanced features from Smoothstone’s VoiceMAXX system that carry over to Mobile Connect. These include call recording and centralized call detail reporting.

VoiceMAXX is Smoothstone’s cloud based PBX telephone system. It relieves businesses of the need to invest in and maintain an on-premises PBX system, yet has the flexibility to integrate with and extend an existing PBX.

Cloud hosted PBX is a pay-as-you go proposition that easily scales to include more users as needed. With a cloud solution, you don’t have to over-provision your system to allow for growth. You simply buy more capacity as you need it. You also don’t have the agony of a “fork lift upgrade” that involves ripping out your old PBX and replacing it with a new one of higher capacity, more modern design or more features. All of those capital investment, installation, upgrades and daily maintenance tasks are taken care of by the cloud service provider. You just concentrate on those things that advance the business you are in.

Is your existing business telephone system creaking at the seams, or are you ready for the higher productivity that comes from advanced features such as fixed mobile convergence? If so, learn more and get pricing for cloud hosted PBX telephone services scaled to match the needs of your business, be it small, medium or enterprise level.