Over half of business users surveyed claimed they “had not even scratched the surface” of what they can do with cloud communications
SEATTLE – April 25, 2017 – Flowroute Inc., the leading provider of cloud-based communications, today announced key findings from a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 businesses users on the adoption of cloud-based communications services such as voice, collaboration tools and messaging. Respondents cited several factors that influenced their decision to adopt cloud-based communications services over traditional, on-premise telephony systems, including a lower total cost of ownership (38 percent), the ability to scale quickly (19 percent) and greater system resiliency (15 percent). Respondents also noted the ability to add new communications features via the cloud as “easier” in comparison to an on-premise system.
In fact, nearly half of those users surveyed noted they “had not even scratched the surface of what they can do” with cloud-based communications, underscoring the vast potential for IP-based voice and messaging to transform the customer experience. Indeed, the unified communications market is expected to grow from $34.8B in 2015 to over $95 billion by 2023, according to a new report from Global Market Insights.
“The reality is that businesses are fed up with being dependent on legacy telco carriers to deploy and manage their communications services,” said Dave Rich, vice president of product at Flowroute. “Cloud-based communications puts control directly into the hands of the developers and makes it easy and cost efficient to incorporate services into applications that improve both the customer experience and the company’s bottom line.”
This trend is reflected in how many businesses surveyed prioritize their cloud communications investment both today and over the next 12 months. Today, the top three areas that businesses have prioritized for communications features are around collaboration tools (such as video, audio and web conferencing) (44 percent), messaging (21 percent) and voice/cloud-based PBX (18 percent). However, in the next 12 months, respondents’ indicated their priorities would shift, with voice/cloud-based PBX emerging as the top priority (27 percent), then messaging (17 percent), then collaboration tools (13 percent).
“The cloud has been used for years to foster collaboration by allowing users to access and share information from anywhere, and now we’re seeing more organizations turn to cloud-based communications providers to deploy services like voice and messaging,” said Rich.
Flowroute’s survey also revealed the four top criteria for selecting a cloud communications provider, including the cost of service, reliability, the cost of technical support, and the ability to scale services quickly. Respondents also felt it was “Important” to work with a communications provider that provided APIs to automate communication services in the cloud, as well as one that could help them to customize communications experiences for their end users.
The survey showed that many businesses (60 percent) are working with multiple cloud communications service providers, and over a third (37 percent) are currently using more than five service providers. As the overall cloud communication market continues to mature, this presents an opportunity for businesses to consolidate the number of service providers they use, in favor of market leaders that can offer developers direct access to and control over telephony resources.
“When selecting a service provider partner, it’s critical to understand that not all cloud communications providers are created equal; it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation,” said Rich. “Businesses need to be mindful of working with a provider who delivers capabilities that align to the company’s unique priorities and objectives.”
Some business users surveyed expressed hesitation with moving their communications services to the cloud, due to potential security concerns, and a lack of internal IT resources to the deploy the technology. It is important for organizations looking to deploy cloud-based communications to work with a service provider with a robust security platform that prevents common security issues such as toll fraud and more.
