By Chaitanya Chokkareddy 

Technology for MSMEs: Imagine calling a call center where after a long wait, you get an overworked representative who takes their own time to figure out which department you need and connects you, or you might end up shuttling between departments until you find the right one. Now think about calling a call center where you get an appropriate IVR message asking you to choose from a set menu as per your needs and guides you to the appropriate department right away. Which experience you’d prefer? Obviously, the second one. 

For ages, MSMEs were at a disadvantage as they could not afford technologies like voicemail, IVR, call routing capabilities, and other advanced features. But today, cloud telephony services have made it possible for enterprises of any size to call or receive calls directly from any computer, laptop, or mobile device with an internet connection. As per the recent Global Industry Analysts study, the global cloud telephony services market size was $13.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $34.5 billion by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 16.8%. The study also says that SMEs are projected to record an 18.1% CAGR with the market size to reach $14.1 billion by 2026.

As MSMEs grow, they need a system that can scale with their requirements. With on-premises phone systems, a server called private branch exchange (or PBX) is required. Some of these are scalable, but others won’t scale beyond a certain number of users. So, the businesses might end up paying for, let’s say, 12 users when they need only nine lines.  

With cloud telephony, adding a user to a cloud phone system is only a click away. You purchase capacity for the exact number of users you have, and adding another user is as simple as ordering service and plugging in another phone. You can also easily add a new extension or include more agent licenses without making any infrastructural changes that would incur substantial costs and be time-consuming. 

The scalability advantage that cloud telephony offers is particularly useful for today’s hybrid work models. Cloud systems have immediate built-in business continuity and aren’t affected by localized problems, including power cuts or natural disasters. This also helps businesses switch agents to work from anywhere (WFA) when needed and even if something happens near one data center, there are redundancies and backup power generators, making the communication systems disaster-proof. 

With respect to integration, it is impossible to integrate traditional systems with other business tools. When a sales representative (rep) talks to a prospect, so many things happen in the background – notes to be made, follow-ups to be fixed, prospects to be tracked. Cloud telephony helps businesses integrate their phone systems with CRM solutions or help desks without shifting between multiple tools. Such integrations make it possible to automate callbacks, automate responses to lead forms, and more.  

Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) enablement makes it easy for businesses to deliver a superior customer experience at scale as L1 queries can be easily handled by self-service and bots. This means faster responses to simple queries and lesser wait times for customers who need to connect with a rep. Additionally, the bots can be combined with a dialer to automate collection calls, provide proactive support, and reminders. Such integrations make reps’ training easier and faster with speech analytics and AI-based agent assistants. 

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Cloud telephony also helps startups and MSMEs when it comes to cost savings. With phones, businesses must pay for phone and cable costs, set up servers, hire technical help, and rent out space to accommodate the phone systems. There are also recurring maintenance charges and contracts that keep you locked up with this setting for at least 3-5 years. Cloud telephony has no hardware or setup costs and comes with zero capital expenditure, minimal maintenance, and IT costs. Other benefits include data security, mobility, powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, easy implementation, and more. 

While there are a lot of solutions available in the market, but the one that stands out for startups and MSMEs is virtual numbers, also known as Direct Inward Dialing numbers (DID). Virtual numbers are telephone numbers without a physical linking extension. They mask the phone number of the actual device on which the calls are being answered or made. Although these numbers only exist virtually, calls to these phone numbers can be routed to existing landlines or mobile phones. A plus factor about virtual numbers is that they can be shared amongst multiple landlines. Businesses can purchase a single virtual number or multiple virtual numbers based on how they want to use them.

Technology has advanced rapidly. Whether you are a startup, an MSME, or a big enterprise, cloud telephony has been extensively used by businesses today, taking over the conventional phone system. It has played a critical role in bringing several emerging economies like India on a solid footing. With so much in store for the cloud in the coming years, it is not hard to imagine what lies on the other side of the horizon. MSMEs are set to benefit the most from cloud telephony with the benefits of affordability, scalability, and trustworthiness as they expand their customer base globally.

Chaitanya Chokkareddy is Chief Innovation Officer at Ozonetel. Views expressed are the author’s own.