What is a cloud phone system?
First of all, let’s discover what a cloud phone system actually is—and then we can find out how it works.
Cloud phone systems are often called something different, such as:
- VoIP phone systems
- Hosted phone systems
- IP phone systems
But these are all essentially the same thing, and they all use the cloud to provide your businesses voice connectivity.
A cloud phone system takes your old, physical on-premise telephone system, and puts it in the cloud. This means that you don’t need a physical piece of hardware sat in your office controlling your calls.
Back in the old days (in technology terms, we’re talking early 2000s), you needed a hefty bit of kit sat somewhere in your premises that distributed calls between extensions and users. This bit of kit often needed repairing and maintaining and was costly expense to any business.
However, with the invention of cloud computing, it became clear that this on-premise hardware was both outdated and clunky, and a more modern solution was required.
What Is a Cloud Phone System and How Does It Work？
A cloud phone system (a.k.a. cloud PBX, hosted PBX, and hosted phone system) is a VoIP phone system that is accessible over a cloud-based IP network. It is delivered entirely over the Internet and managed completely off-site, cutting down upfront investments in telecommunications infrastructure. The deployment and set up is quick and easy, freeing companies from IT overheads. Normally, you can purchase the cloud phone service from a service provider and pay on a subscription basis.
The diagram below is a simplified flow of how a cloud phone system works:
