Cloud PBX is calling

Natalie van der Merwe, Vox

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Cloud PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is not a new concept and is the evolution of unified collaboration technologies. It combines the reliability of traditional telephony with the flexibility of cloud technology, and should assist businesses in navigating hybrid work complexities. According to a recent Forrester report, 70% of telecommunications decision makers are either adopting or planning to adopt UCaaS (Unified-Communications-as-a- Service) solutions, with cloud PBX being a critical component of this change. By moving to cloud-based telephony, businesses can eliminate the maintenance burden of on-premises PBX systems and achieve up to a 30% reduction in total communication costs, says Forrester.

Natalie van der Merwe is the head of telephony at Vox. She’s been working in the PBX area for over two decades, and says it’s only been in the last four years that there’s been a marked acceleration in adoption. “The only thing stopping a business from moving to cloud PBX is if it doesn’t have a smart infrastructure available,” she says.

Companies have already moved their mailboxes, data storage and applications to the cloud. “The next part of the puzzle is your voice application,” she says, adding that if a business has already invested in fibre connectivity, putting PBX in the cloud is a no-brainer because it will maximise the investment of that link.

Cloud PBX is also an important component of infrastructure modernisation, says Prashil Gareeb, VP of managed network and collaboration services at NTT Data. He says the move to cloud-based telephony allows businesses to do away with legacy on-premises PBX systems and infrastructure, which can be costly to maintain and scale. Cloud PBX makes it easier to deploy and manage across distributed and hybrid work environments because the infrastructure is hosted centrally. Integrating cloud PBX with other cloud-based services and applications helps businesses modernise their technology stack, which should see efficiency gains as well as enabling AI and machine learning to improve customer experience. “Your legacy environment can only take you so far,” says Gareeb. Cloud PBX offers scalability, cost savings, and ease of management.

Van der Merwe says that voice is an essential service and needs to happen in real-time, because when you call a business, you expect someone to pick up. “Voice conversations are not going away,” says Nic Laschinger, Euphoria’s CTO. “Of course, meetings happen online, but we still pick up the phone when we want to get hold of a company.” While voice can happen over LTE or a wireless link, to get the best experience, a stable, uncontended service that a business already uses is a natural fit for cloud PBX, such as a fibre link.

“The network is the foundation,” says Gareeb. “With a network in place, bolting on cloud telephony or a cloud suite of collaboration is much easier.”

Last mile connectivity also matters. Van der Merwe says that one of the biggest challenges around cloud PBX is LAN and managed network switches. Everything runs over the data network, which means a LAN within a business needs to also be of a certain quality. “You need to have Category 5 or Cat 6 cabling for desk phones. You need managed network switches so that voice and data can be segmented over the network,” she says. “If your voice packets arrive at the same time as a data packet, it’s going to be all buggy.” On the other hand, if a virtual LAN (VLAN) is placed on the link, voice and data packets can be prioritised. “When voice and data is mixed up together, it can cause congestion or a degradation of voice service. This is why things like managed Layer 3 networks are important,” adds Van der Merwe.

Another misconception with cloud PBX is around devices. A SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) device is a piece of technology or software that uses SIP to make calls over the internet. These are physical devices that look like normal office phones or software like Skype/Zoom. Buying a SIP device doesn’t mean you can use the same device on any platform, or when swapping service providers. “In theory, SIP phones are meant to be compatible with SIP platforms, but the reality is that many platforms have preferred sub-devices,” says Van der Merwe. When you use a service provider’s recommended and tested SIP device, it ensures better integration, engineering and management.

Where cloud PBX platforms once offered very light unified communication (UC) features, the demand for more in-depth functionality became apparent during the pandemic. The shift to remote or hybrid work accelerated this need, with businesses of all sizes looking for enterprise-grade UC features at an affordable price, something a cloud PBX platform can provide. “Everyone now wants a cloud PBX if they don’t already have one. Why? Because their phone system is sitting in the office, but they’re sitting at home,” says Laschinger.

He adds that many underestimate the value of a telephone system. If you want to know more about your organisation or its customers, the answer sits in PBX and in cloud PBX. Data is the differentiator and with cloud PBX, more and more of it is continuously being gathered. “The thing about machine learning is that it’s only as good as the amount of data you put into it,” says Laschinger. “If you want to draw conclusions from data, you need to give it data.”

Contact centres, for example, are using the data in cloud PBX systems to understand their customers better. They’re using AI to analyse call patterns and customer behaviour and make more informed business decisions. “AI is helping us offer features to our clients that improve things like sentiment analysis in the customer experience (CX) world,” says Gareeb. The data coming out of cloud PBX can help a business identify potential opportunities based on what their customers are saying. “For example, if a customer mentions frustration, the AI can automatically categorise that customer into a different segment, such as needing additional support or a specific product,” he explains. “This helps our clients cross-sell and monetise their services more effectively.”

Anyone in the business world who uses Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex will see how GenAI is being used for automatic transcription and post-meeting summaries.

“Communication in the cloud is not just about convenience, it’s crucial to competitiveness,” says Rob Lith, Telviva’s chief commercial officer. UCaaS is not only scalable, it ensures that technology is up to date. Compared to a traditional phone system, UCaaS is not at risk of reaching end of life with minimal support. “In other words, by managing communications over the internet, there is no need to incur significant hardware, servicing and replacement costs,” he says, adding that cloud PBX providers are able to ensure high uptime through redundant datacentres and disaster recovery contingency plans. Even though cloud PBX eliminates the need for an on-premises telephony infrastructure (and the lines no longer “go down”), some businesses still opt for a Bring your own Device approach, which can introduce security risks, complicate IT management and blur the lines between personal and professional use, which may lead to compliance issues. “The business has no oversight of that data…there’s no record of the conversation,” says Laschinger.

“When you’re talking about business value, there’s a lot lost in the ubiquity of cellular devices.” It’s not only about missing data or increased costs, Laschinger says, but there are operational risks. If a customer is only calling an employee on that one number and the employee moves to a rival company, your customers will now be calling your competitor.

Cloud PBX comes with its own set of challenges. Lith’s advice is to ensure efficient integration with existing systems, “and they need to manage the transition carefully to avoid business disruption,” he says. Data security and properly configured firewall services are also an important part of adopting UCaaS. That said, Lith says that as reliable connectivity widens and hyperscalers continue to invest in local datacentres, the sector will mature. “It was PBX, then it became cloud PBX; soon, you can expect UCaaS to become synonymous with business communication in South Africa.”