Cloud calling 101: Benefits, features, and how it works

Today, most businesses with remote or distributed teams are shifting—or have shifted—their communications to the cloud. 

Thanks to early technology like Skype making cloud calling possible, companies both big and small now have a much more flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient alternative to traditional phone systems. 

What is cloud calling?

Cloud calling, also known as cloud-based telephony or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a modern way of communicating that routes voice calls through the internet instead of traditional phone lines. 

Unlike on-premises PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems, which require physical hardware and maintenance, cloud-based calling works entirely through the internet.

Essentially, this technology lets you make, receive, and manage phone calls using devices like smartphones, computers, and internet-enabled desk phones (aka. IP desk phones).

All you need is an internet connection.

How does cloud-based calling work?

Cloud telephony uses VoIP technology to convert voice signals into digital packets that can be transmitted over the internet. Here’s a high-level overview of how it works:

1. Starting the call: When you place a call, your voice is captured by a microphone and converted into digital data.

2. Packet transmission: This data is divided into small packets and sent through the internet.

3. Call routing: The cloud calling platform that you use will then route the call to its destination, whether that's another cloud-based system or a traditional landline or mobile phone.

4. Receiving the call: The data packets are reassembled and converted back into sound at the recipient's end, which results in (hopefully) a seamless, real-time conversation.

For all intents and purposes, this whole process should be the same as if you were using a deskphone or handset, with the same minimal delay or disruption in voice quality. Ultimately, the quality of the calls depends on your cloud calling service or software. (Some solutions have strong global voice networks, which give you relatively good sound quality no matter where you’re calling.)

The benefits of cloud telephony

There are a few reasons why more and more businesses are using cloud-based calling over traditional on-prem phone systems. Here are the top benefits:

It’s great for remote work

The most commonly highlighted benefit of cloud calling is that it lets you stay connected from almost anywhere in the world. 

As long as you have (or your office has) a good internet connection, you and your team can make and receive calls from your computers and cell phones, which gives you a lot more flexibility.

It’s highly scalable

With cloud telephony, it’s also a lot easier to scale your communication up or down. Whether you have a seasonal business that needs to onboard a lot of staff during the holidays or plans to grow the team soon, some cloud telephony platforms let you add new virtual phone numbers, remove users, and add new features quickly without installing additional hardware.

With Dialpad, for example, you can just go into your online dashboard and do this with a few clicks:

It’s very cost-efficient

Cloud-based calling is also more cost-effective, largely because you don’t need expensive on-site hardware and infrastructure. 

Traditional phone systems often require a hefty initial investment in equipment, ongoing maintenance, and sometimes even specialized admin staff. With cloud calling, you just sign up for a service online, and can get set up virtually in hours instead of days or weeks.

With cloud-based calling, costs are also much more streamlined—you typically pay a recurring monthly or annual subscription, which includes everything you’d need, such as maintenance and updates.

It can integrate with the rest of your tech stack

Your business is probably using other software. Whether that’s a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, or other productivity tools, integrating your cloud calling system with these tools can be very helpful because it reduces the amount of manual data entry you have to do. 

Dialpad, for example, has native integrations with other products like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Google Calendar, which means you can do cloud calling directly in Salesforce without having to switch back and forth between different windows or tabs:

If you're considering moving your business to a cloud phone system or unified communications platform, there are some key features to pay attention to. Even though every business has unique needs, these ones are generally important no matter what industry you’re in: 

Call forwarding, transfer, and routing

Most modern cloud communications platforms, whether they’re basic phone systems or more sophisticated cloud contact centers, will let you set these up and adjust the settings right from a virtual dashboard. 

Dialpad Ai Voice, for example, lets you set up call forwarding to redirect incoming calls to the appropriate device or person, transfer calls to different employees, and route calls to specific agents or departments in minutes, ensuring more efficient customer service and response times.

Virtual phone numbers

Being able to easily set up virtual phone numbers is another important feature to look for. Even though most vendors offer virtual phone numbers as part of their pricing plans, the thing that most people overlook here is how easy it is to set up and change virtual numbers. Make sure to get a demo of this process or try it out for yourself during a free trial to understand what that user experience is like.

Call recording and transcriptions

Some businesses, especially those with decent-sized customer-facing teams, use call recordings and transcriptions to capture conversations for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes. 

Transcriptions are especially helpful because they’re searchable, which makes it easier to quickly find key details instead of listening to entire calls from beginning to end.

If this is important to you, make sure your cloud calling solution comes with these two features—most do not, especially in the lowest pricing tiers, and many don’t offer real-time call transcription (only post-call transcription, which means it can take a few hours to get the transcript).

Dialpad is one of the very few platforms that does this live on calls, thanks to its hyper-accurate AI—Dialpad Ai—which has analyzed over six billion minutes of business conversations:

Voicemail and visual voicemail

Traditional voicemail enables callers to leave messages when no one is available to answer, while visual voicemail is a feature that transcribes these messages into text for easy review. If you have sales reps or team members who often aren’t available to take every sales call, these are crucial features to have.

Business text and instant messaging

Many cloud calling systems also come with texting and team messaging, which lets your team access all their business conversations, send SMS messages, and make calls, all from the same app.

Harness the benefits of cloud calling with Dialpad

If you’re interested in working remotely, cloud calling is a must-have. From cost efficiency and scalability to advanced features and improved mobility, cloud-based telephony offers significant advantages over traditional systems. 

Take Dialpad for a spin to learn more about its excellent VoIP quality, scalability, integrations, and more!