How Free Phone Number Is Secure?

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

April 7, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Undeniably, the current business scenario would come to a complete standstill if it wasn’t for the telephones. Phone lines have widespread uses that include connecting your employees, knitting your target audience with your brand, and vice versa.

This being the situation, your business would take a back seat if you were to overlook phone lines. Even though a business may have multiple channels for their customers to reach out to, telephones are still considered the best and preferable medium for all customers.

The most important advantage of telephone lines is that their usage does not require any technical knowledge. Any child or adult can use a telephone effortlessly. Having this in mind, businesses began to use free phone numbers. This enabled customers across the world to contact a brand in a hassle-free manner. Additionally, these numbers were free-to-call which attracted more customers.

Let us understand toll free or free phone numbers in detail.

What are free phone numbers and how do you get one?

As the name suggests, free phone numbers facilitate inbound calls without charging any costs to the callers. However, as a business (or call receiver) you will bear the charges and pay your service provider. A toll free number is a centralised number that can be used across a country.

This number starts with the country code followed by a customised number that you may choose. At times, toll free numbers also come with vanity numbers. These increase the recall value and help your customers directly connect with the brand.

Free phone numbers are obtained through service providers of cloud telephony systems. These providers take complete charge and ensure the seamless functioning of your customer-facing communication system.

What is toll fraud?

As is the case with every other technological innovation, toll free numbers are also exposed to fraudulence and misuse. Strict rules are implemented to eliminate any chances of toll fraud.

Hoarding or warehousing of free phone numbers by a business or service provider is punishable and subjected to penalties. It is illegal for the service provider to block higher than the intended free phone numbers that they intend to use. Service providers may resell these numbers at a premium rate to business hence indulging in unfair practices.

Additionally, the selling of free phone numbers by businesses to other parties in the industry is also strictly prohibited.

What are the risks of toll fraud?

The major risk involved in toll fraud is number hijacking or short-stopping. In this scenario, the call traffic that is intended to reach your business will be hijacked by the fraudster.

Typically, when a customer calls your contact center using a toll free number, the call first connects to your service provider and then transfers the call to your representative.

In the case of toll fraud, the fraudster works in unison with the service provider. The calls are directed to the fraudster without the customer’s knowledge. The dishonest service provider shares the revenue obtained with the fraudster. These calls are typically used by the fraudster for advertising purposes.

Furthermore, in case you opt for a cloud telephony system, your information is available on a public network and this may involve the risks of a cyber-attack.

Are free phone numbers secure?

Every technological bottleneck comes with a suitable workaround. Risks of toll frauds can be proactively identified and promptly rectified.

In the case of toll frauds by telecom operators, you can set strict limitations to access your calling capabilities. They are as follows:

Reinforce account security

Ensure a stringent authentication process. Businesses should use a phone number and email address verification process to check the identity of the caller. It is also a good idea to partner with a third-party anti-fraud concern/organisation to make sure that fraudsters do not use your channel for their activities.

Limit your geo permissions

International toll free calls are an easy target for toll fraud. Restrict the usage to a few countries. Conduct a detailed survey to find the areas your customers or target audience belong to. If you feel particular geo permission is not required, do not think twice to turn off that phone line or deactivate it.

Diligently fix your call limits

Uninterrupted calls may attract toll fraudsters. They usually misuse newly created accounts as the call limits for these lines are not restricted. You should fix the number of calls you will receive every 60 minutes or every 24 hours. Furthermore, you may limit call duration and the exact number of permissible concurrent calls. This will ensure that the fraudster can’t create high traffic in a small period.

However, this method involves the risk of restricting legitimate customers as well. Whatever be the scenario, it is best to open your services for your customers only after appropriately verifying them.

On the other hand, we must remember that cloud telephony comes with limitless advantages. They secure your toll free kiosks from misuse and cyberattacks in the following ways:

Adherence to compliance

One most commendable capability of cloud systems is that they ensure compliance. Compliance protocols keep changing from time to time. Moreover, your business industry and geographical location also impact the type of compliance you will need for the smooth functioning of business processes.

Your cloud service provider identifies all said requirements and ensures that your communication system follows the best practices. Furthermore, compliance measures may change or get updated. The service provider keeps track of the same and updates your compliance protocols thereby enabling you to stay at par with the industry requirements. Hence, protecting your ecosystem from fraudsters.

Follows strict security protocols

Every IT network or communication system is prone to risk through malware, viruses, and cyber threats. Your service provider understands such risks and ensures the required anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls are in place to appropriately detect the entry of unwanted entities.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that a few service providers insist on training your in-house staff about the dangers of cyberattacks and how they can contribute towards avoiding them.

They educate employees about the benefits of using strong passwords that aren’t easily guessed along with emphasising the need for a multi-factor authentication system for access to sensitive information.

Moreover, service providers brief employees about the risks of opening unknown links and emails. They advise employees to avoid unnecessary downloads and verify email senders if they receive messages from unknown addresses.

Proactive and reactive responses

Cloud service providers adhere to a combined approach that is proactive and reactive. They detect bottlenecks in advance and rectify them promptly. Also, service providers are equipped to handle concerns as and when they arise.

This makes sure that your system is forever under the supervision and thereby safe.

Continuous monitoring

The cloud telephony provider not just offers you the telephone lines but also constantly monitors your system. They may also have a 24/7 helpdesk in place that allows you to inform any technical issues that need urgent attention. Your service provider will enable real-time alerts that will equip them to address concerns spontaneously without letting them complicate into a bigger issue.

Such constant technical support ensures that your communication system is secure.

Wrap Up

Free phone numbers are most preferable by customers. However, their use may involve a few risks. We hope the above-mentioned points will highlight the different types of risks associated with free phone numbers and how they can be successfully mitigated. Hence, making them a secure medium of communication.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Election Campaigns Revolutionised: The Cloud Telephony Way

Acefone Editor

Author

Voice Broadcasting

April 5, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

India is a country of plurality. We are home to not only diverse cultures or languages but a multitude of political identities as well. The sheer number of political parties that exist within the country reflect the same.

Our dance with democracy or elections is never too far away. General elections give way to state elections which make space for municipality or panchayat elections and so on.

In order to sustain in a system so highly charged, political parties need to ensure continuous campaigning efforts. Thus, a powerful and reliable ally becomes a necessity, considering the difficulties involved.

One such ally is cloud telephony—one-stop solution for all campaigning efforts. It can potentially be a game-changer for political parties and lead them onto the path of victory.

Here are a few ways election campaigns can be revolutionised with cloud telephony:

Easily connect with voters

The most crucial aspect of any election campaign is to reach out to and connect with as many voters as possible. It is paramount to inform the electorate of your party’s ideology, principles and goals. It is equally important for any serious contender to ensure their manifesto reaches as large an audience as possible to win the election.

Traditional campaigning via pamphlets, Custom posters and hoardings are not only expensive and resource-intensive but are also slow. It takes a substantial amount of time to ideate a message and to deliver it to your voters. In a fast-paced, competitive environment like that of campaigns, this delay can result in the intended message losing its essence.

Cloud telephony solutions help mitigate these problems and offer other great advantages. Political parties can leverage voice broadcasting, outbound IVR, and bulk SMSes to reach thousands of voters within minutes.

Cloud telephony’s voice broadcasting is great tool for political campaigns and allows leaders to directly reach the masses. This solution gives the impression of a one-on-one call, which in turn increases relatability with the candidate.

You can even implement an IVR that conducts a survey, recording public opinion with just one phone call. Alternatively, you can play your own voice recording or create a recording with the text-to-speech feature to convey your message.

Bulk SMSes are yet another medium to connect with the electorate instantly. Deliver live updates about the campaign or links to the website or other collaterals. SMSes can also be used to collect responses with simple one-word replies. All one needs to do is collate a database and draft a message. Your telephony service provider shall take care of the rest!

Enhanced personalisation

Commercial entities have mastered the skill of personalisation. They understand that it results in better leads and higher profits. Election campaigning is not very different. In order to ensure a victory, parties must value their voters and make them feel special.

Cloud telephony offers easy solutions to achieve just the same. Integrate a CRM with your outbound communication system to include your voters’ name and other details.

Broadcasting pre-recorded voice messages or SMSes in regional languages is yet another way to improve relatability. Parties can also use virtual numbers to easily establish a local presence in an area. Individuals would feel more secure if they call a local party number instead of one belonging to a different state.

Virtual numbers, as the name suggests, work via the Internet and do not require telephony cables or SIM cards. You don’t even need any physical infrastructure to get started. Calls are swiftly forwarded to a centralised number without the caller ever noticing the difference. This feature allows political parties to pick a local number without any hassles.

Overall, these small practices go a long way in establishing trust and confidence between the citizens and their potential representative.

Get quick support

A major aspect of any election campaign is to garner support, be it for leaders or any topical issues. This builds the necessary momentum for your campaign, motivating party workers and volunteers to work with added rigour. Additionally, popular support sways public opinion and shall help you win the confidence of otherwise opposing or uninterested citizens.

Missed call service is a unique zero-cost offering that helps achieve the same. You can ask prospective voters to give a missed call on a specific number and voila! The cloud communication solution collects basic details of the caller and registers their response. Since the call is not actually connected, callers do not even incur any charges.

Set up special hotlines

Election campaigns can get highly competitive and this can easily lead to misinformation about your leaders and their ideologies. Dedicated telephone lines are a great way to clear the air and connect with not only your potential voters but also your volunteers and party workers.

Use toll free numbers to set up a zero cost communication channel. 1800 numbers have two primary advantages. Firstly, they offer pan-India coverage. Therefore, irrespective of where the next elections are, your party will be ready and won’t need to change its number.

Secondly, toll free numbers are easy to remember and, hence, considerably improve the recall value of your party. They stick with the callers and gradually become synonymous with your identity. You can even deploy a vanity number like 1800-party-name to make your contact number more recognisable and memorable.

Improve last-mile connectivity

Reaching remote areas physically or even virtually can be challenging. Imagine the logistical difficulties involved in campaigning in such areas. However, as a potential representative of the people, it is your responsibility to reach the last voter.

Since a stable Internet connection is still a dream to many, cloud telephony offers a simple yet robust communication medium. India has a teledensity (or the number of telephone users in every 100 individuals) of nearly 90%. This reflects the immense penetration telephony has in our everyday lives.

Cloud telephony solutions like bulk SMSes, toll free numbers and voice broadcasting do not require an Internet connection. Hence, they offer better chances of connecting with the populace as compared to the alternatives.

Strengthen coordination among party workers

A convincing campaign can only be curated when your entire team works in tandem. It is vital to establish seamless coordination, from top to bottom, in order to present a collective front. Furthermore, your communications platform should be as fast as the changing election landscape to be sustainable.

Features like call forwarding, transferring and an integrated dashboard ensure information is swiftly conveyed throughout the party. Cloud telephony further empowers party workers to stay connected from anywhere and at any time.

Customised pricing to fit all sizes

Election campaigning is an expensive exercise. Ensure your communications do not burden your pocket. Cloud telephony solutions, though powerful, cost only a fraction when compared to traditional mediums owing to a simplistic set-up.

No bulky or expensive infrastructure like servers, connecting cables or landlines are required. Instead, volunteers only need a stable Internet connection and a smart device to get connected. Cloud solution providers facilitate high-quality calls even on low bandwidth.

Furthermore, prominent service provider like Acefone offer bespoke solutions with customised pricing to fit your needs. Hence, there is no longer any need to worry about your budget! Go ahead and use these solutions to effectively connect with the voters.

Final words

As we learnt, cloud telephony can transform election management and offers a plethora of benefits to political parties and their leaders. When used efficiently, it can do wonders for your campaign. Reach out to more voters in their native language and ensure round-the-clock connectivity, one-on-one attention and much more. Equipped with this technology, the possibilities are limitless.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Acefone Editor

Author

Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

Unified Communication In The Retail Market: Case Studies

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

6 mins read eye

Table of content

The retail industry was one of the worst-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. With stringent social distancing and lockdown regulations, brick-and-mortar stores were struggling to equip themselves for such a huge transition––going contactless.

Several retailers have been focusing on maintaining an online presence. However, solely depending on one medium of communication is a challenge. Retailers need to create a positive image and earn the trust of their customers, while restricting in-person contact. As a result, businesses are forced to outdo themselves and earn a competitive edge.

The most difficult challenge is to maintain effective communication across the various stages of the purchase cycle. Any issue in the communication during the process can drastically affect customer experience.

Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) can equip retailers to effectively handle such situations. Let us understand this solution in detail.

According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, UCaaS in the retail industry was valued at USD 4733.85 million in the year 2020. This figure is expected to reach USD 17800.17 million by 2026 which amounts to a CAGR of 24.7% for the forecast period 2021-2026. That’s a massive climb, proving exactly how important it is to take your retail business to the digital scape.

What is Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS)?

As the name suggests, UCaaS allows you to obtain a holistic view of the various processes across your organisation. It helps in creating a rich platform with smart solutions that enable better collaboration and contextual interactions between your brand and the customer while converging physical experiences with virtual ones and controlling costs at the same time.

UCaaS facilitates the free flow of information across the various moving parts of your business. This communication system breaks down silos and enables better transparency among the departments.

To elaborate on this, let us consider two use cases from the retail industry.

Use case 1:

Consider a customer visiting your brick-and-mortar store. They want to purchase a product they saw on your website. The customer is particular about the product as they have zeroed down on it after detailed research and find it most suitable.

If your store runs on a legacy system, your salesperson will have trouble finding the same product in the physical store. They might need to contact the inventory warehouse. This will include getting permission from the supervisor and the store-in-charge. To add to that, if the product is out-of-stock, it will have to be ordered afresh and provided to the customer. Most distressing of all, this whole process consumes a lot of time. The consumer may instead contact your competitor for expedited product delivery.

Now imagine this: your retail chain has a state-of-the-art unified communication system in place. This system enables seamless communication between the various departments of your store. So, when your customer asks for a product he found online, your salesperson can check the catalogue and get a product ID. This unique ID helps you find the desired product easily. The same ID can be used to check the inventory for stock availability and delivery updates.

A unified communication system also facilitates instantaneous approval by the supervisor and the warehouse in-charge. The whole process is completed in a single click, on the go. This speedy process brings together different parts of your retail store, thereby improving the quality of customer experiences.

Use case 2:

A customer orders a product from your online retail store. He is expecting the delivery in a day or two.

In the case of a traditional communication system, the customer will have to wait for the scheduled time of delivery, confining them to their home. Furthermore, a conventional delivery schedule may involve delays that the business will then be unable to communicate to the customer.

However, when you have a unified communication system in place, you enjoy the benefits of a holistic approach across your retail business. A unified communication system involves a middleware and location web services API.

The customer can be informed instantaneously about the exact time of the product delivery. Also, the middleware comes coupled with a GPS tracking system. This helps monitor the location of the delivery vehicle.

Equipped with this precise information, automatic notifications are triggered about the approximate product delivery time and the customer receives real-time updates. This allows them to be available accordingly instead of waiting indefinitely for the product delivery.

Now that we have understood how UCaaS solutions are used, let us delve into their advantages:

Help reduce costs

UCaaS functions on the cloud. Your cloud service provider takes care of the upfront expenditure, like that of infrastructure or hiring a skilled workforce to maintain the environment. This compendium of services takes away all the hassles and comes at flat monthly charges that prove to be cost-effective.

Facilitate collaboration

Collaboration plays an important role in the success of every business. A unified communication system helps inter-department coordination. For example, let’s say a product is out for delivery but the truck breaks down and halts for some time. This delay can be immediately notified to all the stakeholders. A proactive system will enable you to instantly inform your customers about any issues and take appropriate action.

Initiates quality customer interaction

UCaaS paves the way for contextual customer interactions. The technology enables the integration of customer support tools and helps obtain insights into the customer journey. For example, consider a customer contacting your support center about a product’s return policy.

With a UCaaS solution, your representatives have ready access to tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. This tool provides data about previous chat transcripts and the history of customer’s interaction.

If you find that the customer has been repeatedly contacting you for a return request, it is best to either accept the return as per policies or at least escalate the call for immediate attention. Such spontaneous action goes a long way in earning satisfied customers.

Improves productivity

UCaaS provides centralised access to business-critical processes and information. It enables your staff to work from anywhere and any device. This solution equips them with the required information to make informed decisions even when they’re not working from the office.

For example, if your staff receives a message from a customer about the status of their online order, they can check the same from their mobile devices and update the customer instantly. They need not wait till the next morning to go to the office and get the information. This helps in resolving customer queries and issues promptly, thereby boosting productivity and customer satisfaction as well.

Enables you to earn the competitive edge

When your retail store has a state-of-the-art unified communication system in place, it can deliver quality customer services across communication channels simultaneously. Therefore, your staff can serve customers better within shortened call times.

Furthermore, this communication system helps provide faster resolutions to the customers. All these capabilities make your customers happy, resulting in your brand earning a competitive edge in the industry.

Wrapping up

A unified communication system enables retailers to showcase their brand as a trusted and reliable entity. Equipped with UCaas, retailers are able to ensure on-time delivery and seamless interactions with customers, thereby reaping maximum benefits. Hopefully, the aforementioned use cases will provide a glimpse into how best-unified communication systems compare to conventional ones.

Get in touch with us at 1888-859-0450 or send an email to [email protected] anytime to get started with cloud solutions.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

How Not-for-Profit Organisations can Benefit from Cloud Telephony?

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

April 1, 2021

7 mins read eye

Table of content

Not-for-profit organisations often take part in a range of activities, dealing with lots of different customer bases—from businesses to supporting people in the community. Therefore, it is important that they have a strong and reliable communication system.

Of course, the cost is a big factor for NPOs since they aim to use as much of their funds as possible to support their clients.

For a cost-effective and reliable communication system, look no further than cloud telephony. With a range of extra features, cloud telephony provides a perfect solution that allows not-for-profit organisations to thrive and grow. Here’s how:

1. Connect with anyone, anywhere for less

The daily work of an NPO involves a lot of communication with external funders, businesses, and charities who can be based anywhere in the world. And so, keeping in touch with them can often be costly.

Some not-for-profits also make outbound calls to clients or service users too. The scale of calls required, particularly during a pandemic, means that costs can skyrocket with traditional phone lines. The higher the costs are, the lesser the money that can be invested back into the community. Thus, the need for a more effective solution for NPOs is quite apparent.

As cloud telephony works over an Internet connection rather than a traditional phone line, it is much cheaper to contact anyone—no matter where they are in the world. Employees can call their customers or business partners without worrying about racking up high costs, and the money saved can go towards helping those in need!

Another important element for a not-for-profit organisation is the ability to network. Networking often provides new funding streams for these organisations and so it is important they can do this freely. The low call costs allow easy networking with anyone they want, all over the world, to help them boost their income streams and take down the barriers between them and their next funding source.

With Acefone’s online portal, It is easy for organisations to keep on top of their spending. This simple tool allows managers to see exactly what has been spent in any given amount of time, with transparent call costs available at any time.

2. Boost internal communications

Quite often, there are many different departments operating within an NPO. It can be difficult for these departments to collaborate if they are busy supporting users, and complicated communication mechanisms make this even more difficult.

With cloud telephony, departments can easily collaborate in a number of ways. Calls between staff are completely free, so it is as simple as calling their extension number and you will be connected to the person you need. The simplicity of cloud telephony means that any member of staff will be able to pick this up without an issue, regardless of their technical knowledge. They can also use whatever device they are comfortable with, meaning no need for complicated desk phones if it doesn’t work for your business!

Another useful collaboration tool with cloud telephony is the conference calling feature. Volunteers from around the world can dial into meetings from their own devices and work together to provide updates for easy problem-solving.

Communications are strong and clear as cloud telephony works through your Internet connection. Therefore, you don’t have to deal with any lags or delays. Being able to dial into meetings also means that staff who are on the go don’t miss out on important meetings—all they need is their laptop or mobile, and they are connected within seconds.

A further collaboration tool with cloud telephony is call groups. This is useful if you don’t need one particular person’s help, but you need to contact a whole team or department. An example of this would be in marketing support. There may be multiple people who can support you, so you can simply make a call group wherein the whole team is ringed together and any free member can pick up. This is a great way to increase collaboration across a not-for-profit organisation and ensure that departments share relevant information at the right time.

3. Employees can work on the go

Many not-for-profit organisations have employees who are constantly on the go. They could be out meeting businesses, attending networking events, or any number of other activities pertinent to the running of the organisation.

To prevent employees from being out of the loop, you can use cloud telephony and use any compatible device which is connected to the internet to connect easily to your phone system. This means that these staff can connect to meetings and access any notes or customer information they might need to assist the client they are visiting.

You can also store important marketing materials, forms, or documents on the phone system; so whoever needs the information can access it quickly and easily, perhaps when visiting a client or business. Best cloud phone system can also connect with powerful CRM apps, so employees working on the go can update records while they are out, limiting the amount of information which might go missing or be forgotten.

Working on the go is one of the most prominent reasons why many NPOs switch to cloud telephony. These phone systems truly set your employees free from their desks, while ensuring that they still retain that connection to your business without missing a beat. With plenty of remote working features such as voicemail-to-email, call flipping, find/follow, and more, they can represent your business with confidence and ease. They won’t become disconnected from any important updates and collaboration opportunities.

4. Keep detailed notes on client enquiries accessible to all

Cloud communication providers often provide an online portal for managing and tracking your office phone system.

In addition, to call costs and other analytics, the portal has a space for leaving detailed notes about customers on their accounts. These are accessible by any employee you authorise and help with a number of different things—like marketing preferences, information on support the customer is receiving, and more.

Your employee can access all the information they need to pick up where the last person left off, delivering a seamless service to the people. This is particularly useful during the pandemic when staff are working from home and are not sharing information as they might in the office.

If some caller’s enquiry needs a follow-up, call notes make the process much easier and efficient. You can also use them to keep track of people’s needs and tailor your services accordingly—the opportunities are endless!

5. Enhance your productivity

The wide range of cloud features provides many ways for employees to enhance their productivity. With easy access to all the information they need from the detailed notes on customer accounts, it is much easier to call a client and engage them in conversation.

As cloud telephony can connect to your CRM, this frees up some staff time since they won’t need to input data manually from their phone system. They can use this time more productively to support customers, rather than getting stuck in a cycle of administrative work which might not be the best use of their skills.

With easy access to anyone in the business through Internal calls and conference calls, employees can have productive meetings with their colleagues with just a few clicks. This open communication and collaboration make employees more productive, as they feel included and connected to the business and their colleagues—even when miles apart.

With crystal clear and reliable communications, cloud telephony can also increase productivity in the sense that more meetings can be conducted over the phone. Whether this is internal or with clients, phone meetings help cut out travel time as well as expenses. This time can be put to better use supporting an extra client or applying for new funding! Not to forget, the cost-saving benefit is of utmost importance.

Get cloud telephony for your business

Your not-for-profit organisation can also benefit from cloud telephony—get in touch today!

Call us on 1888-859-0450 to get started and explore additional benefits for your business.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Author

6 Egg-cellent Ways To Promote Easter Using The Cloud

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

March 31, 2021

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Festivals play an important role in bringing together customers and building strong relationships. Seasonal marketing, an umbrella term used to describe this endeavour, attracts consumers and boosts business sales.

One can easily say, holidays and celebrations are always great motivators to spend more. And most businesses will leave no stone unturned to grab attention.

According to this NRF survey, the average spending on Easter during COVID-19 was estimated to be $179.70, making it to a skyrocketing no. of $21.6B of total spendings. And this is during a pandemic!

With Easter around the corner, it is time to leave your mark on the minds of your audience and make the most of this festive season.

So, what are some impactful ways you can communicate your offers to your customers? It is best to have your promotions running on all mediums where your target audience is. Using cloud communication, you can instantly connect with your customers, manage individual promotions and answer all queries.

Here, we have listed a few ways you can provide promotions using the cloud to your customers.

1. Tap into the power of social media

Social media is adept at connecting customers from across the globe irrespective; bringing in people of different ages, or similar interests even.

When you have decided to provide seasonal news, special offers, and promotions for Easter, posting detailed content on your official social media page is a good idea. Your target audience can easily make the most of it.

Try offering prizes or gifts to encourage engagement. Detailed blogs, gift ideas, quizzes, polls, and of course, holiday offers are a great way to boost traffic on your webpage. This approach improves customer interaction and also helps kindle a sense of interest for your brand.

2. Initiate an SMS campaign

SMS broadcasts can help target a particular set of your customers. While Easter is a deeply religious holiday, it is also a fun time for families and children to spend together.

An SMS campaign can talk about what this holiday means to your company. You can also offer freebies or discounts on certain products purchased during the holiday.

Furthermore, SMS broadcasts that use cloud technology come with several unique templates. You may mix and match these predefined templates to increase their appeal. This approach keeps you trending and connects with your customers based on the seasonal mood.

3. Send warm visual content

Visual content influences customers more. Make use of this medium on the cloud and try striking the right chord amongst your target audience using heartwarming visual messages.

Create a story or make a video. These will not just attract customers but also help them understand your brand better. They will know that your brand values relationships and will strive to nurture customer relationships too.

You may fetch customer information from your CRM and send this visual content through a centralised cloud business phone system– like the cloud.

4. Celebrate love through photos

Any celebration is incomplete without photographs. Start by asking your customers to participate in a small activity. You can deploy an email campaign—on the cloud—to measure its performance and customer engagement levels.

Your customers can share their moments of celebration with you and you can shortlist the best of the best. Next, you club these with an offer on their next purchase or give out gifts.

You can also, with consent, share these winners on your social media and online forums with a few lines on how the customers feel. This motivates existing customers and prospects to engage with your brand again and again.

5. Inform customers through IVR

The first message a customer connects to in a call center software is the Interactive Voice Response (IVR). This system directs the incoming customers to their desired department by prompting a few questions through punching in appropriate numbers assigned to these options.

Similarly, you may opt to create a specific option targeting Easter. Customers can get the latest information and guidance regarding any running offers or contests.

This kind of IVR message must be planned properly. Giving out warm wishes, sharing information in a simple manner and connecting him to the contest is the best way to go about it. The idea is to create a sense of curiosity so that they seek out your seasonal offers.

However, you should note that not all your customers will be interested to participate in these promotional contests. Ensure that you give them the choice. They may skip the promotional offers and carry on with their regular interactions too.

You should not leave behind any means to communicate about the promotion or offer in place but ultimately it depends on the customers to make use of it.

6. Show your love to loyal customers

Loyal customers play an important role in the growth of your business and you must reward them continuously.

Easter can be one such occasion. Cloud communication mediums offer a centralised repository of information. You may easily obtain customer information based on their period of association with your brand. Celebrate these customers across platforms and mediums this Easter.

For example, you should make these customers feel special by declaring them as your most valued customers. Create posts on social media platforms, use video, audio, and text SMSs to campaign about how these customers are special to you.

Furthermore, you should consider offering special gifts to these customers. This may include any of the following:

Double their reward points.
Offer Easter-themed gifts on purchases. This should feature how your brand considers them special.
Provide free shipping charges or waive off a percentage of taxes on next purchases.

Stress on how exclusively these offers are meant for your loyal customers. This way these customers will feel noticed along with encouraging other customers to join your bandwagon.

Wrap Up

Easter is an occasion to celebrate new life and family values. This is true for businesses also. You should ensure to celebrate your customers and the trust they show in your brand. Hopefully, the above-mentioned points throw light on the various ways cloud communication can be used to treat your customers this festive season.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

5 Ways Transcript Analytics on Voice Calls can Enhance Contact Center Operations

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

March 30, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Happy customers are the mainstay of success for all types of businesses. All one needs to do is understand their expectations and be proactive. Listen closely to look for opportunities and pay attention to everything a customer says.

Thankfully, gathering loads of insights with your contact center operations is not a tough task at all, provided that you have the right cloud telephony solutions and agent intentions in place.

Accurate transcription can serve as an excellent source of insights for modern contact centers that aim to comprehend customer interactions deeply. This analysis can take a lot of work, as it involves the assessment of words, silence, pauses, tonality, and a lot more.

But all the effort you invest in transcript analysis is worthwhile, considering the immense benefits it brings for your business. Before understanding these benefits, it makes sense to know what transcript analysis is about.

Transcript Analysis: Where Everything Starts!

Before explaining what transcript, analysis is all about, let’s understand the workings of call transcription in cloud based contact center.

Essentially, the tool converts telephonic conversations into written words with a speech-to-text function. You can use smart applications or software to automate the process in real-time or with a pre-recorded call. The objective is to have scannable records of every conversation for agents to analyze and get insights they can use later.

Transcript analysis helps businesses make sense of unstructured data, pick patterns and trends, and take appropriate actions to improve customer interactions for the long haul. Getting transcription right, therefore, is mission-critical for businesses and agents alike.

This analysis can go a long way in enhancing call center workflows. Let us explain how organizations can leverage it for improved workflows.

Better Customer Experiences

The business landscape is getting increasingly competitive; nothing matters more than delivering exceptional customer experiences via all touchpoints, including contact centers. Transcript analysis is a smart way to take CX to the next level.

You can use it for keyword mapping and call transcript analysis by comprehending the explicit words and following the tone and stress in a caller’s voice. This makes it easy for your agents to identify customers’ issues, needs, wants, and expectations, and viable solutions that deliver satisfaction. Once you work out these call center metrics, great CX happens organically.

Extensive Cost-savings

When it comes to improving cloud contact center workflows, transcript analysis can cut costs and help you deliver high ROI. In fact, you can do more with less, as fewer people are needed with automated processes.

You can also reduce the cost of monitoring and quality assurance. The cost per call is lowered as the system shortens the handle times and results in fewer call transfers.

Operational Efficiency

Transcript analysis also drives improvements in the operating efficiency of the contact center. It reduces average call-handling time, boosts first-call resolution, and cuts down on call escalations and transfers.

Implementing the system can actually boost stagnant operations by enhancing agent performance. It also helps managers go the extra mile with quality management, as it is easier to pinpoint agent performance gaps and take actionable steps to address them.

Furthermore, your team members are better engaged and more likely to stick around for the long haul. This helps you save resources on recruitment—which is a win-win for both!

Customer Loyalty and Retention

Speech analysis helps you identify and minimize the number of at-risk prospects and customers. You can detect trends based on keywords and phrases, both in real time and via historical transcripts.

The technology makes it easy to understand what works and what doesn’t. Once you have in-depth insights on key factors like products, services, quality, and more, you can match customer expectations perfectly and drive long-term loyalty and retention for your brand.

Revenue Boost with Upsell and Cross-sell Opportunities

Transcript analysis empowers agents by supporting their upselling and cross-selling efforts, which is another way to enhance business results. They are able to identify the exact product or service of customers’ interest and can pursue them subtly with upselling and cross-selling strategies.

It is easy to capitalize on these opportunities by sending the right message to the right prospect at the right time. There are good chances of conversions that can bring tangible revenue boosts for your company.

Targeted Training Programs

Training plays a significant role in call center workflow, and transcript analysis can help with targeted training programs. Managers can use it to monitor conversations between agents and customers to get useful insights into the different approaches taken by top performers and laggards.

They can then build training strategies to help agents deliver better levels of satisfaction and provide first call resolution for every single interaction.

Identify Compliance and Risk Issues

With transcript analysis, managers can score calls against the compliance metric and flag them in real-time for poor performance or compliance risk. It is possible to focus on high-risk and low-quality calls right away rather than having to keep an eye out for any untoward incident, such as an agent disclosing confidential information.

Compliance is something you cannot go slack with because violations can bring massive financial penalties and reputational damage. Analytics enables you to identify calls representing potential violations so that you can pinpoint specific risks and issues and address them in your training modules beforehand.

Improve KPIs that Really Matter

You can leverage transcript analysis to improve contact center Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and implement best practices for smoother workflows. These metrics include Average Handle Time, First Call Resolution, Repeat Calls, and Script Compliance. This enables managers to assess individual agent performance so that they can accordingly maintain quality.

An Investment that Lasts a Lifetime

There was a time when organizations had to track sales and customer service calls manually to unearth keywords and sentiment data. This was inefficient and cumbersome, as converting speech-to-text and identifying keywords took a lot of time and effort. Moreover, businesses had to pick a small percentage of calls for screening.

However, transcript analysis software has changed things to a great extent. It is easy to make sense of conversations and gain a better understanding of the overall customer experience. Businesses that want to embark on a digital transformation journey must embrace transcript analysis sooner rather than later.

Conclusion

Industry experts believe that transcript analysis is among the most significant aspects of contact center operations.

It is an important and valuable resource that can offer rich insights into customer intent and expectations which, when used correctly, help you go above and beyond. Identifying customer concerns and pain-points and taking effective measures to fix them becomes much easier.

The best way to win the trust game is by listening to your customers carefully and doing everything possible to deliver outstanding service, which is best done by deeply analyzing interactions. Ideally, you should look for a cloud telephony provider that offers call analytics as a part of their solution.

Acefone is a name you can rely on to avail top-notch solutions empowered with this feature and a lot more.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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1888-859-0450

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6 Ways UCaaS Can Transform your Remote Workforce for Long Term Success

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

7 mins read eye

Table of content

According to the Office for National Statistics, almost 1.7 million people in the UK work from home. This amounts to approximately 5% of the 32.6 million working population. The report also states that 8.7 million people have worked from home at some point in time.

Though several companies are still getting accustomed to the shift to remote work, this report proves that the remote environment was always a part of our working culture.

However, there are a few challenges that businesses face when working from a remote environment. One such major hurdle is maintaining cohesion among the team members.

Many companies prefer to have a hybrid workforce model that blends both on-premise and remote working. In this scenario, remote workers may feel isolated. Thus, such a situation needs a specific approach that weaves together the different parts of your business.

Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) is a cloud-based communication system that offers a holistic view of the various moving parts of the business.

Let us delve into its intricacies for a better understanding.

What is Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS)?

As the name suggests, this communication system breaks through silos and facilitates the free flow of communication across departments of a company. It comes with state-of-the-art features like voice telephony, video and audio conferencing, and real-time messaging, and instant data and file sharing, thereby aiding friction-free communication across the organisation.

Here are a few ways UCaaS helps a remote team work efficiently and successfully.

1. Helps maintain a secure work environment

The security of critical business information is a major concern when your employees work in a remote set-up. They’ll be using different devices with a higher possibility of connecting over insecure public networks. This may pose serious security threats to your business data.

As unified communication systems are cloud-based, they are completely handled by cloud service providers who implement stringent security protocols for remote workers. A few of them are as follows.

Multi Factor authentication: Here, access is provided to authorised persons using more than one authentication technique—like using OTP and passwords.
Role-based access for all the employees: You can only access the data that is necessary for your tasks while high-security information is protected.
A strict password policy is imposed: Employees are not allowed to share passwords to confidential information. They’re also advised to regularly update their passwords, as per guidelines for creating secure codes.
Remote workers are asked to connect over a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This allows for easy monitoring and tracking of user activity. Also, it becomes easy for supervisors to detect suspicious activity.

Adhering to these security practices helps develop a secure remote environment. This supports a risk-free working space, showcasing your business as a reliable one, and attracting customers.

2. Improves collaboration

Collaboration is an important part of the remote ecosystem. It is mandatory to take specific measures so that remote workers do not feel left out. The unified communication system enables you to do this. It comes with several features of video conferencing and messaging apps. This helps your team members stay connected even in a distributed environment.

Advanced features like voicemail messaging and screen sharing helps the team reach out to a supervisor or a colleague in case they need urgent clarification. Conferencing options help create a one-to-one personal impact even in a virtual setup. Meanwhile, you can conduct periodic reviews and discussions remotely with video meetings, thereby bridging any communication gaps.

These collaboration tools can also be used to arrange team-building activities. Remote employees can participate from the comfort of their homes while getting an opportunity to mingle with their colleagues working from the office. This paves the way for a collaborative and successful working ecosystem.

3. Streamlines business processes

Connecting across the different departments of your business is important. A unified communication system enables a streamlined flow of information. This eliminates the chances of resource dependency and data stagnation.

Consider an example wherein a customer has provided negative feedback about the services you offer. A faulty product was delivered to them and they’re unable to get a refund. Despite trying over multiple channels of communication, they couldn’t connect to the right agent.

In the case of a traditional communication system, the customer will need to explain the problem all over again when they do connect with the right executive. This will agitate them further and lead them closer to opting out.

However, with the help of a unified communication system, your representative can view the customer’s previous interactions across multiple communication channels. He can consolidate all this information on a single page and understand the situation better. Realising the urgency and mood of the customer, the agent can provide the best-suited resolution, like an immediate refund, or spontaneously escalate the issue to a supervisor.

This streamlined flow of information not just saves time and eliminates repetitive, mundane tasks such as obtaining customer information but also helps retain customers.

4. Enables communication continuity

UCaaS enables the integration of information. That is, your employees can remain on the same page, access the same information, and work simultaneously on documents irrespective of their location or the time of the day. Remote workers and employees from the office can collaborate, share files, edit, and transfer data seamlessly. This capability helps improve the efficiency of business processes and deliver better customer experiences.

5. Provides better flexibility

A commendable advantage of unified communication systems is flexibility. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has become the new normal. This refers to your employees being able to use their own devices at work. No longer do they have to stay glued to their desks—they can work from anywhere around the globe and even on the move. Furthermore, this capability allows employees to support business processes across various time zones.

Unified communication systems integrate different communication channels to facilitate work. Your remote workers can use text messages, audio, video, social media platforms, and emails to connect with customers. This will help your brand augment its reach and meet varying customer needs.

These systems come with state-of-the-art scalability. That is, the number of resources and infrastructure used can be increased or decreased based on changing demands.

For example, if you’re a small business that receives a sudden requirement from your client involving the migration of an existing tool to an updated technology interface—you need to be able to accommodate this quickly and expertly.

Your service provider can provide you with these resources for the period of the project. Cloud-based UCaaS functions on the pay-as-you-use-model. This means you will need to pay additionally only for the extra resources you have used. This flexible model enables you to meet customer needs cost-effectively.

6. Helps control costs and focus on core business

Cloud-based unified communication systems play an important role in slashing down upfront investments on infrastructure. Traditional communication systems involve expenditures like the purchase of equipment and software.

However, UCaaS is managed by your cloud services provider, who will evaluate your work environment and equip it with the best suitable infrastructure in alignment with your organisational goals.

For example, if your business has a hybrid work model, you’ll be equipped with the required devices to accommodate your remote workers. This will include endpoint protection and flexible methods like using a UCaaS system across your company.

When you cut down costs on equipment and infrastructure, you are automatically able to focus more on your core business and direct funds to improvise customer-facing processes. This results in happy customers and a successful business strategy.

Wrap up

A holistic view of information is pivotal for the success of businesses. With many companies opting for remote ecosystems, it has become a necessity to integrate business processes. Unified communication systems empower businesses to do this and much more. Adopt UCaaS and transform your remote workforce into your customer success strategy.

For any further information, you can contact us at 1888-859-0450 or [email protected] and our agents will be happy to help.

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5 Capabilities That Make SaaS Contact Centre A Must-Have

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

March 25, 2021

4 mins read eye

Table of content

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is fast becoming the primary phone service option preferred by most consumers and businesses. Global Insights Market Inc. projects that the VoIP market will hit $55 billion by 2025. A significant factor contributing to this growth is the increasing popularity of workforce mobility and extensive features that VoIP offers, like the SaaS contact center.

A SaaS contact center is a dynamic VoIP plug-in that allows you to route and escalate calls, view analytics, and help agents handle each client appropriately. It also streamlines storage and eliminates data entry for increased usability and collaboration.

This article will outline powerful capabilities that make a call center management system a must-have VoIP feature for every business.

1. Centralisation

Bringing together service operations in a centralised location is key to improving customer communication and agent productivity. Unfortunately, most call centers rely on multiple applications rather than a unified solution. This ultimately results in agents winding up on a call without the information they need to provide desirable service.

A cohesive SaaS cloud contact center solves this issue by managing all business communications via VoIP phone system and analytics on a customer relationship management (CRM) tool.

With all the information easily accessible, agents provide a more personalised and seamless experience. SaaS solutions also ensure that your agents spend less time on mindless administrative work and overcome barriers to building brand trust.

2. Multiple integrations

Considering the time, call centers agents spend on different processes, the advantage of cloud-based solutions is their ability to provide robust freshworks integrations. This increases internal collaboration and allows agents to access quick support and escalate questions and any interactions that need additional help.

Implementing these integrations also leaves significant room for scalability and to revolutionise customer journey management. A CRM integration gives you useful information about customer actions and the factors driving their decisions. With greater access to relevant insights, you can make a better home office and address issues without wasting consumer time, resulting in increased satisfaction.

3. Comprehensive reporting

Reports are an integral aspect of helping customer service kiosks understand and evaluate agents as well as customers. However, reporting can be challenging when you need to navigate heaps of data to unlock key operational insights.

A powerful inbound call management software empowers managers to review agent activity and detailed metric reports to determine bottlenecks and take corrective measures.

It also provides you with an in-depth view of all agent activities—from checking the number of calls answered or transferred to their availability status. This way, you can initiate training measures to help agents become more competitive, which ultimately translates to increased business sales and profits. You can check this compiled VoIP software list from FinancesOnline to find a SaaS contact center that delivers comprehensive reports.

4. Software mobility

As the pandemic reshapes call center operations, managers have to adjust to constant changes to thrive in the increasingly competitive customer service space. A powerful call management solution helps by easing the process of moving your physical call center.

Unlike other solutions, SaaS can store business phone numbers in the cloud, allowing you to route calls through the web to any connected softphone or IP phone. It can also increase customer satisfaction since agents can access applications easily from any platform.

Most call centers traditionally update and store data in different applications, which usually results in managers having to spend extra time to train agents. SaaS helps managers ensure their team members have the right tools to deliver exceptional customer service.

5. Less maintenance

Maintaining call center voip solutions for business is far from easy. Managers have to ensure that their technology is SIP-compliant and need to perform the necessary upgrades to comply with industry standards. This can be taxing, ruining your bottom line and objective of providing desirable customer support.

However, SaaS contact center software are managed by the provider, not the on-site IT department. Moreover, cloud-powered solutions do not require specialised IT experts. So, if need be, they can be easily managed in-house even by those who’re not tech-savvy.

This means, you no longer have to worry about software updates and maintenance; any changes will roll out automatically. Automated updates guarantee less downtime so you can focus on providing quality service rather than managing technical processes. Overall, your productivity is highly benefited.

Choosing the right provider

Selecting the right VoIP solution with a dynamic SaaS contact center solution can be challenging, considering the number of providers in the market. Organisations must carefully assess the VoIP features and contact center capabilities, or else they’ll end up wasting considerable financial resources and time.

So, why wait? Call our experts at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected] any time to get started. Our dedicated agents will be glad to assist you.

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Integrations You Can Use To Make Video Conferencing Better

Yukti Verma

Author

Interaction Hub

March 22, 2021

4 mins read eye

Table of content

Video conferencing has become the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many of us have suffered through poor quality video calls, people arriving late due to glitches in accessing the meeting, etc.

These headaches are all too familiar in the business world and are particularly difficult when you are in a video conference with people outside of your organisation or holding webinars. You want crystal clear communications and a professional system that makes it easy for your participants to join and interact.

Given that video conferencing is here to stay, it’s important to know how to make the most of your video conferencing and ensure professional communication.

This article will go through a few integrations you can use to make video conferencing better.

1. CRM Integration

With a hosted phone system, you can host video conferences right from your preferred device. With CRM integration you’ll have the ability to send a video conference joining link to the right participants and record attendance all within one interface.

This integration reduces administrative steps. You can log attendance, send reminders, and can follow up with your video conference participants with ease. Without this integration, you may need to manually search your attendees, and won’t be able to use your CRM software to schedule a follow-up meeting or a reminder email. In addition, manual scheduling leaves room for error, and important attendees might not get the memo!

CRM integration makes it easy to host and run a video conference. Everything is done from your hosted phone system and is automatically updated. So no matter where you are or where your team is, they will always have up-to-date information. If you’re conducting a video conference with potential clients, the CRM integration can help you easily follow up, schedule callbacks, etc. within your phone system. As a result, any member of staff can simply pick up where you left off.

Not only do you have the ability to schedule further contact, but you can also make personalised notes on customer accounts. If the customers book on a video conference or webinar about a certain service, then you can send them special offers about the same and easily make a really personalised connection with the customer.

Salesforce is a popular CRM software—readily integrated with our hosted phone systems.
Take, for example, Zoom for a video conference or webinar. Details of registered participants can automatically be added as potential leads on Salesforce. This means that the information is also available on your hosted phone system and you can access everything you need, wherever you are.

2. Instant Messaging

We all know that sometimes we can completely forget about a meeting. We may simply be extremely busy, lose track of time, and miss a video conference. With instant messaging integrations, you can directly contact busy coworkers or can invite other members of staff to give their opinion even when you’re already in a meeting.

With your hosted phone system, you have access to a built-in instant messaging service. With this service, you can message anyone in the organisation and schedule a meeting without the hassle of going through their calendars (which might not be up to date). Instant messaging is perfect for last-minute meetings, or when you need quick clarifications. Additionally, any conversation over instant messaging service can be readily switched to a video call or conference!

Instant messaging is a great tool alongside video conferencing too. Participants can ask questions without disrupting the flow of the meeting and can be answered instantly or at a later stage. It is also a great way to share resources and links with team members as and when you are discussing them. This practice ensures you don’t forget to share resources after the meeting when you may have other important tasks to attend to.

3. Schedule Directly into Calendars

A great feature of video conferencing is the ease of scheduling meetings directly into people’s calendars. This is ideal when you are conducting a video conference with external participants or need formal invitations.

You can add details about the video conference—agenda, resources, rules, any prior reading (if required) etc., right into their calendars. This ensures participants have the time to plan ahead about the video conference.

Calendar integrations are particularly useful for external meetings. It is a great way to book meetings in advance so that everyone can make it. With your hosted phone system being integrated with your CRM, you can also save information about the participants and schedule any follow-up meetings if needed.

Conclusion

Video conferencing is here to stay! Online meetings shall not only help businesses save time and money, but will also add to the overall convenience. Considering the relevance of video conferencing in today’s business ecosystem, it is important to have a reliable and robust solution that can provide clear sound and pictures every time. A hosted phone system can do all this and more, and makes it simple for you to organise and follow up with participants!

To find out more about how a hosted phone system can make your video conferencing experience better, call today on 1888-859-0450 or send an email to [email protected].

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

How Remote Employees Can Ensure Better Cloud Security?

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

March 19, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

The COVID-19 pandemic led many businesses to transition to the cloud. Though some companies preferred a hybrid working model, maintaining an exclusively remote ecosystem has become mandatory since the pandemic.

Cloud communications solution is the first source of support any business can turn to when considering remote work. This communication system comes with a myriad of advantages that include centralised access to information, no heavy investment on infrastructure, and minimal maintenance costs. These factors compel businesses to opt for cloud communications.

However, there are always two sides to a coin. Cloud communication systems absolutely require appropriate security measures to mitigate cyber threats and maintain data security.

This need is more prevalent in the case of remote employees who may be connecting over public networks. Doing so maximises the exposure of personal data thereby increasing the risks of its misuse.

Remote work has increased the average cost of a data breach by $137,000 (IBM). The same report suggests that remote workers will be a major target for cybercriminals in the years to come.

Remote employees need to follow certain steps to curb these risks and work securely from home. Let us help you understand them better:

1. Enable access through multi-factor authentication

As the name suggests, this technique involves multi-level authentication. Usually, employees are advised to secure business-critical data with a username and password. This technique goes one step further to add another layer of security.

A one-time password (OTP) is sent to the registered number of the user. They’ll have to enter this code along with the username and password to be able to access any information.

Multi-factor authentication need not necessarily use an OTP. You could make use of:

Things you have knowledge of. For example, a password or PIN.
Things you may have. For example, a badge or mobile phone.
Yourself. For example, your fingerprint, facial recognition, and voice recognition.

This is an advantage because even if a hacker can find out the username and password set by the user, getting the OTP or other factors for authentication may not be possible. This method, therefore, enables higher security in a remote setup.

2. Establish a stringent access control

A compromised access criterion facilitates entry for hackers. Access to confidential information must be strictly restricted. With access control, you can provide information based on people’s roles and duties specifically. The users are thus provided access to only the information needed to accomplish their official tasks.

This is important in a remote setup as employees may accidentally put confidential information at risk. Limiting access will eliminate the chances of employee errors and strengthen security for data on a centralised cloud communication platform.

3. Implement password policies

Employing a strict password policy is the simplest and most effective way to prevent misuse of business-critical data. This password policy should necessarily include the following:

The passwords should not be weak and easily guessable.
A minimum password validity policy should be incorporated that elaborates on the minimum timeframe a password should be retained.
A maximum password validity policy should be implemented that details the maximum time a password can be used for. This highlights the fact that passwords should be changed periodically.
The minimum length should be eight characters.
It should include at least four different types of characters that include lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and symbols.

Furthermore, an annual password audit should be conducted to track password changes. Incorporating these regulations will help secure individual data on a common cloud platform.

4. Firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-malware software

Remote employees should be educated about the need to install state-of-the-art anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls. This software will detect and identify the existence of malware in the communication system and help neutralise it.

Remote employees may browse several websites with the potential of malware. With appropriate firewalls in place, any suspicious activity is identified and prevented from causing any harm to confidential data.

Besides advising employees on anti-virus practices, you should also invest in providing premium software to the staff’s workstations and ensuring proper installation.

5. Enable end-point protection

End-point protection is especially important for remote employees. Employees working from home follow a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) culture. They may access the centralised repository of information on the cloud from any of their devices like laptops, mobile phones, or desktops.

With endpoint protection, every point of access is protected. This eliminates the chances of malware entering the cloud communication environment through these end-points and harming the system.

End-point protection platforms (EPPs) function by scrutinising the files that enter or try to access the communication system. EPPs are based on application control and data encryption. They do not allow unsafe or unauthorised information access and also ensure the protection of data respectively.

6. Connection through Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A VPN allows employees to work over private and secured networks by hiding the IP addresses of devices and the particulars of other browsing information to outsiders.

We know that public networks pose serious security threats for remote working employees, but VPN networks can maintain confidentiality and allow supervisors to monitor employee browsing activity to detect any suspicious behaviour.

Remote employees are therefore advised to connect over VPN networks to limit the exposure of critical data, thereby preventing chances of a cyberattack.

7. Cyber-train employees

Though companies make sure that their employees are equipped with high-end malware detection tools, the most important aspect of cybersecurity is to take measures and eliminate the chances of a cyberattack. This is possible only if the employees are aware of how hackers may try and compromise their system.

Conducting a company-wide survey to assess the awareness levels of employees about cyberattacks is a good idea. Also, they should be trained about what to avoid and how to identify corrupted content.

For example, employees should learn to avoid unnecessary downloads. Clicking on unknown links should not be motivated. Emails from unfamiliar senders should be checked with caution. It is best to confirm the identity of the sender before clicking on the email link.

Your staff should also be provided appropriate information about phishing attempts along with highlighting the need to check the website URLs if they are prefixed with HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) rather than HTTP.

HTTPS allows the safe transmission of data over the SSL/TLS protocol. This enables an encrypted, secure transmission of data, and proper identification of the network server. However, HTTP does not include this encryption protocol thereby allowing the data transmitted to be compromised.

Wrap up

Cybersecurity is a popular topic of discussion across industry verticals—especially since the remote work culture has increased. Remote employees must be given proper instructions on how to safely access and use the information on a cloud communication platform.

This article throws light on how maintaining caution through end-point protection, installation of firewalls and anti-virus software can safeguard your critical information on the cloud.

If you have any more doubts about cloud security, feel free to reach our team at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected].

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.