Cloud-based software and hardware offer advantages to many businesses relative to the cost of physically owning and maintaining equipment and enterprise-level software licenses. Those same benefits come with having cloud-based tools for phone calls, messaging, conferencing, and file sharing. Even if the phones and supporting software are not built with regulatory compliance in mind, their encryption and anti-malware tools can help to provide the mandated security. This post explains the ways in which financial institutions can benefit from adopting a cloud-based telecommunications system.
Enhanced Customer Service
A cloud-based communication system makes it easier for customers to reach you and makes it easier to reach them when you need to. The options vary with the products or products a business uses, but generally, customers can see when a customer service rep is available, leave a message, and share a file. Customer service representatives may annotate a customer’s record while on the phone with them or access their information while chatting via instant messenger. The ability to update a customer database while on a call versus taking notes in one system and transferring it to Salesforce or a similar tool in a separate step might save hours every week. The same features that streamline customer service can also be useful to the business development team.
Streamlined Marketing Processes
Marketing can be faster and more efficient when voice calling, chat, presence, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integration come together on the cloud. That sounds like advertising hype but IP telephone technology helps representatives to easily make calls, leave messages, annotate a listing in Salesforce, and more. Team members also have easier access to sales, customer service, or other departments via the IP telephone system. Playing telephone tag is inefficient, and emails can get lost in a flood of communication. Those methods of connecting are still perfectly valid but might be needlessly slow. All those hours spent authoring emails and playing phone tag can, in theory, be slashed.
Improved Adaptability/Scalability
A cloud-based system makes it easier for the company to scale up or downsize. Adding physical phones, new lines, and new users to enterprise messaging software can be done, but it takes time. The extra licenses and equipment may not be needed for long enough to justify their purchase. An IP-based telephone system running on the cloud can be scaled up with new lines or new users in a few minutes.
Adding a new virtual VoIP phone user is easy and fast once the new phone has been purchased and hooked up. Adding several users at once is also faster than setting up a new branch office with a phone system. One person can order their physical phone while another assigns virtual phone numbers and so on. A call center or contact center may be expanded by setting up at a remote location. The team at that location can easily reach other bank employees via phone, chat, or video call.
Faster and Better Decision Making
A unified telecommunications system, running locally or on the cloud will provide a performance monitoring dashboard. Authorized users can review data on that dashboard to make decisions about staffing levels, scheduling, and more. In a customer service department that gets hundreds of calls a week, or a day, being able to quickly collect data and analyze it can yield significant benefits by noting areas where performance has been falling off.
Improved Data Security
In financial services, data protection takes on added importance because of the added sensitivity of personal financial data. Banks, payday lenders, merchant payment processors, and others face additional rules like Sarbanes-Oxley, FINRA, and others. Beyond whatever level of protection that the relevant regulations demand, a cloud-based system of communication provides added security benefits. Messages can be encrypted. Beyond that, the system should come with malware protection to protect the system from viruses, worms, keyloggers, phishing, and ransomware. The IP telephone system’s security features may be easier to configure and manage too. So, this is another small way for a financial institution’s employees to save time.
Easier Regulatory Compliance
Many financial institution regulations deal with data security, and those regulations can take time and effort to follow. Some of the compliance work must be done by humans, but some can be automated using hardware and software to protect the institution and its customers. Ask a prospective VoIP technology supplier if their technology supports role-based access controls, access controls, and retention policies that are programmable. Those are just examples of features that may help banks, credit unions CDFIs, mortgage brokers, and payday lenders comply with federal regulations without needing specialized software or web apps.
IP Telephony Offers Efficiency, Security, and Improved Service
Moving your telecommunication services to a cloud-based (IP) telephone system makes sense because of the time and costs that can be saved by doing so. The switch can also improve security and customer service. If you have questions about using VoIP phones and IP telecommunications in your business, contact us to set up a free consultation.