Key phones are traditional desk phones with a central unit and handset. Able to support up to 50 users, they’re often used by small to medium-sized businesses. They have a dial pad and special buttons that let users route calls to other extensions or access features like hold or transfer.
A key system used to be a step up from rotary phones and bulky PBX systems. But as equipment ages and more flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solutions hit the market, many businesses are upgrading their infrastructure to the cloud.
Why It’s Hard to Let Go Of a Key Phone System
For many businesses, this trusty technology has been the silent backbone of communication since before the internet became a regular part of our daily lives. Key phones made offices more efficient and productive with features like call transfer, hold, conference calling, direct inward dialing, and paging.
Key phone systems are generally easy to use, and more than anything, they’re familiar. Since most adults have used a key phone system at some point in their careers, there’s not a huge learning curve when you need to onboard new employees. With a quick explanation of how to access voicemail and what extension belongs to who, you can get most new hires up to speed by the end of their first day.
This makes it hard for a lot of businesses to let go of their old school key phone systems—even if there are better options out there.
In short, key phone systems once had all the advanced functions you’d expect from a business phone, and they were easy to use, with predictable costs and straightforward maintenance. These strengths made them a mainstay in business communications.
But now, after over 50 years of usage, this technology is slowly sunsetting. And businesses today should look at modernizing their phone systems sooner than later.
Challenges Moving a Key Phone System to the Cloud
While key phone systems still offer the foundational features businesses need for taking phone calls, they lack the versatility of cloud-based phone solutions. However, scaling your phones to the cloud brings its own set of challenges. Anytime you upgrade your infrastructure, you’ll likely face hurdles, and in this case, you might experience issues with:
- Compatibility: Can your existing handsets work with a cloud system, or do you need to invest in new equipment? You may need to buy new handsets or softphones to use modern VoIP services.
- Replicating functionality: Can you replicate features like DID and intercom in the cloud? Chances are you can, but be sure to choose a provider that supports the features your business relies on.
- Soft key programming: Cloud systems often rely on “soft keys,” which are on-screen buttons that can change dynamically. You may need IT support to configure changes manually.
- Training: This is a big one, as you may have employees who are resistant to change. Do you have the time and resources to teach your employees how to use these new cloud-based systems? You’ll need to train employees how to use new features like call parking in order to put callers on hold. And you also want to make sure you become familiar with all the features and settings yourself, as you don’t want to leave potentially helpful features untouched because you’re not sure what they do.
Any upgrade naturally presents challenges, but the key is to ask yourself whether the benefits outweigh the costs and whether now’s the right time to upgrade. (For most businesses, it probably is.)
Benefits of Replacing a Key Phone System Before It Fails
If your key phone system is still working, you may be hesitant to replace it. But there are risks to keeping an old system that doesn’t have an infinite lifespan—what if your phone system fails or your hardware becomes unsupported before you have a backup in place?
It goes beyond that, though. You may actually be unknowingly losing out on features that could make your team’s work easier and improve their overall efficiency.
Sure, it might be cheaper to keep what’s already working, but as with most upgrades, you won’t realize what you’re missing until you’ve switched. A cloud phone system brings a wealth of benefits, including cost savings, greater mobility, scalability, and advanced features.
VoIP platforms like Nextiva unlock a treasure trove of features, including call recording, interactive voice response (IVR), in-depth analytics, and CRM integrations, which can allow your reps to pull up a customer’s file and see all previous conversations, order history, and more on a single dashboard.
It also gives your team more flexibility in where and when they work. If you’re thinking about switching to a remote or hybrid setup, cloud-based phone systems can make the switch easy. Even if some employees are working from home and others are onsite, they’ll all have the same communication capabilities.
As far as cost is concerned, cloud phone systems come with predictable monthly fees that scale with you, and you can easily add or remove users without changing infrastructure. They also eliminate most hardware maintenance costs associated with traditional phone setups.
Investing in cloud systems can also future-proof your contact center operations, as the software can be continuously upgraded through the cloud.
Yes, there are challenges with updating your systems to new technology—this is inevitable, no matter what type of business you run.
But by choosing to upgrade your key phone system to a cloud-based system, you get to navigate those challenges at your own pace rather than being forced into them later on.