Cloud Telephony (Cloud Calling)
Cloud telephony, also known as cloud calling, is a type of unified communications as a service (UCaaS) that offers voice communication services through a third-party host. UCaaS replaces the need for conventional enterprise telephone systems, such as private branch exchange (PBX). Cloud telephony services can be web- or applications-based.
Cloud communications providers build, operate and maintain standardized telephony platform offerings on their servers, with customers gaining remote access — via the internet – – on a subscription or as-needed basis. This model lets organizations ditch their conventional, on-premises telephone systems — such as PBX — which tend to be relatively expensive and time-consuming to provision and maintain.
Cloud telephony services enable users to place calls directly from any computer or mobile
device with an internet connection and free businesses from the burden of buying and
storing stand-alone hardware, like PBX boxes and handsets.
While somewhat fluid, the term cloud telephony typically denotes a multi-tenant access model, with subscribers paying to use a provider’s pool of commoditized, shared resources. In contrast, hosted telephony usually refers to a dedicated, segregated environment — essentially, an off-site PBX — that a major carrier builds, houses and maintains in its cloud for a single organization’s use.