Knowlarity Communications Pvt. Ltd. is a cloud based telephony service provider company based Gurgaon, India. It provides voice applications to small and medium enterprises. Funded by Sequoia Capital, the company has grown since its inception in 2009, powering more than 6,500 companies in India and abroad.

Enterprise is easily the most misunderstood terminology use in software products. The image is of large, inflexible, immovable behemoths that address the needs of very large companies. But did you know that enterprise software can fit the needs of agile, flexible organizations as well? And when we're talking about telephony, it's possible to link it to productivity, customer satisfaction and yes, revenue.

#1: Empower the flexible workforce
According to Google CEO Larry Page, the future of the workforce is part-time. This is not surprising, as by 2016 80% of the workforce would be millennials (PwC). 64% of these workforce wants want more flexibility at work. The biggest challenge before Indian businesses, as with their counterparts in the rest of the world, is empowering this flexible work force. Role or responsibilities could increasingly be split across geographies or organizations. As voice remains the critical way for people to exchange information efficiently, businesses will have to do more to integrate cloud-based telephony into the workplace.

#2: Empowering the mobile worker
It’s estimated that 63 percent of all businesses are currently implementing policies around BYOD (bring your own device) and 50 billion smart devices will be in use by 2020. The trend is to empower mobile workers with the next generation of cloud based communication services that will allow them to log into centralized networks from anywhere with any device, be it a smartphone or a feature phone. For example, a leading soft drink company in India provides a cloud telephony platform to receive new orders from its retailers spread along the length and breadth of the country. Besides automating sales, it provides a real time supply chain visibility needed for meeting fluctuating demand. Better supply side visibility improves decision making. Such solutions come as a boon for field sales personnel because they can enter sales reports from the field.

#3: Calls are the new clicks
According to e-consultancy, phone support is still the number one support channel (61%) with click to call automation (34%) in the fifth spot. 83% of customers require some degree of support while making an online purchase. Cloud telephony platforms provide best in breed telephony support to the enterprise segment without burning a hole in their budget. Besides providing professional call handling it helps in generating more sales for the company through better lead management. For example, Zomato improved its lead generation by more than 50% by switching over to cloud telephony. Moreover, by buying virtual numbers in bulk it was able to increase its operation overseas in Turkey and other places giving a massive fillip to its business generation activities.

#4: Increasing Retention
A 10% increase in customer retention levels result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Bain & Co). It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience (Parature) It is six-seven times more costly to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer (White House Office of Consumer Affairs). Cloud telephony provides the framework and the tools to drive customer satisfaction and thus increase retention. Intalia, a brave new chain of pizzerias in Bangalore, uses a cloud telephony platform to connect with its loyal customers. Montaut, who is the owner of Intalia, takes great pride in the service standards, which he is proud to say is no less than any international brand and helps him compete with deep pocketed MNCs.

Eventually, Enterprise Telephony is about empowerment - whether it is of the customer, the employee, the salesperson or the manager - in a world where every person has access to the humble voice phone. And what could be more powerful than that?