Replacing Option 81C - Cloud , Cisco ?

[FONEGUY]

We have an Option 81c and had been planning on replacing with Cisco Call Manager as CUCM is now our corporate standard . We recently learned that Corporate is selling our division . We have three remote DC facilities that were already on CUCM , only about 100 phones in total . The division HQ has the Option 81c with Symposium for the call center , another DC has an Option 11 , the other 5 locations have Norstar units .
For the Call Center at the division HQ , we are looking at Genesys . Genesys has worked well at several other locations and with the COVID situation , the ability to have home based agents has been a lifesaver for those locations . Now with this "new normal" , working from home may be more normal , having the flexibility of Cloud based is very attractive . We have rolled out Cisco IP Comm to some users , seems to work fine except we still require a VPN connection until they setup an Internet facing connection to the CM .
Just looking for suggestions and unbiased opinions , real life experiences from others to what they are migrating to for there businesses . Pro and cons to Cloud Hosted , CUCM , etc . For Cloud hosted , who are you guys using and what has been your experiences with each ?
Thanks in advance , hope everyone is staying safe and healthy .

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

In fairness, the current worldwide situation has given hosted platforms a boost as it has been easier for users to adapt to work remotely as long as they have a good internet connection and a power adapter / POE switch etc without the need to have VPN's, extensive routing configured.

Also, many hosted phone systems have already got apps on cell / mobile phones along with soft phones built onto laptops that have improved in recent years meaning that you can work in many locations using different mediums than ever before.

Of course, PABX manufacturers produce their versions, but it seems that for most customers, hosted has the edge in deployment. We all have our opinions and I'm sure that this will be a good thread to hear other comments.




Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

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