<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
are	O
Internet-based	O
voice	O
and	O
data	O
communications	O
where	O
telecommunications	O
applications	O
,	O
switching	O
and	O
storage	O
are	O
hosted	O
by	O
a	O
third-party	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
organization	O
using	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
are	O
accessed	O
over	O
the	O
public	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
is	O
a	O
broad	O
term	O
,	O
referring	O
primarily	O
to	O
data-center-hosted	O
services	O
that	O
are	O
run	O
and	O
accessed	O
over	O
an	O
Internet	B-Architecture
infrastructure	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
recently	O
,	O
these	O
services	O
have	O
been	O
data-centric	O
,	O
but	O
with	O
the	O
evolution	O
of	O
VoIP	B-Application
(	O
voice	B-Application
over	I-Application
Internet	I-Application
protocol	I-Application
)	O
,	O
voice	O
has	O
become	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
cloud	O
phenomenon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
telephony	I-General_Concept
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
hosted	O
telephony	O
)	O
refers	O
specifically	O
to	O
voice	O
services	O
and	O
more	O
specifically	O
the	O
replacement	O
of	O
conventional	O
business	O
telephone	O
equipment	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
private	B-Device
branch	I-Device
exchange	I-Device
(	O
PBX	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
third-party	O
VoIP	B-Application
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
providers	O
deliver	O
voice	O
and	O
data	O
communications	O
applications	O
and	O
services	O
,	O
hosting	O
them	O
on	O
servers	O
that	O
the	O
providers	O
own	O
and	O
maintain	O
,	O
giving	O
their	O
customers	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
“	O
cloud.	O
”	O
Because	O
they	O
only	O
pay	O
for	O
services	O
or	O
applications	O
they	O
use	O
,	O
customers	O
have	O
a	O
more	O
cost-effective	O
,	O
reliable	O
and	O
secure	O
communications	O
environment	O
,	O
without	O
the	O
headaches	O
associated	O
with	O
more	O
conventional	O
PBX	O
system	O
deployment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
can	O
cut	O
costs	O
with	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
services	O
without	O
sacrificing	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
success	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
others	O
as	O
cloud-based	B-Architecture
providers	O
has	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
a	O
cloud-based	B-Architecture
platform	O
can	O
be	O
just	O
as	O
effective	O
as	O
a	O
software-based	O
platform	O
,	O
but	O
at	O
a	O
much	O
lower	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voice	O
services	O
delivered	O
from	O
the	O
cloud	O
increases	O
the	O
value	O
of	O
hosted	O
telephony	O
,	O
as	O
users	O
can	O
equally	O
well	O
turn	O
to	O
a	O
cloud-based	B-Architecture
offering	O
instead	O
of	O
relying	O
on	O
a	O
facilities-based	O
service	O
provider	O
for	O
hosted	O
VoIP	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
past	O
,	O
businesses	O
have	O
been	O
able	O
to	O
do	O
this	O
for	O
IT	B-General_Concept
services	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
telecommunication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
is	O
attractive	O
because	O
the	O
cloud	O
can	O
now	O
become	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
voice	O
,	O
data	O
and	O
video	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
hosted	O
services	O
have	O
been	O
built	O
around	O
voice	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
usually	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
hosted	O
VoIP	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
environment	O
serves	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
upon	O
which	O
all	O
these	O
modes	O
can	O
seamlessly	O
work	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
integrate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
trends	O
in	O
enterprise	O
communications	O
pushing	O
users	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
cloud	O
and	O
allowing	O
them	O
to	O
do	O
it	B-General_Concept
from	O
any	O
device	O
they	O
choose	O
,	O
a	O
development	O
traditional	O
IT	B-General_Concept
communications	O
infrastructure	O
was	O
not	O
designed	O
to	O
handle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Second	O
,	O
more	O
communications	O
devices	O
need	O
access	O
to	O
enterprise	O
networks	O
–	O
iPhones	B-Device
,	O
printers	O
and	O
VoIP	B-Application
handsets	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third	O
,	O
data	O
centers	O
housing	O
enterprise	O
IT	B-General_Concept
assets	O
and	O
applications	O
are	O
consolidating	O
and	O
are	O
often	O
being	O
located	O
and	O
managed	O
remotely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
telephony	I-General_Concept
services	O
were	O
predominantly	O
used	O
for	O
business	O
processes	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
advertising	O
,	O
e-commerce	O
,	O
human	O
resources	O
,	O
and	O
payments	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
a	O
small	O
or	O
medium-sized	O
business	O
,	O
the	O
capital	O
investment	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
VoIP	B-Application
infrastructure	O
in-house	O
could	O
be	O
too	O
high	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
potential	O
return	O
,	O
but	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
telephony	I-General_Concept
could	O
offer	O
the	O
same	O
services	O
on	O
a	O
lower-cost	O
subscription	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
telephony	I-General_Concept
provider	O
is	O
also	O
an	O
expert	O
in	O
the	O
technology	O
,	O
whereas	O
a	O
small	O
business	O
is	O
unlikely	O
to	O
have	O
an	O
employee	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
of	O
expertise	O
,	O
or	O
cannot	O
justify	O
the	O
expense	O
of	O
a	O
full-time	O
telecommunication	O
infrastructure	O
position	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Traditional	O
telephony	O
applications	O
required	O
on-premises	O
maintenance	O
,	O
PBX	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
great	O
deal	O
of	O
wiring	O
through	O
a	O
Main	B-Device
Distribution	I-Device
Frame	I-Device
(	O
MDF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
are	O
promoted	O
to	O
help	O
businesses	O
with	O
collaboration	O
,	O
scalability	O
and	O
supporting	O
access	O
via	O
multiple	O
locations	O
and	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Organizations	O
and	O
IT	B-General_Concept
Professionals	I-General_Concept
are	O
leveraging	O
a	O
new	O
approach	O
to	O
delivering	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
communications	I-General_Concept
as	O
their	O
employees	O
work	O
remotely	O
or	O
in	O
a	O
hybrid	O
fashion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-Architecture
technology	I-Architecture
still	O
must	O
exist	O
on	O
physical	O
servers	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
physical	O
location	O
of	O
those	O
servers	O
is	O
important	O
under	O
many	O
nation	O
's	O
laws	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
telephony	I-General_Concept
companies	O
can	O
provide	O
"	O
hosted	O
"	O
(	O
off-site	O
)	O
software	O
versions	O
of	O
services	O
that	O
were	O
previously	O
constructed	O
on-site	O
in	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
