Unified communications are a go-to solution for business owners looking to streamline their businesses and increase employee productivity in the long term. Find out how it benefits your business…
Providing high-quality communication channels is crucial for any company. Doing so promotes cross-department collaboration as well as faster exchange of ideas.
These days phones often just aren’t enough, which means many business owners have turned to unified communications.
But what exactly is unified communications?
Read on to discover the main concepts of this approach to business communications and how you can use it to benefit your business.
WHAT IS UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS?
Unified communications or “UC” is an all-in-one platform that unifies phone, video, screen sharing, chat, and file management into a single space. It’s a ready-to-use system that allows for seamless communication in multiple ways.
The system operates as a cloud, which makes it easily accessible to all team members who have access to the internet.
Why should anyone consider switching to unified communications?
There are several reasons, but this is the most crucial:
Business leaders who adopt UC would be able to impact their business every day and make it seamless for employees to interact with each other.
That said, we’ll list 5 of the key features of UC to help you better understand how it can help you & your business.
THE 5 FEATURES
FEATURE #1. MOBILITY
When connected to unified communications, all employees can stay connected at all times and from all locations. It doesn’t matter whether they’re working from home, vacationing somewhere remote, or sitting in the office. So long as they have reliable internet access, they’ll be able to chat, receive calls, and more.
FEATURE #2. UNIFIED MESSAGING
This allows employees to handle different message types using a single tool. They can easily switch communication modes, depending on their needs.
FEATURE #3. CONFERENCING
Whenever you need conferencing tools, you’ll have them in the palm of your hand. You can allow a group of teammates or customers from outside your organisation to connect and speak via video or audio from different locations.
FEATURE #4. FAX SUPPORT
Although rapidly disappearing from wide use, unified communications can also accommodate fax send and receive. Received faxes appear as email attachments on staff desktops and smartphones.
FEATURE #5. PRESENCE
This feature lets other users know each other’s status. That means you’ll be able to see when someone is online (Active), busy (Do Not Disturb), or away (Out of the Office).
THE BENEFITS FOR BUSINESS LEADERS
So, what are the benefits of using unified communications in your business?
Let’s explore 6 of them below.
BENEFIT #1. HIGHER TEAM PRODUCTIVITY
It’s important for a business owner to boost their team’s workflow and eliminate bottlenecks. Because once this is achieved, productivity will drastically improve.
And it can be done thanks to unified communications.
UC makes it easier for team members to save time on various tasks, by providing:
- Faster file sharing that gets rid of email threads for teamwork
- The ability to receive calls from any location
- The ability to receive voicemails and faxes directly via email
- Single-click video meetings for emergencies
Teams with access to such technologies can be more effective and get more tasks done in a single day.
BENEFIT #2. LOWER COMMUNICATION COSTS
Legacy phones and on-site communication tools often cost more than your IT budget should allow.
On the other hand, unified communication relies on the internet for all its activities. This means your phone system turns to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and integrates with the rest of the tools. This approach eliminates the need for server and hardware infrastructure investment.
Unified communications make it very easy to add new users. You can do so yourself via an easy-to-use web-based dashboard. No need for expensive service calls by technicians.
Finally, the cost of unified communications is the same every month. The chance of bill shock is greatly reduced.
BENEFIT #3. ENHANCED CUSTOMER SERVICE
Whether or not a company is successful depends very much on the quality of its customer service.
With unified communications, your employees can provide great customer service easier. After all, they can respond to client queries regardless of their location. It’s because all chats, incoming calls, and emails are visible from any device.
You can also integrate your CRM software on the platform for additional benefits.
For example, when a client contacts your business, all the necessary information and notes related to that client are readily visible to staff.
BENEFIT #4. EMPOWERING A REMOTE WORKFORCE
Thousands of companies have switched to remote work over the past few years.
However, a regularly raised concern with remote work is how to ensure staff have all the tools they need to work effectively.
Thanks to unified communications, all communication aspects are included in a single platform. This means that all your remote worker needs is a stable internet connection so they can make use of all the UC features enjoyed by office-located members of your team.
BENEFIT #5. INCREASING ORGANISATIONAL AGILITY
When you increase your team’s productivity, the same follows for the entire organisation. The organisational agility reflects the strategic value of unified communications. And the results you achieve impact your business as a whole.
So, to see how this approach benefits your work, you must view unified communications from the management side as well.
Sure, communication has a utilitarian role for management. But when that communication drives productivity, streamlines workflow, and leads to enhanced business outcomes, it’s where you really get to see its value.
BENEFIT #6. ENHANCED SECURITY
The security aspect is crucial for every business. And unified communications enhance the security of a business by integrating all applications into a single platform.
As a result, it becomes straightforward for the IT team to apply specific security policies across all apps. It’s also easier for them to manage security patches and compliance updates since all applications share the same protocols.
REALISING THE POWER OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
Streamlining the processes inside an organisation is extremely important in improving the overall performance of its employees. And unified communications allow you to do just that.
With it, you can boost your customer experience and make your team more efficient by integrating your whole communications system into a single platform.
Unified communications will let you and your team make calls, host conferences, send emails, receive faxes, and chat from a single, unified space to make your job (and life) easier.
If you’d like to learn more about implementing unified communications in your business, we’d be happy to help. Reach out to us and we can have a no-obligation 10-15 minute chat to discuss things further.
Article used with permission from The Technology Press.
Main Photo by Lynette Coulston from Pixabay
Article Photo by fancycrave1 from Pixabay