Unified communications is a great way to truly take advantage of communications and make it work even harder for you. Unified communications do not require a large investment, so even small and medium enterprises can use it to provide the most effective connection. In this article, we’ll look at how unified communication services can give you a competitive edge.
What Is Unified Communications
A unified communications system is a set of communication tools combined within a single IT platform. Unified communications is a set of solutions that provides companies with access to the service on various devices, including phones, computers, laptops, etc.
At the moment, unified communications include the following functions:
- Digital telephony (mobile, IP);
- Audio and video conferences;
- Chats and messengers;
- Web conferences;
- Integration with corporate calendars;
- Presence indicator;
- Corporate Address Book or Active Directory;
- Teamwork tools (demonstration of documents, presentations, videos);
- Data exchange.
Also, other requirements are imposed on unified systems, for example, cross-platform client applications, integration into the company’s business processes, or work with ERP and CRM systems.
In addition to increasing productivity and communication efficiency, unified communications can significantly save on employee business travel and mobile calls.
Unified communications systems are designed to solve the following tasks:
- increase the efficiency of communications,
- speed up business processes,
- increase the productivity of each employee,
- eliminate dependence on the method or tool of data transfer.
For example, a unified communications platform allows staff to be connected anytime, anywhere using a variety of devices.
When You Need Unified Communications
The implementation of a unified communications system will be a suitable solution in the following cases:
- Employees of the organization use several communication channels (for example, landline communication, telephone communication, and instant messengers).
- The company has employees who work remotely, in different time zones and need to expand the ability to effectively solve their joint tasks.
- There is a need to ensure communication with colleagues who are on business trips, as well as to reduce the number of business trips in general.
- The company’s management wants to reduce the cost of various software and its support.
Obstacles to UC Solutions And How to Get Around Them
In practice, the leadership of the organization often hesitates to make a decision in favor of unified communications services, even when there are all the prerequisites for this. As a rule, the reasons for this are:
- Lack of awareness. Users are often unaware of the capabilities and benefits of existing UC solutions.
- Misunderstanding how to combine UC solutions and existing infrastructure, problems of integration with legacy solutions: and difficulties of moving from existing systems of other vendors.
- The need to retrain staff. The question is relevant, but not so acute. It will affect only some of the technical department employees who will maintain the implemented solution. As practice shows, ordinary employees do not have difficulties when switching to a unified communication system.
- Risk of rising capital costs and investments in hardware/software, uncertainty with the return on investment. A unified communications system can work with legacy telecommunications solutions: legacy analog and digital communication lines. This protects investments in infrastructure. It is compatible with a wide range of IT equipment, saving you money.
Benefits of Using Unified Communications
Today, company employees are no longer tied to a specific workplace, computer, or phone, so unified communications systems are becoming a necessity. UC solutions will help reduce communication time losses, and increase the speed of business processes and the efficiency of each company employee. Let’s look at all the benefits of unified solutions. Let’s look at all the benefits of unified communications.
Make Your Business More Human-centric
When you look at the strategies used by successful businesses, you’ll find that the main thing they focus on is people. The goal of unified communications is to make your business more people-centric with more connected communications that improve business processes.
Stop Using Unapproved Information Technology
Many employees search the internet for unapproved apps and technologies because they don’t have the tools they need to do their job to the best of their ability.
By giving employees convenient resources and IT tools to get the job done and stay connected, they don’t have to look for alternative and superficial options. This makes life easier for employees and reduces many security risks, as the proposed solutions will be verified by the company’s IT department. It also prevents compatibility issues.
Keep Things More Easily Connected
Cloud computing has changed and continues to change the way business is done. Unified communications cloud tools connect and work with each other. In addition, they are also available remotely, allowing people to stay connected wherever they are. This is especially useful as more and more employees work remotely or work flexible hours during the work week and try to perform the same tasks without taking advantage of the company’s IT.
Make Communication More Flexible
The unified communications solution provides businesses with the ability to help their employees stay in touch with each other at all levels. What’s more, when unified communications include telephone systems, it provides an additional level of flexibility. Some people prefer traditional phone calls, while others may prefer email, so unified communications tools give employees the freedom to use their preferred method of communication.
Factors such as instant messaging, file and screen sharing, video conferencing, and a host of other collaboration features are also available in cloud-unified communications.
Improve The Customer Experience
While unified communications have many internal benefits, it also has an impact on customers. No matter what business you’re part of, unified communications can be used to improve your customer satisfaction.
In general, the easier it is for customers to request support or contact an employee, the happier they will be.
Wrapping It Up
There are many significant benefits to using unified communications in your business, especially in an ever-growing digital and virtual world. If you want your team to have productive conversations and build a positive work culture, the first thing you should do is adopt a UC infrastructure that meets your SMB needs.
Start by building an infrastructure that brings together all of your communications tools and choose a UC provider that can meet these requirements. Uctel is a trusted provider of unified communication services that, through its collaboration with Cisco and RingCentral, will help you streamline your business processes by integrating all your tools into one ecosystem.
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