Communication works for those who work for it

Is your business looking for increased efficiency, productivity and savings?

There’s a quick tech solution you could implement —Unified Communications (UC).

UC helps businesses to gain a competitive advantage over others in their field with a comparatively small IT investment.

Something other businesses can cash in on as well.

Understanding the importance of UC

Unified Communications is a suite of technology solutions designed to facilitate and enhance your organization’s communication processes and quality — from an internal and external perspective.

In order to achieve this, an organization’s IT infrastructure and web connection is leveraged, as opposed to using a traditional telephony connection such as a landline or cable.

Of course, when you say a net-based connection everyone automatically associates this with platforms such as ‘Google Hangouts’ or ‘Zoom’, but a business-grade UC solution is much more than just these programs.

A business-grade UC solution integrates technologies, the network infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, etc), as well as a number of applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, mobile applications, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), social media capabilities, video conferencing, and more.

Ultimately the purpose of a UC solution is to ensure quality connections between your organization and customers, vendors/suppliers and co-workers, no matter where you are.

For example, if an employee works remotely, an effective UC solution would route the call to the employee with no loss of quality or connectivity for the caller.

Or in another example, if a remote worker needs to get in touch with their supervisor, a ‘presence application’ such as Slack would allow them to see if their supervisor is online, and thus message them or call them.

The benefits of UC

For the individual

For the employees of an organisation that has implemented a UC solution, there are significant benefits for their working environment.

1. They work more efficiently
Due to the decreased risks of lost low-connectivity calls, as well as improved call quality, communications are more streamlined for employees and there would be fewer errors in information.

2. Increased ability for remote work
If employees are accessible through quality communication channels regardless of their whereabouts, this would increase their ability to work effectively away from their desk.

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This means there is an option for employees to work from home without compromising their level of productivity.

3. Better collaboration with co-workers
When all employees have access to quality communications, there is a decreased risk of communication breakdowns between co-workers and management

This allows for increased collaboration.

For example, a UC solution allows employees to update the relevant team members easily on what documentation they are working on, reducing the risk of doubling up on the production of a document.

Therefore this begets greater transparency for management, accurate sharing of information, and reduced risks of double-handling tasks.

4. Higher levels of job satisfaction
By reducing friction points within the communication chain of an organization, UC solutions allow for increased job satisfaction by employees.

This can be due to a combination of factors including improved work/life balance through remote working capabilities, reduced customer issues through improved communication, and better job performance through increased efficiency.

For the business

These benefits are not just for the individual as they can also be applied to the organization, along with several others.

1. Reduced environmental impact
By increasing the number of employees who are able to work remotely, a business can use UCs to reduce their carbon footprint.

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This not only impacts the environment but can also reduce operating costs for an organization’s office.

2. Greater security
A quality UC solution will include encryption for phone, video, or text-based communications, making it more difficult for hackers and others of malicious intent to “tap into” communications, or otherwise gain access to a company’s critical data.

3. Cost savings
By using VoIP and Unified Communications for communication, your organization could save fortunes on call fees (particularly those businesses who perform frequent international calls).

In addition, many UC solutions are provided as a ‘service-based’ technology, meaning that there are little-to-no upfront equipment costs or equipment maintenance requirements.

All these savings can help you scale up your business and prepare it for rapid expansion.

Final remarks

If your business has not yet adopted a Unified Communications solution, it might be time to start doing thinking what your business needs to improve from its current communications structure.

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