Phone Systems Have Changed Dramatically. Have You Kept Up?
If you’re still on the same business phone system you were on five years ago, it’s time to reevaluate. The world has changed dramatically in that time, and traditional business-class phone systems no longer cut it. They’ve been replaced by what’s referred to as unified communications, or sometimes Unified Communications as a Services (UCaaS).
Unified communications are a go-to solution for business owners looking to streamline their businesses and increase employee productivity in the long term, and they go well beyond what a traditional phone system can offer.
Providing high-quality communication channels is crucial for any organization (no matter where your employees are working from or what device they’re on). Since traditional desktop phones often don’t suffice for this, many businesses have seen the light and turned to unified communications.
SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS?
Unified communications is an all-in-one platform that unifies phone calls, text messaging, chat, and electronic faxing into a single space that’s accessible from multiple devices whether you’re in the office or remote. It’s a ready-to-use solution that allows for seamless communication in numerous ways.
The system operates in the cloud, making it easily accessible to all team members with access to the internet be it from a physical phone on their desk, an application installed on their computer, an app on their phone, or an internet browser.
WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER SWITCHING TO UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS?
There are several reasons, but this is the most crucial: Business leaders who adopt it are able to impact their business every day and make it seamless for employees to interact with each other and your clients/members/customers. That said, we’ll list 5 of the key features of this concept to help you better understand how it can help you scale your business.
FIVE KEY FEATURES OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
1. REMOTE WORK AND MOBILITY
When connected to unified communications, employees can stay connected no matter their location. It doesn’t matter whether they’re working from home, vacationing on a remote island, or sitting in the office. They’ll still be able to receive and place calls from the business number, dial employees by extension, etc.. For those of you who work better off a physical desktop phone, why not implement one at your home office? With unified communications, remote phones are a piece of cake!
2. NO ONPREMISE HARDWARE
True cloud-based Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions don’t require onsite phone systems or phone servers. Gone are the days of having to maintain or troubleshoot clunky phone systems. Instead, one cloud-based service manages your entire phone system, and the only hardware you may need are the physical phones on your desk (although, more and more, we’re seeing business opt out of even these).
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 even vendors or customers from outside your organization connect.
4. ELECTRONIC FAXING
Faxes received through unified communications appear either via an application or as an email attachment. Gone are the days of old school fax machines, printers that act as fax machines, paper faxes, or one-off third-party faxing solutions. With UCaaS, users can send and receive faxes on their desktops, smartphones, etc..
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). With more and more people working remotely, it’s not so easy to look to see if someone is at their desk, and bringing presence to the table, solves that problem.
THE BENEFITS OF UPGRADING TO UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
So, what are the benefits of using unified communications in your business?
Let’s explore six of them below:
BENEFIT 1: IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
It’s important for a business owner to boost their team’s workflow and eliminate bottlenecks. Because once they get to do so, productivity will drastically improve.
This can be done thanks to unified communications.
This type of communication makes it easier for team members to save time on various tasks, including:
Faster file sharing that gets rid of email threads for teamwork
Ability to receive calls from any location
Ability to receive voicemails and faxes directly in the 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. It also helps get rid of communication challenges.
BENEFIT 2: LOWER COSTS
Legacy phones and on-site communication tools are notoriously expensive, and often cost more than their much more modern counterparts.
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 creation (and the maintenance and troubleshooting thereof).
Unified communications also make it super easy to add new users. You can simply do so via an easy-to-use dashboard without having to make service calls.
Finally, the cost of unified communications is the same every month.
BENEFIT 3: BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE
Whether or not a company is successful greatly depends 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.
BENEFIT 4: EMPOWERING REMOTE USERS
Thousands of companies have switched to remote work over the past few years. There are plenty of benefits to this approach after all. However, a constant concern here is ensuring that remote workers have all the tools they need for work.
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 to get access to your network and all the features, just like the rest of the team.
BENEFIT 5: INCREASED AGILITY
When you increase your team's productivity, the same follows for the entire organization. The organizational 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: INCREASED SECURITY
If you’ve been reading our other blog posts, you know that cybersecurity 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 our 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.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS AS A SERVICE
Streamlining the processes inside an organization 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 10-15-minute chat to discuss this topic further.