When you think of the tools that a business requires to not only thrive but even just to survive, communication technology certainly takes pride of place. Because, if you aren’t communicating with your customers, how can you gain or retain them?
Any business built on more than single-transaction customers must have a communication system that they can rely on. By allowing users to access every communication stream (from real-time voice, chat, video conferencing, and status information to voicemail, email, and beyond) on multiple devices, the benefits of unified communications technology for your workplace cannot be understated!
VoIP is More Cost Effective
The telephone has traditionally been the primary means of communication for businesses, and most still heavily rely on it. In the past, companies have partnered with a local phone company to connect an on-premises PBX via dedicated analog lines to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Though outdated, many businesses are still maintaining this type of system, tying up capital in legacy hardware that’s increasingly not supported by manufacturers and service providers.
Because computers can digitize most of the functions of old-fashioned hardware, one of the benefits of unified communications is that a software-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system can be installed and fine-tuned to your particular business for a fraction of what a traditional PBX setup costs to deploy.
And, unlike the more static analog configuration, there is a VoIP solution to match any budget, especially when you consider you can remove most of the IT burden by having your system hosted on a cloud server rather than making an investment in the design and maintenance of your own.
Unified Communications Provides the Flexibility Your Business Needs
The most successful people are often the busiest. So, it comes with the territory that to attract and retain the best talent in your industry sometimes means learning to be more flexible about where “work” is.
Beyond that, anybody’s life has any number of unforeseen events that pull them away from the workplace, while not incapacitating them. Appointments of various kinds, a sick child, and other such events happen frequently, and while paid time off covers these for most people, many would be content to continue working from wherever they are called away to.
The benefits of unified communications for facilitating the lives and lifestyles of every member of your team make them indispensable because they tie together all streams of communication and make them accessible from any geographic location.
And that goes far beyond mere email or instant messaging. A true unified communications solution even allows for an employee to answer their phone calls just as if they were sitting at their desk.
Switchvox, for example, has a feature that allows a call to ring on multiple handsets in multiple locations in a customizable sequence as well as a mobile app for iOS and Android.
These are the type of features that will empower your professionals to work how and where they perform best and make sure the work can get done, no matter what.
Seasonal Downtime is a Concern of the Past
Nothing is more renowned for causing unpredictable downtime for your workforce than Mother Nature. Unplanned downtime is incredibly costly for any organization, making any investment essential that allows you to continue being productive while your competitors are grounded by snow, storms, or outages.
Another great benefit of unified communications is that it can ensure a manager has peace of mind when allowing employees to stay home or leave early to avoid unsafe conditions, knowing they can continue their essential responsibilities from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
More Data = Better Decisions
When making decisions for your business, more data provides better perspective. Even just for understanding how your business works and how it can work smarter, data is a decision maker’s best friend.
A unified communications system provides in-depth call analytics, enabling managers and supervisors to see important data, such as who is available, who is on a call, who is out of the office as well as average wait times for customers and numerous other valuable pieces of information. Together, these stats help paint a clear portrait of your organization’s productivity.
And while those tools are a boon for decision makers, these interfaces are invaluable for end users because they are able to smartly control their communication streams from a single display, reducing the time transitioning between them and increasing both productivity and satisfaction.
The value of this insight and the enrichment of user experience are justification enough to consider rethinking your business phone system. But, the fact that you can improve the way your business communicates while also potentially saving money makes it even more compelling.
Next Step
This just scratches the surface of all the ways in which the benefits of unified communications can not only improve your business but save you resources that can be used to grow your organization. Download our free eBook, How Unified Communications Improves Businesses, to learn 128 ways UC can benefit your organization.