How Unified Communications keep teams connected
With unified communications, your team can communicate and collaborate seamlessly, wherever they are. As more and more businesses operate remotely and globally, this evolving technology helps distributed teams stay in sync.
As COVID-19 becomes the new normal, more and more employers are encouraging some or all employees to work from home to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
While New Zealand currently has the situation under better control than many other countries, there’s no telling what tomorrow could bring. That’s why having a remote working plan for your employees is more important than ever.
What organisations are increasingly realising is that unified communications technologies are useful for “business as usual” as well. Whether remote or onsite, modern working relies heavily on technology for communication. But disconnected systems and devices discourage collaboration, which can lead to misinformation, work duplication, a drop in productivity – and an increase in frustration!
Any team environment can be greatly enhanced by unified communications. In this blog, we explain what they are, their business benefits, and how you can use this technology to deliver a consistent user experience and better customer service.
What are unified communications?
Unified communications (UC) is the collective term given to applications that merge communications functionalities. These may include instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone calls, video conferencing, desktop and data sharing, presence information, and extension mobility, which allows users to take their extension anywhere and collaborate with voice, video, or data.
By investing in UC, your entire team’s communication and collaboration can happen as normal, no matter where they are. With a UC platform connecting your team’s devices, customers can ring your main phone number and employees (you can decide who) can answer and transfer the call using their laptop or mobile phone. Online presence indicators show you the availability of your teammates, so you know who is actually available in order to provide great customer service and effective internal communication.
How do unified communications work?
Many businesses have multiple tools and applications in place for phone call, fax, email, instant messaging, online meetings or file sharing. A Unified Communications product works by integrating all of the afore-mentioned communication methods and tools into one application. This creates a consistent experience across multiple devices and media types where everyone is seeing the same thing and using it the same way.
A real-world example: The Think Concepts team
Here at Think Concepts, we operate completely in the cloud, as do many of our clients. Because we look after our customers 24/7, we need to be able to access any file or application from anywhere. Our consultants are often out and about, so we’ve set it up so that we have zero dependency on our physical offices. All our applications, tools, and data are delivered via cloud services.
We also use a cloud PBX; every member of our team has a softphone application on their company laptop and mobile. This allows our call centre and helpdesk to function seamlessly, regardless of team member location. Should we have to go into lockdown yet again, Think Concepts is fully equipped to service clients remotely without interruption or reduced levels of customer service.
Flexible, remote working has been the key to our success. With unified communications as a service (UCaaS), it can be yours too!
Your vendor will manage all communications services over your Internet connection, and you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee. This significantly reduces the need for hardware ownership, minimising capital expenses and maintenance costs while allowing your business to scale quickly, should you need change.
What are the most common UC solutions?
Solutions we recommend at Think Concepts include Microsoft Teams, Bria Teams and Communicator.
Communicator by BroadSoft is a collaboration app for calls, meetings, and more. Integrating video, voice, messaging, screen sharing, and conferencing with your other business apps, Access4 boasts full call centre functionality, making it ideal for help desk applications, as in Think Concepts’ own business. See it in action here as presented by our service delivery manager, Nic Edlin. Nic also provides a quick overview of unified communications and their business benefits.
Microsoft Teams is another popular choice, available in 53 languages and 181 markets. With similar core features as Communicator minus the “call centre” softphone functionality, Microsoft Teams is ideal for Microsoft 365 users because it keeps everything on the same platform, including calls, file sharing, and access to your calendar and SharePoint site.
Bria Teams by CounterPath offers virtual meeting rooms, group-based messaging and communication that easily flows across desktop and mobile devices. The screen sharing, team management tools and soft phone functionalities create an all in one communication platform.
What are the benefits of unified communications?
Improve productivity. Without adequate communication, keeping projects on track can become difficult, and employee morale tends to suffer. The feeling of “team” breaks down, as do the interdependencies that normally drive productivity. A solid UC strategy, on the other hand, provides the flexibility digital workers are now coming to expect and can even help reduce employee turnover.
Staying in frequent contact is, of course, essential. So is creating a consistent working experience – one where employees are on the same page, using the same tools to share the same information. Why? People are creatures of habit and work better, and faster, when they know exactly what to do and how. The more working from home mirrors the office experience, the less of a learning curve there’ll be.
Communications consistency is important externally as well. Customers shouldn’t be able to tell whether your employee is serving them from your corporate office or their home. And the more consistent your team’s working environment, the more likely any information shared is accurate, current, and complete.
Communicate more effectively. If your staff are accustomed to doing everything in house, moving to agile working – allowing people to work where, when, and how they choose – can be challenging. Without a UC system, you’ll be using different communications modalities with different features that aren’t transferable or even compatible. And it’s not just your staff who can’t communicate effectively. Communication between customers and partners breaks down as well, with potentially damaging consequences for your reputation and your business.
When customers can’t reach staff via your main office phone number, they may try calling the contact person on their personal mobile phone. Who knows what kind of voicemail greeting your employee may have set up! It’s likely to be off brand, making your company appear less professional, even with the best of intentions. With a UC platform, phone calls can be received on your main number and easily transferred to remote locations as if they were a local extension, and the customer experiences the same functionality from their end.
Streamline your business. Whether by accident or design, many companies find themselves using multiple platforms. As unified communications continue to evolve at a dizzying pace, you may be implementing new solutions without migrating everyone over from your old one(s). For example, you may have liked Asana for project management last month, but now it’s all about Monday.
Your team may use a combination of cell phones, a main office line, and direct dial-in (DDI) for calls and audio conferencing and more than one app for chatting, file sharing, and video conferencing. This is inefficient and even confusing; people may be sitting waiting for a meeting on one app while someone else is wondering where everyone went! It’s also a lot less secure to use a myriad of different, unapproved systems not controlled by your business.
A unified communications platform funnels all communication between staff and customers through a centralised platform – including voice calls, chat, conferencing, and screen sharing – while enabling integration with Outlook calendar meetings and your CRM.
Want to learn more about how your business can benefit from unified communications? We can futureproof your business systems and help your team to work efficiently onsite or remotely.