Unified Communications: Modern businesses need
Switching between different tools on different platforms can be overwhelming for your team to communicate. Here, unified communications offer a solution for businesses to collaborate and communicate on a single platform. Unified Communications (UC), mostly called Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), is a cloud-based software system that integrates all communication tools, including messaging, emails, voice, video calls, web conferencing, and much more under one roof.
Therefore, you don't need to switch between apps for various purposes. Everything from general chat to video calls is available on a single interface, making communication easier and business management less hectic.
For instance, if you initiate your video call and your other marketing manager talks out of order, you can instantly send a private text to be on the same page. Or, if you start the chat conversation, you can turn it into a video conference without needing a separate video application. UC is crucial for modern businesses to meet the customer's needs.
How does unified communication work?
Generally, unified communications are supported by one or more back-end management systems that facilitate integration, such as UC platforms or cloud-based IP-PBX systems. The cloud service provider has its own data center. It maintains and updates the systems, reducing the burden on your IT team.
Unified communication solutions incorporate third-party apps like project management software to empower information unification and resources for effective business workflows. Meanwhile, unified Communication uses VoIP as a cornerstone of software. Generally, you can use VoIP without unified communication, but it's impossible to use UC without VoIP.
VoIP facilitates calls over the internet, and UC brings divine features that enhance the communication experience. Unified communications and collaboration mobile apps with a feature-rich user interface are integrated with your business phone system. These applications offer voice calling, audio conferencing, SMS, instant messaging, email, voicemail, screen sharing, live chat, and video services.
This helps businesses use their favorite communication tools efficiently, increasing flexibility, productivity, and collaboration.
Benefits of Unified Communications
Unified communications is not just an exaggerated buzzword. It is a game-changing technology that transforms the way businesses communicate and collaborate. Today, consumers, especially Gen Z users, expect a quick response from companies using their preferred communication channels.
If an employee switches to separate platforms multiple times during a single conversation with a customer, the agent will likely lose the context of the Communication. Let's explore how unified communication solutions benefit businesses in detail.
1. Improved productivity
Productivity can make your business grow fast or slow at a less productive phase. Isn't it? One survey reveals that, on average, companies that utilize unified communications (UC) notice a 52% improvement in their workplace productivity while a 25% boost in operating profit.
Let's say you have a team working remotely and on the same project. Sharing documents and collaborating seems daunting because they have to switch on redundant apps. In fact, research found that employees moving between multiple communication apps ten times an hour waste up to 60 minutes a day and 32 days of workplace productivity.
Conversely, unified communication solutions help workers boost productivity. With unified Communication in one app, your team can
- Take calls outside
- Share documents and collaborate
- Have a video meeting in no time
- Instantly chat
- Access to voicemail through email
A unified communication system helps your teams focus more on tasks and less on revolving around multiple communication platforms. Meanwhile, it makes collaboration easier within a unified interface.
2. Reduced business costs
Unified communications solutions can benefit your business and significantly reduce company costs. They minimize costs in two ways. First, you will pay for one platform only to communicate and collaborate, not dozens. This directly saves you a fortune. Second, unified Communication and collaboration solutions need no hardware to set up and reduce the technical maintenance cost of the system.
Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) gives a fully managed service that handles all the technical work in the cloud without breaking the bank. Since the business doesn't need in-house IT staff, the cloud-based provider manages the technical issues quickly. Meanwhile, the cost of unified communications solutions is lower than that of other multiple platforms as a whole.
3. Better customer service
Modern consumers want a quick and efficient response from businesses. They won't think twice about switching to another company, as they have various options at hand. Your employees may not access essential details when using redundant communication platforms, increasing the risk of losing important information on time.
While unified communication solutions speed up communication, an interactive voice response (IVR) system settles customer issues quickly, and integrated services in a single platform allowing customers to contact businesses through their preferred channels. Meanwhile, customer analytics can help you identify problems and improve your services. Your agent can quickly access customer information, contributing to quicker resolutions. This way, companies can meet customers' expectations and increase revenue.
4. Streamline the employee training process.
Unified communication solutions help you efficiently train your staff. Well-known features such as video recording, transcription, and call monitoring support the business manager in accessing real-time feedback from team members during a conversation with a client.
5. Empowers the Remote Workforce
Unified Communication breaks the chain of having employees from a single location. You can add a talented person to your staff remotely from anywhere. Meanwhile, your staff needs a single platform, like a unified communication system, to access all the tools and collaborate. It offers flexibility to your remote workers as they can connect and collaborate with any device at any location with internet access.
6. Increase Security
Your business needs robust security to avoid data violations that can cause a loss of customer trust in your company. Unified communication and collaboration solutions like Transparent have security protections built into the system. The system ensures that your business calls are encrypted and less exposed to cyber threats. Meanwhile, the security protocols reduce the risk of attacks on data.
7. Improve Scalability
Scaling a small business can be costly, requiring new equipment and a large workspace. However, with the UC system, you can easily add more users or features as multiple communication technologies are integrated into a single interface. In addition, unified Communication promotes using the bring your own device (BYOD) policy and working remotely, potentially cutting down scaling costs.
Increases your business's productivity with the Transparent app
Ready to streamline your team's communication in a single yet efficient app? We understand the importance of modern communication tools in connecting with customers and employees. To help small businesses, we offer a unified communication solution with a single interface. You can use all communication tools, such as voice calls, SMS, web conferencing, and collaboration. We care for growing business needs and help you scale quickly. Improve your business efficiency with a secure, reliable, affordable unified communication solution, Transparent.