You may have heard that unified communications can improve the efficiency of your business. But do you know exactly how it works or what it does? Head of BT business propositions planning Ed Best, demystifies the technology.
Why unified communications?
In the past, if you wanted to communicate with someone the choice was simple. You had three options depending on the complexity and urgency of the message. You’d use the phone if you wanted to communicate quickly and the message was relatively simple. If the message was more complex and you had more time you might send a letter. And finally, if the message was very complex, you’d arrange a face-to-face visit.
In recent years, more and more technologies have been developed, resulting in a cocktail of communications that includes email, Instant Messaging, voicemail, text, web and video conferencing. While the individual technologies all bring their own benefits, one of the consequences is that it can be more difficult to choose the most appropriate and potentially successful method.
These days, if you want to reach someone, you may end up emailing, leaving a voicemail and sending a text, which is not only time-consuming but costly if it happens on a regular basis.
What can unified communications do?
Unified communications (UC) can make the choice simple once more. It can help you choose the best method of contact and the recipient can specify how they want to be reached, which is known as ‘presence’.
It can also give greater control of your communications by enabling workers to see where their colleagues are (in the office, in a meeting, on a conference call) and how they’d prefer to be reached (by phone, email, Instant Messaging, etc.) at a given moment. So, for instance, if someone is out of the office at a meeting, unified communications enables any voicemails to be converted to texts and sent direct to their mobile.
UC software unites different messaging mediums, allowing staff to access their communications irrespective of the medium they’re in or the device they’re using. For example, a UC system might allow a member of staff to read a fax or retrieve a voicemail via their email, rather than having to collect a fax from the machine or dial into their voicemail from their phone.
What efficiencies can unified communications bring to your business?
Unifying your communications can help you to:
Save money. Web, video and audio-conferencing enable employees to hold meetings with customers, suppliers and colleagues without leaving the office, so reducing travel costs. For example, with BT WebEx you can see other conference participants and share documents online.
Offer better customer service. UC allows staff to be more responsive, instantly sharing information and giving customers a faster response wherever they are. For instance, companies that use Salesforce CRM can use an application to update customer information on their mobile phone.
Salesforce CRM mobile allows you to view details and key information into your BlackBerry, while Ribbit for Salesforce enables voice memos to be converted to texts and added to a customer’s file, so you don’t need to type them in.
Boost business efficiency. As more and more businesses employ home or mobile workers it’s vital that individuals can communicate efficiently with one another. Unified messaging lets you choose how to contact people and ensures that the message gets through, cutting out ‘telephone tag’, and reducing the time spent waiting for a client to get back to you.
In fact, unified communications increases employee productivity by 20%, as staff can share information instantly across departments.
Become more competitive. Unified communications allows an organisation to provide better customer service and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Consolidating phone numbers across mobile and fixed lines enables employees to be contacted on one number, making it easier for customers to do business with you.
Where to start?
Businesses should first ask what is holding them back. Are their mobile call costs very high? Do they spend a lot of time trying to track down employees? Do employees struggle to work together efficiently? Are they slow to respond to customer needs?
Once these questions have been answered a framework for improving communication can be put in place. The best way to achieve this is to work with an IT specialist who can explain the most appropriate technology solutions for your business problem.
Small businesses shouldn’t be put off adopting UC technologies because they fear a large initial outlay or complexity of implementation. The technology can be added as and when required, and small steps can make a big difference.
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