This blog considers how cloud phone systems can be combined with other relevant services, such as messaging and video conferencing, to provide a unified approach to your communications.
Unified Communications (UC) is the term used to describe a phone system which combines (or unifies) a number of communication platforms in your firm.
Think about the number and range of ways you communicate with your clients and colleagues – phone calls, emails, SMS, video calls, IMs etc…
Whilst each of these is very useful in their own right, you may be faced with the challenge of how to bring together these different systems so that they can achieve combined benefits. Unified Communications can help to do this.
Single platform
Your UC platform provider can offer a portal which gives your employees access to all of their communication applications through one front-end.
UC enables your team members to send a message on one platform and receive the response on another platform. As an example, a colleague could receive a voicemail and prefer to access it through their email, rather than their phone. This provides versatility and flexibility, as well as channel preference for users.
UC also enables colleagues to register their ‘presence’ so other team members can recognise their availability. If they are not ‘present’ the UC system can, for example, direct calls to alternative channels, such as voice-to-email.
Productivity gains
The key benefit of UC is that it enables business owners to achieve productivity gains and a seamless experience for employees and clients.
Applications such as voice calls, email and video conferencing can be accessed in one place, providing efficiencies and time savings.
Always connected
Crucially, provided that your team members have an internet connection, they are always connected to your business, wherever they may be.
Unified Communications are especially valuable when you have employees working from home. It gives your team members virtual and secure access to all of the tools they need to complete their roles.
Business continuity benefits
In addition to providing work-life balance benefits, many organisations are beginning to understand that creating a working-from-home infrastructure is also a useful ‘backstop’ for business continuity, because team members can quickly engage with the business from home, in the event of an incident which prevents access to the office.
UC features
There are an array of features available through Unified Communications, and in this blog, we can only touch on a few of them.
For instance, with UC, voicemails can be served as emails and played on a PC or mobile rather than a desk phone, enabling voicemails to be received and responded to, no matter where you are.
Presence
UC provides the facility to track the availability – or presence – of your team, enabling them to choose a range of communications methods, including on-screen messaging and collaborative voice calls.
Conference calls
These are a standard feature on UC platforms and can aid collaboration across your business and with clients.
Virtual whiteboards
Digital whiteboards allow team members and clients to contribute, collaborate and be creative despite not being in the same room.
As telecoms technology continues to develop, the benefits of Unified Communications are becoming more apparent to businesses of all types.
If you would like to learn more about how Unified Communications could save your organisation time and money, Time Communications would be happy to talk you through the options available to you. Contact our expert team on 0113 2059640, you can request a callback on our home page, email at [email protected] or message us here.