Communication and collaboration are key to success in today's competitive global business environment. Without an effective system to manage organization-wide communications, your operational efficiency and bottom line could suffer.

The introduction of unified communications (UC) has been a game changer for many enterprises. Here's why it's so critical:

Why Unified Communications Is So Important For Today's Businesses?

Unified communications and Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) allow businesses to tap into the various benefits of cloud communication technologies to increase cost-efficiency and productivity. Here's why unified communications is so important for today's organizations to succeed:

  • Streamlined workflows and operation: by consolidating various communication methods into one single platform, users can access voice calls, messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing from a variety of devices via a unified interface. They can move seamlessly among the different medium and access all the communication history from a centralized location.
  • Scalability: UCaaS makes it possible for businesses to scale up or down their communication capabilities and functionalities based on immediate needs. You no longer have to purchase excess capabilities that could turn obsolete before you get to utilize them. Meanwhile, you can respond to the need for expansion nimbly or dial back on the subscription plan during slower times to reduce overhead cost.
  • Geographic flexibility: UC makes it possible for users to work from anywhere in the world -- whether they're at home, on the road, or at various office locations. In addition, the low cost of national and international calls allows organizations to expand and take advantage of the global economy without significantly increasing the operating cost.
  • Talent attraction: today's workforce value the ability to work from anywhere they choose. UCaaS allows businesses to tap into a larger pool of talent because they're less restricted by the workers' physical location. Not to mention, a remote workforce can help lower overhead and reduce overall operating cost so you can improve your bottom line.
  • Reliability: IT downtime can be very costly for business organizations. Reputable cloud providers have built-in performance redundancies to minimize service interruptions. In addition, they also have comprehensive backup and recovery plans to ensure that your data is protected in the event of unforeseeable circumstances, such as data breaches or natural disasters.
  • Reduced cost: without requiring an upfront investment of expensive servers and hardware, UC can be implemented quickly and at a low cost. In addition, since the cloud provider is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and upgrade of the software, you don't need to hire a large in-house IT team to maintain the communication infrastructure.
  • Improved collaboration and reduced errors: since the data is stored in a centralized location, all authorized users can access the information in real-time for effective collaboration. The improved communication and transparency also help reduce human errors and duplicate work that could delay timeline and impact budgets.
  • Security: data breaches are very costly to businesses. For organizations in highly-regulated industries, implementing the proper security protocols to protect their data can be a major headache. When you use a reputable UCaaS provider, it'll ensure that its platform meets the various regulatory guidelines in your industry and provide 24/7 monitoring to minimize security risks. Not to mention, you can utilize the various features, such as multi-factor authentication and access control, to ensure account security.

Unified Communications In Business: Use Cases

Here are a few use cases to illustrate how unified communications can be applied to a variety of business situations and solve communication challenges:

  • A manufacturing company that has plants and offices across the US and China is able to increase productivity significantly by allowing employees to access voice and text messages from anywhere at any time via both mobile and desktop devices so they can respond to requests and inquiries in a timely manner. The company also streamlined its communication tools by eliminating the need for a voicemail system and fax machines. The company was able to lower IT administrative cost by $600,000 per year.
  • A government agency switched from a traditional phone system to a UC platform so it could streamline its IT infrastructure and network management. The improved user experience increases employee productivity while the agency is able to leverage the centralized managed folders system to archive voice messages required for public records -- thereby increasing operational efficiency while reducing administrative cost.
  • A network of healthcare providers with multiple locations uses a UC system so its staff can access all the patient information in real-time from any facility. They can collaborate in real time via voice calls, video meetings, and messaging to deliver the most responsive services while minimizing costs, and potentially life-threatening, errors. The single integrated management environment has dramatically improved operational efficiency while reducing administrative costs.

Conclusion

Unified communications and UCaaS delivers many benefits that are essential for organizations to thrive in today's fast-paced business environment.

Your business needs every cog in your machine to be as productive as possible. With 8x8's Team Messaging System your business gets the unified messaging it needs without the need for multiple disparate systems. Call 1-855-266-5446 or fill out an online form to request a no-obligation quote from an 8x8 product specialist.

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