Business technology is appearing and evolving faster than ever, liberating office professionals and project teams from cubicles, phones, conference rooms, computer terminals — and even laptops. With the right mobile device and cloud connection, the world is an open workspace, and an individual’s skills and opportunities are theirs to share.
With most of the business world working remotely, at least part of the time, now is the moment to reward your employees with a robust framework and advanced tools to perform on their terms. A quick internet search reveals a vast array of products and services marketed to boost workforce productivity, enhance communication and serve every modern tech niche. Where does your IT team start when it comes to serving this emergent remote workforce? Enter the concept of unified communications (UC).
A unified communications strategy establishes high-level interaction across your workforce, whether your employees work side-by-side or across the globe, in the office or from home. A UC strategy also encourages both meaningful communication and real-time collaboration without the wasted travel time and expense or technological roadblocks. UC removes barriers between teams, providing equitable access to secure systems regardless of platform, device or location.
Unified communications simplifies the process of work, gathering everything you need to communicate, share and work together in a single streamlined interface. It begins with the basics: messaging, voice and video calling, team collaboration, video conferencing and file sharing. Simply put, unified communications results in better productivity, reduced costs, stronger performance and a positive employee experience.
Let’s break it down:
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- Imagine project teams connecting however they feel most comfortable, using the device and location of their choosing.
- Unified communications allow for leaner spaces and more agile tech, shifting spending away from maintaining vast office complexes and expensive on-site infrastructures that can become obsolete before installation is complete.
- Because employees can collaborate in real time, new strategies develop quickly, fresh ideas flourish, customer problems are solved faster and your business reputation improves.
- The right unified communications strategy gives your employees freedom to work the way they prefer, which fosters loyalty and reduces turnover, enhancing company culture.
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We have Slack in the office and some file sharing. If some people want to remote in or chat with co-workers about projects, isn’t that enough? Probably not. Unified communications is more than just messaging and using the work servers to get your job done. The clue is in the collaboration. UC unites the workforce behind company goals and visions, weaving together lines of communication and bringing ideas and voices together to collaborate over those remote connections to produce results that have real impacts on your business.
A well-thought out UC strategy offers additional benefits. Streamlining communication and collaboration technologies through the right provider will give you scalability and flexibility to grow, add or change products to suit the needs of your business as you evolve. With a suite of products at your fingertips chosen specifically to suit your organization’s needs, you can plan ahead and troubleshoot and even consider how you might leverage your UC strategy for both external and internal communications going forward.
Consider Microsoft Teams. As the native, cloud-based, video conferencing and collaboration platform within the Office 365 suite, Teams is a solid base for a starter unified communications strategy, and with the right support, can be scaled to grow with your business.
When the financial services website The Motley Fool found themselves amidst a “sprawling portfolio” of communication products and tools that was becoming increasingly burdensome to manage, they turned to Zoom to simply the process.
Zoom leads the modern video communications industry, delivering consistent, superior meeting experiences every time. In addition to significantly enhancing the HD video and audio quality of your online meetings, Zoom integrates with the systems and software you already use and trust. Zoom powers the unified communications strategy that gives your business a competitive edge.
Anchoring their new video-first UC strategy with Zoom Rooms and Zoom Phone, The Motley Fool was able to untether their employees and streamline collaboration across their organization. Consistent, intuitive, and reliable, Zoom allowed The Motley Fool to reduce their reliance on large infrastructures, both onsite hardware and offsite support.
Recently Zoom introduced Zoom from Home, a new platform that enhances and unifies remote workers to teams in traditional offices. Zoom from Home offers a dedicated personal collaboration device for video meetings, phone calls and interactive whiteboarding. This device combines Zoom software enhancements with compatible hardware to upgrade the work from home experience. It works with Zoom Phone, and brings the Zoom Room into your home.
Traditional business boundaries are shifting—even disappearing—as communications and collaboration innovations develop. Companies face a changing landscape, and UC can help them better navigate, serve clients and acquire and retain talent. With DGI’s unswerving commitment to quality audio-video technology, installations and support, we are uniquely placed to guide your business along the unified communications path, discovering new opportunities for better connections and productivity. Contact us today to discuss how a unified communication strategy can give your business the competitive edge it needs.
