How Unified Communications Upgrade Collaboration
Understanding UC
Unified communication is a way of bringing together various organizational stakeholders through a seamless communication system. UC consists of hardware, software, and strategy; it is both technology and concept. UC integrates services such as instant messages, interactive voice response (IVR), conference calls, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), video chat, cloud telephony, and other communications devices into a single internal online cloud.
If you are like most companies, your employees are scattered all around the world and work in a variety of spaces at different times. Working practices and conventions have changed significantly since the pandemic. Most people do not come to a central office every day to work. However, there is still a need for collaboration among your work teams. UC offers the kind of collaboration tools that your people need to meet company goals and client demands. UC allows you to communicate easily with co-workers and clients.
Benefits of Unified Communications for Collaboration
There are many benefits of implementing a Unified Communication system. Here are some of them:
1. Multi-channel communication
This will allow stakeholders within your organization to gain easy access to telephony and video conferencing platforms such as Skype, Slack, Gong, and Amoeba.
2. Video
Through UC, video platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet can be used to integrate, capture, and store telephonic activity details. These details can then be used to further marketing and sales operations.
3. Email integration
UC makes it easier for your team to use mass marketing email platforms such as Unbounce and Mailchimp.
4. Security and compliance
UC makes it easier for your IT to ensure that app integrations and API interfaces comply with your business’s IT security and compliance guidelines.
Challenges and Considerations
1. Security concerns
This can be especially challenging when dealing with new clients. You will probably encounter prospective clients who are reticent to download any of the required software to join your UC system. The best way to address this is to be perfectly transparent about how it works and to lay out in detail the security and compliance measures you have taken to protect your system.
2. Data privacy issues
It is essential that the personal data of both your employees and clients is protected. You must implement a UC system with a data protection system that is thorough and rigorous.
3. Training and change management
Getting people to use a new IT system is difficult. Even in an age in which nearly everyone is computer literate, it can be hard for people to learn the ins and outs of a Unified Communication system. You need your people to make this step so that they can do their jobs with the utmost proficiency. To meet this aim, you should develop a solid training plan and implement a change management scheme that brings everyone up to speed and ensures that no one feels left out.
The whole point of Unified Communication is to build a sense of community within a virtual work environment. You want to make it easier to create connections between members of the team. This can only happen if you put the time and resources into a managed transition from one communication system to another.
Best Practices for Implementing Unified Communications
Making the transition from one comms system to another is not easy. Here are some of the best practices for implementing a UC system:
1. Start with the users
You should start with the perspective of the team members. Ask the right questions: who will be using the UC platform and what will they be doing most of the time? Think about the specific communications tools they will need to do their jobs. Construct and implement your UC system accordingly.
2. Infrastructure
You must, at the same time, ensure that the new UC system can be used with the hardware you are currently using. It is essential that desktops, telephones, and company-issued laptops are compatible with any new software you want to introduce. You should also verify that your current hardware can process increased traffic. Is the current bandwidth of your devices adequate? You may need to upgrade your hardware before you can implement UC.
3. Future-proofing
Your company will grow and evolve. Technology is changing rapidly, and you will have to do periodic updates to keep up. In implementing UC, you should opt for a solution that allows you to carry out technological upgrades easily. You should also have the flexibility to scale up as your business grows. It is best to choose a UC system that gives you future options. This will allow you to evolve your UC framework along with the business.
Choosing the Right Unified Communications Provider
It is important to choose the right UC provider. You want to work with a company that has the experience and expertise to help you implement an effective system. Otherwise, you will waste a great deal of time and money.
JVN Systems is a top AV installation company. For more than 25 years, we have worked hand in hand with thousands of organizations to design a solution that best fits their needs and remains simple to use.
We maintain a core philosophy of our value engineering approach to deliver an end product that increases efficiency, productivity, and security for our clients.
JVN Systems designs, deploys, installs, supports, and services audio-visual solutions focused on how teams work. The AV systems we design and implement for our clients support distance collaboration which is vital in today’s workforce structure. This mindset is what sets us apart from other AV integrators still predominantly focused on room equipment rather than the dynamics of the people utilizing the room, including those people collaborating from elsewhere.
Improve Teamwork and Productivity
Over the last few years, there has been a significant shift in how people work. The days of people congregating in large office buildings are over. Instead, most of your people will be working from home on most days. You need a communications system that makes it easy for them to be productive while doing so. Your system should also facilitate teamwork and collaboration.
Investing in UC will help your business achieve all these goals. You will reap the benefits for years to come.
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