Unified Communications: Improving Productivity

Ever feel like you spend more time managing your communications than managing your business? Your employees spend countless hours every week toggling between email and voicemail; inbound calls, outbound calls and conference calls; desk phone and mobile device; desktop computer, laptop computer and tablet; and web browser, customer relationship management (CRM) programs and other apps.

Businesses can quickly and cost-effectively put the power of Unified Communications (UC) to work to better manage their communications and collaboration and be more productive.

UC enhances presence and availability. “Presence” is a key component of UC and is familiar to anyone who has used an instant messaging app. Users can easily find colleagues and check their availability for an immediate call or a future meeting. With UC’s mobile-enabled find me/follow me functionality, loss of power won’t affect users’ ability to stay connected and be reached by phone.

UC helps eliminate downtime. Cloud-based UC allows users to seamlessly transfer and transport calls from one device to another. Users can start a call from an office-based landline or desktop call app and then take the call on the road via a mobile device, with one easy click instead of having to hang up and re-dial.

UC improves collaboration and decision-making. UC provides easy access to tools and apps from multiple devices. Screen sharing, web and audio conferencing, virtual workspaces, smart whiteboards, and team chat can be integrated with project management and workflow systems to make it easier for individuals and teams to meet remotely and collaborate with one another.

UC drives revenue-generating initiatives. With intuitive cloud-based UC, businesses no longer need to devote technology-certified IT staff and capital expenses to manage, provision and support communications, freeing up time to devote to revenue-generating initiatives.

The benefits of UC extend beyond the C-suite; they apply to individual users as well. For example, users no longer need to carry both a personal mobile phone and a business mobile phone. With a cloud-based UC system, all business communications are routed through an easily downloadable app. Business-related communications traffic remains secure in the cloud, and individual employees aren’t required to track and submit business-related communications expenses for reimbursement.

To read the full article, check it out on the Comcast Business Community.