Remote work has existed for decades, but got a big push just a few years ago, with so many away from the office. And some workers are staying remote, part of companies facilitating hybrid work environments. Business telecommunications needs to be up to the task, equipping workers to collaborate and communicate to get things done. Read on to learn more about the benefits of telecommunications technology for a connected workforce.

The Growth of Business Communications

Remote work has happened for years (the term “telecommuting” was coined more than 50 years ago), and tools for connection and collaboration have grown in sophistication. In the past, telephones have operated independently of the Internet, and other tools like email and conferencing have been separate. The market for Unified Communications has grown in the last few years, and is expected to grow to about $50 billion globally by 2025. Little wonder, considering the business benefits it brings.

Benefits of Integrated Telecommunications

Integration of modes of telecommunication like Voice Over IP (VoIP) telephony, customer relations management software, and web conferencing can improve communication and collaboration while saving your company money. With Unified Communications, a package of communication tools in the cloud is available with an internet connection. The cloud service provider handles the infrastructure, freeing businesses from the capital expense of purchase and maintenance of hardware. With more workers having the capacity to work remotely, businesses can cut spending on office space (though depending on its needs, a company may choose a hybrid workplace). Ability to connect with new clients virtually can even help you break into new markets near and far. 

Enhancement of Customer Experience

WIth integration of multiple modes of communication, in-office and remote workers can easily interact with each other, to facilitate a hybrid workforce. Customer relations management software brings up customer information quickly to allow the rep to quickly and accurately handle the call, building customer loyalty. Routing voice mail messages to email means no calls are missed. Videoconferencing can help workers collaborate on projects and share files to complete important work quickly.

Considerations for Unified Communications

If your company is still in the process of adopting UC, a network audit to find bottlenecks or weak spots is helpful in determining your network’s readiness. With vast amounts of data transmitted, your network needs to have enough bandwidth to handle the traffic. On top of that, data needs to remain safe from loss or compromise. 

Unified Communications is a powerful tool for companies with remote workers or a hybrid work environment. For assistance with your telecommunications strategy, contact your trusted technology advisor today. 

Unified Communications, or UC, is an Internet-based way to bring together your company’s communications–telephony, web conferencing, email and more. With its benefits, it requires a reliable and secure network to keep your employees connected and productive. Read on to learn about Unified Communications and what you need to do to prepare.

The Benefits of Unified Communications

Even before 2020, the use of Unified Communications was growing; since then, it has become even more popular. In a nutshell, Unified Communications is a way of integrating multiple modes of communication–including VoIP telephony, email, web conferencing and more–via the Internet. These new and integrated technologies save time and money by allowing businesses to seamlessly connect and collaborate with colleagues, cohorts and customers with ease. Unified Communications can also help a company gain a competitive advantage, connecting with customers regardless of location. Workers can work anytime, anywhere, with just an Internet connection, communicating and collaborating with each other and customers from work, home or on the road. Integration with CRM can help them obtain information about customers easily, and they’ll never miss a voicemail by routing to email. When UC is supported by software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), traffic can move easily because if one carrier goes down, another can pick up the slack without any downtime.

Prepare Your Business and  Network for UC with SD-WAN

Adoption of Unified Communications provides multiple benefits, yet requires planning and consideration. First, you’ll need to examine how it will support your company’s business goals. Second, you’ll need to assess your network’s strength and security; do you have the internal bandwidth it takes to support UC? Auditing your network to detect any weak spots might be a good first step, and inventorying the security of devices connected to the network. Checking to ensure network traffic flows smoothly during peak hours by prioritizing usage avoids service interruption and Quality of Service (QoS) issues. Finally, trace network traffic back to your service providers to identify bottlenecks that can easily be avoided using SD-WAN technologies.

Unified Communications with SD-WAN can be a great help to your business, especially if workers are still remote. To learn more about assessing the readiness of your business and network, contact us today.

The Benefits of Unified Communications

Even before 2020, the use of Unified Communications was growing; since then, it has become even more popular. In a nutshell, Unified Communications is a way of integrating multiple modes of communication–including VoIP telephony, email, web conferencing and more–via the Internet. These new and integrated technologies save time and money by allowing businesses to seamlessly connect and collaborate with colleagues, cohorts and customers with ease. Unified Communications can also help a company gain a competitive advantage, connecting with customers regardless of location. Workers can work anytime, anywhere, with just an Internet connection, communicating and collaborating with each other and customers from work, home or on the road. Integration with CRM can help them obtain information about customers easily, and they’ll never miss a voicemail by routing to email. When UC is supported by software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), traffic can move easily because if one carrier goes down, another can pick up the slack without any downtime.

Prepare Your Business and  Network for UC with SD-WAN

Adoption of Unified Communications provides multiple benefits, yet requires planning and consideration. First, you’ll need to examine how it will support your company’s business goals. Second, you’ll need to assess your network’s strength and security; do you have the internal bandwidth it takes to support UC? Auditing your network to detect any weak spots might be a good first step, and inventorying the security of devices connected to the network. Checking to ensure network traffic flows smoothly during peak hours by prioritizing usage avoids service interruption and Quality of Service (QoS) issues. Finally, trace network traffic back to your service providers to identify bottlenecks that can easily be avoided using SD-WAN technologies.

Unified Communications with SD-WAN can be a great help to your business, especially if workers are still remote. To learn more about assessing the readiness of your business and network, contact us today.

Unified Communications, or UC, is an Internet-based way to bring together your company’s communications–telephony, web conferencing, email and more. With its benefits, it requires a reliable and secure network to keep your employees connected and productive. Read on to learn about Unified Communications and what you need to do to prepare.

The Benefits of Unified Communications

Even before 2020, the use of Unified Communications was growing; since then, it has become even more popular. In a nutshell, Unified Communications is a way of integrating multiple modes of communication–including VoIP telephony, email, web conferencing and more–via the Internet. These new and integrated technologies save time and money by allowing businesses to seamlessly connect and collaborate with colleagues, cohorts and customers with ease. Unified Communications can also help a company gain a competitive advantage, connecting with customers regardless of location. Workers can work anytime, anywhere, with just an Internet connection, communicating and collaborating with each other and customers from work, home or on the road. Integration with CRM can help them obtain information about customers easily, and they’ll never miss a voicemail by routing to email. When UC is supported by software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), traffic can move easily because if one carrier goes down, another can pick up the slack without any downtime.

Prepare Your Business and  Network for UC with SD-WAN

Adoption of Unified Communications provides multiple benefits, yet requires planning and consideration. First, you’ll need to examine how it will support your company’s business goals. Second, you’ll need to assess your network’s strength and security; do you have the internal bandwidth it takes to support UC? Auditing your network to detect any weak spots might be a good first step, and inventorying the security of devices connected to the network. Checking to ensure network traffic flows smoothly during peak hours by prioritizing usage avoids service interruption and Quality of Service (QoS) issues. Finally, trace network traffic back to your service providers to identify bottlenecks that can easily be avoided using SD-WAN technologies.

Unified Communications with SD-WAN can be a great help to your business, especially if workers are still remote. To learn more about assessing the readiness of your business and network, contact us today.

In our current situation, the ability to work anywhere is even more important. Whether at the office, on the go–or quite commonly these days, at home–unified communications (UC) supports the ability to communicate by voice or email and send information back and forth. Read on to learn more about how this technology can help your business always be available.

According to a recent Gartner report, Unified Communications is expected to grow by $167.1 billion over the next five years, an average of 16.8% per year. This technology brings together various modes of communication–phone, text, web conferencing and email, providing a streamlined way to keep businesses connected. Employees working at home can collaborate via web conferencing, send data via email, and communicate with customers by phone. Voice Over IP (VoIP) supports this technology by providing phone connections via the Internet. Companies no longer have to rely solely on analog or private branch exchange (PBX) systems. Chat and email with customers and other employees is made easier. Applications like CRM can be integrated to expedite service, too.

The Need for Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN)

Unified Communications technology, enabled by the cloud, needs a fast and reliable network. Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) uses multiple carrier service providers to furnish a wide area network with failover; if one part of the network experiences a bottleneck, another can pick up the traffic. Not only does SD-WAN provide a highly available network, but it can also save costs over legacy MPLS with added flexibility and a variety of carriers. Unified Communications can test the limits of your company’s  network.  With SD-WAN, your company’s wide area networks will always be available, from anywhere.

Considerations for Adopting Unified Communications

As always, unified communications depend on a reliable network. Consider evaluating your network for its bandwidth and security, making sure it can handle additional traffic and no vulnerabilities to cyber attack. Your company’s antivirus and antimalware definitions and firewall should be up to date, too. Also, check to ensure only authorized users are able to access your network.

Unified Communications and its supporting technologies can be instrumental to helping your staff work anywhere. To determine your company’s readiness, contact us today. 

More than ever, businesses are seeking new communications solutions. Instead of old methods, such as analog phone and private branch exchanges (PBX) and a separate computer network, companies are seeking the benefits of more streamlined, economical solutions. Read on to learn what Unified Communications–and its foundation, VoIP–can do for your business.

Unified Communications Provides Greater Efficiency

More and more businesses are moving into the future, using an Internet-based communications platform. According to research firm Gartner, adoption of Unified Communications (UC) is expected to grow to $167.1 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 16.8%. The foundational technology, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), allows businesses to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection, sometimes right from the computer and sometimes with an adapter connected to their current equipment. Other modes of communication, such as chat and email, can be done over Internet connection also, eliminating the need for separate phone and computer networks. Other capabilities include going from chat to video conferencing, and integration with CRM. Employees then can be current on customer service, projects and confident of processes moving forward. 

Considerations Before UC Adoption

With all its benefits, Unified Communications can benefit your organization greatly. Not all solutions are equal, however, and it is wise for a company to evaluate its goals to determine what UC services will work best for them. How will this tool help streamline customer service? Which features are most important to have? How many employees does the business have? This last is a key consideration, for many vendors base their rate on the number of employees using the service per month. Some solutions offer  several different packages while others have low setup costs and can function across multiple devices. Many have services that are scalable, adjusting to times of more or less demand. Also consider customer support as service levels among vendors can also vary. Some vendors advertise high security with multiple layers of authentication and encryption, and availability during disasters and outages. Be sure to evaluate these features, considering carefully the best fit for your company. Be sure to inventory your current network, ensuring it can support unified communications.

Even with many factors to consider, Unified Communications might be just the solution for your business. To evaluate which range of services fits your needs, contact your trusted technology advisor today.

Imagine being able to integrate business class phone systems, collaboration and virtual meetings and your contact call center all within a secure and reliable unified communications suite. This means you can work anywhere, get customer information instantly and route calls efficiently to communicate in real time all over the world. Increasingly, Unified Communications can integrate your office communications and help you help customers.

Unified Communications Adoption Continues to Grow

According to an article by Grand View Research, the market for Unified Communications is expected to grow to $167.1 billion by 2025, with a growth rate of 16.8% in upcoming years. Unified Communications, provides businesses a tightly integrated solution consisting of VoIP, along with applications such as video, web collaboration, and mobility. Three popular components of Unified Communications are Voice Over IP (VoIP) technology, web conferencing and call center technology. Voice Over IP helps businesses move from a private-branch exchange to a methodology that uses the Internet. Web conferencing allows companies to communicate with customers and employees in other parts of the world. Call center technology can speed communication through integration with CRM, to route the call to the best person to serve the customer.

Benefits of Adopting Unified Communications

Not only is UC an efficient way to integrate a business’ operations, it can help companies save money and increase revenue. Managers in the office can communicate with employees out in the field, and with voice mail that flows to email, employees in the office can get a quick answer to a question, or more information, with minimal wait time. The speed of processes can improve, helping a business gain a competitive advantage–for example, moving a loan application quickly toward approval. Also, cloud-based Unified Communications moves capital expense associated with large deployments to a subscription-based operating expense.

What to Consider when Adopting a UC Solution

When considering Unified Communications, be sure to consider the specific needs of your business and how integrated communication can help reach business goals. Also, evaluate the health of your network, whether it can support cloud-based unified communications, and what parts need upgrading or changing.

Unified Communications will become more common in the next decade. To evaluate your readiness, and get your network in shape, contact your trusted technology advisor today.