Time to Unify Your Communications?

Does your business need unified communications? The chances are the answer is "yes".

Unified communications (UC) means the seamless integration of all your regular business communications such as telephony, voicemail, instant messaging, conference calls, emails, faxes and SMS.

For example, if you configure your voicemail so that you get an email when a new message arrives, that's unified communications.

The advent of VoIP technology has made unified communications a reality for businesses of all sizes.

Telephone systems these days offer a wide range of options that can be used to build a unified communications network for your business.

So just what can unified communications do for your business and how can you implement it?

More Efficient Business

UC helps you to run your business more efficiently, which means better productivity.

As the article "Why Your Business Needs Unified Communications" points out, using UC means less time wasted waiting for a response from a colleague or contact.

UC makes it easier to keep in touch with anyone, anywhere, getting messages to the intended recipient with the minimum of fuss.

Making Collaboration Easier

One popular feature of UC is conferencing, whether by instant message program, voice call or video call.

Conferencing means your team can have real-time discussions no matter how geographically scattered they are (assuming they have an enabled device and a good internet connection). 

Presence technology means colleagues can see at a glance if someone is online and available.

No More Telephone Tag

Functionality such as find me and follow me means that if a phone call is left unanswered, the system can be set to automatically call other extensions in sequence. Or a desk phone can be set to automatically forward the call to a cell phone if the recipient is out and about.

You can also set more than one phone to ring at once when a call is received. It all adds up to making it much easier to reach the person you want to talk to.

Better Customer Service

As well as helping your business run more effectively and promoting collaboration, UC solutions help you improve your customer service.

Find me and follow me make it easier for customers to reach you without having to call different numbers or leave repeated messages.

Voicemail to email means you'll never have to miss a customer message again. You can also make use of automated attendant software to help direct your customers to the right person when they call.

Making UC Work for You

To make UC work for you, start by looking at your day to day business practices and communication needs, so you can build up a clear picture of what your business could make use of.

For example, if you have a lot of customers calling for a staff member who telecommutes, find me or follow me could help you. If you have staff in different locations that need to collaborate a lot, conferencing will be a great support.

There is a wide-range of UC solutions out there, so start off by deciding which features you can truly make use of.

Implementing the right UC system for your business means shopping around to see what is available.

You don't have to do it all yourself - lots of companies offer UC solutions that are delivered to you ready to use.

Compare prices, features and support to make sure you're getting a UC solution that will work well for you, with support available if you need a little help.

Last but not least, don't forget to talk to your staff about UC and what benefits it has for them. By making sure everyone understands UC and how to make the best of it, you can make the most of it in your business.

Unified communications are good news for your business, helping it to run faster, smarter and more efficiently.

UC solutions are generally more flexible and cost effective too, making them a good choice for your business and your budget.