What Are Unified Communications: And How Can They Help Your Business?

In the fast-paced business world we live in, there have never been more fluid ways for companies to keep in touch. After all, business never sleeps – that goes for calls and contacts between companies and customers, as well as B2B. With that in mind, the idea of just having a single line of inquiry or contact – such as a traditional phone line – just isn’t going to cut it any more. In fact, even BT is set to start phasing PSTN out, as more and more people move into blending multiple communications channels together.

This is a concept that many people refer to as unified communications, or UC. But how does UC work in practice? What are the overall benefits of UC for your business, and are they easy to set up and manage? In this short guide, we’re going to take a quick look at UC, and will consider how you can get it up and running for the better. Are you already communicating with customers, clients and businesses through multiple platforms and channels? Are your services and systems as streamlined as they could be?

How Unified Communications Work

As the name suggests, a UC system allows you to blend all your communications standards and systems into one easy to manage package or area. Therefore, instead of having to manage and monitor multiple areas such as your calls, video conferencing and IM streams separately, they can all communicate with one another. One great way to implement UC in your business, for example, would be to bring together calls and video conferencing together into a single software suite via SIP trunking.

Many companies and businesses choose to bring their platforms and communications standards together to ensure that they always know what’s happening from one conversation stream to the next. It’s always good to make sure everyone is on the same page – and that not only goes for management, but for a whole team working on a set of customer cases.

UC works by bringing together a bespoke platform or suite that you can work from to activate several communication streams or message records in one place. Rather than having to keep chopping and changing between different pieces of software, you’ll only need to launch and log into one place, one platform.

How Will This Help You?

Let’s consider how a UC system or approach is going to improve the running of your business, and how it is going to make things more convenient for you as things go along. Crucially, we need to first of all consider immediate convenience for your team and those who are communicating on your behalf from day to day. The fact is, while your team may be efficient enough and may be great at what they do, if you are clogging them up with awkward pieces of software and clunky suites, they are going to find themselves struggling to keep things ticking over at a reasonable speed.

While it might not seem as such, clicking between software and suites is only going to be more and more awkward, and it’s only going to end up being more time consuming for everyone involved in the long run. Those seconds and minutes here and there are going to add up – meaning that it’s time taken away from actively helping customers, working on projects, and driving revenue. Therefore – from a sheer time saving perspective – it makes sense to shave off as much time as possible from the working day wherever you can.

What’s more, think about how much money this is going to save you in the long run. With UC, you won’t have to put all of your eggs in one basket as far as software choices are concerned. You can save yourself money by sampling the best of all worlds – bring everything together into one zone, and there’s no need for you to have to keep chopping and changing – trying one piece of software out, before throwing all your faith and money into a completely different service.

How Will This Help Your Customers and Clients?

Of course, we also need to consider how UC is going to positively impact the people you’re in contact with. Your customers are going to find that their queries and concerns are handled with more efficiency, and they are also going to find that there will be more options through which they can contact your team. For example, they can confidently call your contact centre, or they can get in touch with you through web chat and a bot advisor – all their communications will travel through to the same place.

The more efficient your communications system is, the more calls and queries you can take, and that’s going to mean an increase in revenue, as well as an increase in customer satisfaction. Any changes you make behind the scenes to make things quicker and easier for your team and business are going to have the same knock on effects for your customers and clients, too.

Is UC Easy to Set Up?

On the face of things, setting up a UC platform or service on your own might not seem so simple. However, when you have the support of a leading team such as those at VoIPer, you can be sure that your communications are going to streamline into one place and standard easier than ever before. VoIPer will make sure to take a close look at your existing strategies and will find ways to blend your current communications profiles together. By running these audits, you can be sure that we will only ever tailor a system and service that benefits you and your bespoke needs directly.

Struggling to keep track of your communications? Want a new and efficient way to make sure that customers and clients receive the support they need? Maybe your team is struggling to juggle several programs and platforms at once. In any case – take a look at VoIPer’s packages and services now – or call our team free on 0800 332 266 to find out more!