Workflow and communications must go hand in hand, as the smooth completion of group projects is only possible with uninterrupted, instant exchanges among team members. But the reality is that all too many organizations are plagued by shoddy communications, leading to inefficient achievement of business goals. That is, the ability to contact co-workers in real time facilitates a significant productivity boost—and one that can be measured.
According to a Small Business Trends article, “Recent studies have shown that 49 percent of businesses are able to gain 20 minutes of productivity for each employee that they are able to reach on the first try.”
Left unchecked, everyday communication blunders can eventually lead to increased operating costs, customer dissatisfaction and compromised competitive advantage. So, what can your company do to manage its communication pain points? To begin, you need to give your employees access to each other, partners and customers from multiple devices according to your business’s specific needs.
Unified communications (UC) solutions will enable your workers to spend less time chasing each other for information. Combined with Cloud VoIP Phone System, UC has revolutionized how employees interact to get work done. By transforming desktop computers and business phones to a virtual communications platform, you can help keep your workers from wasting precious time. Let’s look at just a few ways that UC can impact productivity in the workplace:
Seamless communication and collaboration
UC brings all accessible modalities and devices together to improve collaboration among work associates. For example, users can smoothly transition an instant message interaction to a videoconference or phone call with one mouse click. UC features (such as an online whiteboard) further facilitate effective teamwork by allowing document and data sharing. What’s more, with integrated data and communications applications, UC enables users to access all business process software and applications (e.g., ERP and CRM) through the UC interface.
Work from anywhere
Streamline work-from-home efforts with office phones connected to employee smartphones. Unified messaging ensures that email, voice and other messages can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection via the company’s internal network. With access to system data, employees can be as productive at home as in the office—even more so since they’ve skipped the commute.
Presence
Knowing the availability of co-workers on a constant basis allows for better teamwork and problem resolution. Consider the advantage of being able to quickly locate an expert to address a customer call to your contact center. Presence saves time and enables workers to be more productive—eliminating phone tag, email queues and running around.
BYOD and mobility
Your employees want the freedom to be productive from anywhere at any time using any device. By giving workers access to enterprise technology outside the enterprise, they can keep up to date with the surge of information that comes across their plates. By empowering your employees with UC, you allow them to focus on higher-level business goals without the hindrance of communication barriers.
