Decoding Unified Communications

Gone are the days when a mere desk phone was enough to run an organization. Today’s businesses need to have a global outlook to survive in this highly competitive market and one of the most important things for reaching out to people the world over is by employing varied modes of communication. This makes Unified Communications (UC) solutions absolutely vital for the success of businesses. UC is an amalgamation of asynchronous and real-time communication tools which help businesses enhance their internal as well as external interactions. Collaboration between colleagues is as important as communication with clients, thus making an all-inclusive solution the need of the hour for businesses looking to broaden their horizons.

The global Unified Communications market is expected to be worth $167.1 billion by the year 2025, growing at a CAGR of 16.8%, according to a report by Grand View Research. Rapid virtualization of devices and data, a growing prominence for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) as well as the changing workforce dynamics are some of the reasons for the rise in the adoption of UC in enterprises, as per the research.

UC essentially provides a cohesive environment featuring traditional as well as technologically advanced business communication tools that are easily accessible. It adds to the productivity of businesses by offering all the necessary tools that small and medium sized businesses may need to compete with larger organizations. Here’s what exactly you should look for when selecting a UC solution for your organization:

BYOD Compatible

While businesses are going global, employees are going mobile. They choose to stay connected with their colleagues and clients while they are on the move, preferably through their own devices because of familiarity and usability. This makes it important for companies to choose a UC solution that supports the concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

Cloud Support

Business communication has benefitted immensely from cloud technologies as it gives people the freedom to access all of their data and information from any internet-enabled device from anywhere in the world. Besides being universally available, the data is also safe in the secure data centre on the cloud.

Security

Organizations need to take special care while selecting a UC solution to make sure it is secure enough to share sensitive information. A solution that encrypts information is the best bet as it negates all possibilities of unauthorized access to confidential data.

Call Management

A UC solution needs to be capable of ensuring that no calls are missed. Call management features like call forwarding, auto receptionist, call screening, dial-by-name, call logs, call recording, message notifications, voicemail and caller ID to name a few, ensure that you never miss a call, no matter where you are.

IMs

Instant messaging is one of the most preferred communication options for millennials and quite an important tool for offices as it expedites collaboration between colleagues. Organizations should ensure that their UC solution includes IM facility to simplify informal communication between employees.

Video Calling

Video calling is an inevitable part of global communication and needs to be one of the strongest points of a UC to make it a feasible option for organizations. Not only should it support app-to-app video calling between colleagues, but it should also pay special attention to the quality of the call to ensure there are no glitches.

Unified Messaging

Unified messaging allows employees to keep a track of all of their communication tools such as emails, voice calls, videos calls, IMs and more in a single platform. This helps users save a lot of time that is usually spent in opening multiple applications and switching between them.

Presence Information

Giving the option to update availability status can be a real time saver and help employees to know the right time to contact others. An ideal UC solution can have options like busy, available, in a meeting, away or a custom message among other presence features.

Contact Management

Contact management is another feature that saves valuable time. A UC solution needs to have a feature to help employees manage their contacts by grouping them or by setting favourites in order to get instant access to people who need to be contacted frequently.

A comprehensive Unified Communication solution loaded with these features can be instrumental in boosting the productivity of teams and ensure seamless collaboration between team members situated in different geographical locations. It can help organizations adapt to the changing landscape of their respective industries or domains. The solution can also help cut down on maintenance and administration costs, while ensuring greater flexibility.

Businesses looking for these features, can check out the DID and Inbound Services by BridgeVoice Pluto to streamline their communication. With IP PBX at the core, our services can replace complex business phone systems while offering all the essential features. The BridgeVoice Pluto DID service also has a dedicated mobile application to allow users to keep in touch with their colleagues while they are on the go. This user-friendly and smart application puts these features and much more, right at your fingertips.