Many companies use multiple communication tools like emails, chat, voice calling, video conferencing etc., for their day-to-day collaboration. While these productivity tools are meant to help teams increase their productivity, unfortunately they bring the opposite results. They make collaboration difficult and turn productivity into chaos.
It is estimated that white-collar workers can lose up to 40% or 16 hours per week of productivity due to multitasking on projects and switching between multiple software applications, resulting in a cumulative corporate loss of $450 billion per year.
For organizations, subscribing to an all-in-one communications solution is the best way to streamline these communications and collaboration tools, and improve team productivity. There are a host of benefits of unified communications technology in the workplace.
How does unified communication benefit teams?
1. Avoids app overload.
Overloading your team with too many productivity apps will leave them overwhelmed and frustrated. Each time they need to find any information they will have to toggle between multiple apps to find it. This can create a negative impact on team collaboration and productivity. Using too many apps is not just about clicking and opening another app. Many things like login credentials, user ids, user rights, preferences settings, customizations, notifications, security, licenses etc need to be taken care of.
With unified communications for business, you can access all your apps in one place. There is no need to toggle between multiple apps like email, chat, social feeds, meetings, events, reminders, cloud storage etc. All these functionalities are available in a single SaaS-based application, and you don’t need to log in and out multiple times. Besides there are no hassles like software installation, maintenance, license renewal, etc.
One of the main benefits of unified communications is if you have an issue that requires a quicker response from a team member, you can switch to chat or voice call with just a click of a button; you don’t have to change devices, applications or jump to any other rooms or channels.
2. Creates better user experience
A common issue with using multiple communications apps is that your teams will have to learn to use all of them individually. Apart from the long learning curve, using numerous apps is a slow, tedious and inefficient way that impacts employee satisfaction. For example, when you want to host a meeting, you have to create a meeting id and send invites over the group chat to your team members and also share the meeting materials through email.
Your teammates will have to switch between email app, chat app and meeting app to access the meeting information and attend the meeting. When you have multiple employees switching between multiple apps, the productivity losses will be staggering. Millennials, who account for a majority of the workforce, expect their business apps to mimic their personal apps. They also demand a more flexible work environment that extends beyond the confines of the office walls.
A survey by Bentley University found that 77% of millennials think that flexible work hours would increase their productivity at work. Another study points out that they are even willing to give up pay and delay promotions to get a flexible work schedule. Companies need a unified communication system to attract and retain this young talent force.
If the existing business applications fail to meet their expectations, they end up using their own alternative applications, creating a “shadow IT” which compromises the company data. Another great benefit of unified communications is the learning curve is very short for your employees as they have to learn to use just a single app, and they can switch between different modes of communication with just a click.
3. Information is much easier to track
When you receive a meeting invite from the host, you will probably wonder what the meeting is all about without the context. You will have to go through multiple emails and chat messages to get the background of the meeting. Often, this may not be enough, and you might end up calling your host to get the background of the meeting and the attendees.
Now, when the meeting starts, your host will spend most of the time setting the context – explaining why everyone has gathered – rather than moving forward with the project details. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. When you spend most of your time searching for emails and managing inboxes, your productivity takes a hit, and your time management goes for a toss.
According to IDC research, white-collar workers spend up to 3.2 hours per day on work-related emails. Knowledge workers lose up to 5.7 hours per day or 71% productivity throughout the week on finding information, multitasking, and responding to work emails. They spend an average of 2.5 hours per day, or roughly 30% of the workday, searching through apps and tools to find the information they need to move forward on projects and perform their other job functions.
Another key benefit of unified communications is calls can be started within the same application so that meeting participants can quickly scroll through the text history, find all the materials relevant to the project or client, and jump into the meeting. Since the call window is primarily present in the messaging window, context is available in real-time for the meeting participants.
4. Easy to manage a single app
As most companies use different operating systems and devices, managing multiple applications, downloads, licenses, payments can be a nightmare for your employees and IT teams. One of the main benefits of unified communications is you only need to manage a single app and rely on a single service provider for support and maintenance.
5. Scaling up is easy
Initially, when the company is small, it may be able to manage multiple communication applications, but when the company grows, it may not be in a position to scale up and meet the growing demands. One key benefit of unified communication is you need not worry about different communication apps (email, chat, phone, etc) scaling up to meet the growing needs and you can add or subtract licenses as per your needs.
6. Better customer service
Being able to serve the customers better and improve their experience will be the top priority for any company. A disconnected communication system could be hurting your customer service efforts through the increased time needed to respond to customer queries.
Another key benefit of unified communication is it will allow your employees to respond to customers no matter how they reach out asking for support. With all the pertinent information available in one place, the customer service team can respond quickly. Whenever any customer contacts your business, your business representatives will have access to all the notes and pertinent information associated with that contact. This will lead to faster resolutions and a quick turnaround time.
When your employees have fewer apps to toggle and maintain, it improves the workplace experience. When they work in a peaceful communication and collaboration ecosystem, it makes them happy and improves engagement, retention, and productivity. When employees are happy, it results in better customer service and more sales and profitability.
How does unified communication benefit businesses
Companies are dealing with the ‘new normal’ where workers want to split time between office and home as many of them do not want to give up the flexibility, they experienced during the pandemic lockdown. Besides, millennials, who now account for the bulk of the workforce, are even willing to take a pay cut to be able to enjoy flexible work hours. To deal with this new scenario, companies are turning to unified communications strategies to optimize business processes and improve productivity, while giving the workforce the flexibility it desires.
Unified communication provides a seamless communication experience by bringing together messaging, email, voice calling, video conferencing, screen sharing, and much more. Some best examples of unified communication tools in the market include Microsoft Teams, Slack, Clariti etc.
These tools are hosted on the cloud which makes them flexible and cost-effective for large and small businesses alike. The unified communication apps market has been growing by 20% to 30% for several years and the global market size is projected to go from $22.97 billion in 2019 up to $59.15 billion by 2027.
Unified communication makes communication easier and more reliable which helps to drive greater collaboration between team members. Virtual collaboration is essential to the digital workforce and unified communication can help any business to level up in many ways.
1. Increases collaboration
To improve team collaboration, your organization needs a way to connect all the users, vendors, partners and customers. Unified communication tool provides access to all communication channels including email, video/ voice calling, screen sharing, group messaging and file sharing for the entire team from a single application, on any device.
One key benefit of unified communication is they can use a single interface for both communication and collaboration, which means they can spend their time more effectively. This saves employees from wasting their valuable time switching between apps or devices. By having all their communication in one place, they can have access to all information they need to work, and they can also seamlessly collaborate on projects together.
2. Increases team’s productivity
Another great benefit of unified communication is even small businesses can see a workplace productivity boost of up to 52%. A unified communication tool makes your employees more engaged at work and happier. According to a study, a good, unified communication tool can increase team efficiency by as much as 20% and about 40% of workers are willing to pay for their tool to make their own lives easier.
3. Improves team’s responsiveness
Another significant benefit of unified communication is when all the team members use the same unified communication tool, they can collaborate at any time and from any place. Whenever a team member raises any query, other teammates can respond quickly. Fast and efficient collaboration between the team members is very important to meet improve customer response time, customer service and customer satisfaction.
4. Reduces business costs
One more notable benefit of unified communication is it helps companies save time and money by eliminating the need for multiple apps. When companies use unified communication tools, they only pay for one app. A unified communication tool enables employees to work from anywhere using any device. Unified communication tool facilitates bringing your own device which allows employees to work using their devices, reducing the need for hardware.
5. Improves real-time communication
Another remarkable benefit of unified communication is it encourages real-time communication with various stakeholders through preferred channels like text messaging, live chat, or call. Just as it is easy for team members to get notified of important updates, they can also instantly provide feedback. Your team members can immediately respond and resolve issues when they are notified of a message. When team members communicate without a time delay, there is less scope for any miscommunication.
6. Integrates multiple emails
If you have more than one email id a unified communication tool will let you integrate all the email ids in one place, eliminating the need to constantly switch between email accounts.
7. Allows audio/video calling
An additional benefit of unified communication is that most of the unified communication tools will allow you to make and receive unlimited audio calls with other app users. You don’t have to install an additional app. You can call anybody or set up group calls without generating any meeting id or passcode. You don’t have to dial any number, and you can use your desktop speaker and mic for the calls.
In unified communication, you can call anybody from any device by just clicking on the button. You need not invest in physical devices like phones, intercoms, leased lines, hotlines, etc. High-quality video calling coupled with whiteboards, screen-sharing, and real-time meeting chat will bring great flexibility for your remote and hybrid teams, and it is a great substitute for face-to-face meetings.
8. Allows screen sharing
Frequently in audio and video conferences there is a need for screen sharing. When you want to explain something complicated to other participants, it is easier to show team members what you mean instead of long verbal descriptions. Screen sharing is also very crucial for IT troubleshooting, team meetings, training, demonstrations etc. Most of the unified communications for businesses will allow you to have audio/video calling and screen sharing simultaneously.
9. Allows file sharing
Most of the unified communications for businesses have some form of document sharing. This could be as simple as team members dragging and dropping files into a team chat. SaaS-based unified communication tools provide integrations with all the major cloud storage drives such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, pCloud and Mega.
So, when you are working from home you don’t have to worry about carrying all your files from work. Once you integrate your drives with your unified communication tool, you will have instant access to all your files anywhere, anytime. This lets your team members have a central hub for important documents and other files.
10. Calendar and scheduling
Most of the unified communication for team have calendars and scheduling services. You don’t need separate tools for creating to-dos or events. Your teammates will get notifications whenever you schedule or cancel a meeting. The meeting details will also sync with the receiver’s calendar, and you will be updated about their availability to attend the meeting.
11. Allows flexible chat
When you use a unified communications for businesses, all your team members will have access to multiple options for messaging including direct chat, group chat, and SMS. That too, all this can be done from any device like desktop, laptop or mobiles.
This will ensure your team can stay in touch at all times, no matter where they are. Some unified communication tools will let your customer service and sales teams send SMS text messages to external stakeholders in real-time using existing business phone numbers.
12. Supports integrations
Most of the unified communications for businesses will easily integrate with other software and tools that your business is already using. You don’t have to give up or stop using other apps that are crucial for your business.
Conclusion
Does your organization have a digital or remote workforce but still doesn’t have a unified communication strategy? Then it is the best time to adopt one or else you will be left behind. A unified communication tool is the best way to connect your remote team and increase employee productivity. Creating a flexible workplace through a unified communication tool is also key to retaining and attracting the best talent.
As part of the communication strategy, companies should implement a unified communication system to reduce distractions and stress related to mindless searching and utilize the time for other productive work. This makes a strong case for implementing an application that connects multiple communication channels. That is what Clariti does. Clariti offers a sophisticated solution that is tailored to the unique needs of teams and businesses. By bringing all subject-specific chats to one place, Clariti combines all your communications and makes your communication faster by eliminating the need to search for information across communication silos.
Additionally, it brings major benefits to team members in terms of providing greater context and increasing productivity across the enterprise by making it easier for users to collaborate without having to search for those conversations scattered across many different platforms. Bottom line: Clariti gives teams and businesses an efficient way of managing their day-to-day communication needs, brings better context and bolstered efficiency into the fold – thereby helping individuals maximize their skills and deliver well on their work fronts.
You can sign up now and reap all the above benefits of a unified communications solution. Clariti is web-based, so there is nothing to download or install. Clariti has a simple on-boarding process where you can configure your email, add contacts and experience the power of connected apps within a few minutes. The best part of Clariti is it’s free!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of unified communications?
Unified communications refer to the merging of a company’s various communication methods, including phone systems, email accounts, video conferencing, instant messaging and text messaging. This can effectively streamline business operations by allowing personnel on any device to connect with each other and remain accessible at all times.
Furthermore, unified communications can be cost efficient since it requires less hardware and fewer service providers than traditional communication networks. In addition, it offers enhanced collaboration between employees, customers and partners by providing an extra layer of visibility that offers up-to-date insight into any project. Businesses no longer have to invest in separate solutions for data sharing or find alternate ways to communicate; unified communications provide a complete package of interconnectivity between teams that makes working together simpler and more efficient.
What are the 3 main components of unified communications?
Unifying communications has become increasingly important in a time where businesses rely so heavily on technology. Unified communications involve a suite of applications that work together to ensure streamlined communication between organizations, employees, and customers.
The three main components of unified communications are video conferencing, voice calling, and instant messaging; components which all combine to provide an enhanced user experience with increased agility and visibility. Unified communication solutions integrate systems such as VoIP (Voice over IP) phones and softphone software, email platforms and calendars, into one single comprehensive system that works across multiple devices and platforms making it easier than ever for organizations to keep up with their customers.
What is meant by unified communications?
Unified communications are the integration and synchronization of multiple communication methods, including audio conferencing, video conferencing, telecommunications, instant messaging and more. This type of unified platform enhances productivity by allowing users to streamline workflows across different devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
Rates of collaboration and information exchange are greatly increased with the use of unified communications, bridging geographic distances and enabling real-time data access. The ability to have one consolidated system allows businesses to create better customer experiences while reducing operational costs and improving employee satisfaction. Unified communications are revolutionizing how people communicate both within organizations and outside them.
What are the benefits of a UCaaS solution?
A UCaaS solution offers a wealth of benefits for organizations that are looking to streamline their communications, collaboration, and customer service functions. Not only does it enable businesses to access an all-in-one cloud-based platform for these activities, but it also decreases operating costs by eliminating infrastructure expenses as well as reducing acquisition and maintenance costs.
It is also easily scalable to accommodate changes in user or social trends, allowing organizations to efficiently handle growth without the need to acquire additional hardware or software. Furthermore, UCaaS leverages existing technologies while bringing new interoperability and ease of use that enhances staff productivity and efficiency when using the platform. All in all, UCaaS brings immense opportunities for organizations to improve their customer experiences while cutting operational costs at the same time.
How do unified communications contribute to collaboration?
Unified communications enable people to collaborate in fast and effective ways across multiple devices and platforms. They promote connectedness among users, allowing people to connect even when they are located in different countries.
Thanks to a range of diverse technologies such as video conferencing, instant messaging or voice-over-IP, these systems provide users with seamless sharing of data and documents which further facilitate efficient collaboration between teams. Unequivocally, unified communication systems have an incredibly important role in maximizing the productivity of distributed teams while ensuring quality communication among team members.
Recent Articles
Recent Blogs
Recent Posts
