Unified communications (UC) emerged as a must-have technology during the pandemic. The latest global survey from Statista reveals that still 73% of employees want remote work options to remain after the pandemic. With the remote work trend expected to continue in the long run in the form of hybrid work, cloud-based unified communication tools will continue to play a crucial role in day-to-day business events.
Companies already using this technology will have an edge over others due to the considerable cost and time savings. This blog will help companies looking for the right unified communications technology to get started.
What are unified communications?
With unified communications, all your employees can access your business communication tools like emails, calls, chats, screen sharing, to-dos etc, through a single internet-based platform. It’s one user interface for everything. Unified communication streamlines your internal communication, saves time, and enables more effective collaboration.
Why are unified communication tools so popular today?
When the pandemic forced millions of people to work from home, companies were looking for tools to help their remote workforce collaborate from anywhere and keep them connected and productive. Unified communications products provide the perfect solution. Since now employees are unwilling to give up the luxury and flexibility of working from home, many companies have indicated an openness to embrace hybrid work.
It is expected that nine out of ten organizations will use a hybrid work model going forward. To meet this demand, companies need unified communication tools, which is crucial for remote work. Unified communication tools help users with real-time responses, easy collaboration, and seamless workflow.
According to Precedence Research, the global unified communications market size is expected to hit around US$ 385.21 billion by 2030 and grow at a CAGR of 18% from 2022 to 2030.
How to access unified communication tools?
Most of the unified communications and collaboration tools are offered through software as a service (SaaS) solution that anybody can access from anywhere through a browser and internet connection. Your unified communications service provider will host the application in secure data centers like Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure. As a buyer, you need not worry about installing, hosting or maintaining the application using expensive servers.
The vendor takes responsibility for software upgrades, network maintenance, support and guaranteed uptime. Since the vendor maintains the application, you don’t need an internal IT team to manage the application. You only need to pay for the subscriptions based on users.
How does unified communications work?
Most of the unified communications and collaboration tools are web-based, allowing users to create an account instantly. Once the account is created, users can add contacts, configure emails, chat in real-time, send and receive files, make or receive calls, screen share, create events, get reminders etc. With the help of a good internet connection, your entire remote workforce can connect virtually from anywhere to collaborate using advanced conferencing technology.
For all the unified communication products (tools), voice data is transmitted over the internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, allowing users to use the tool from anywhere. For most unified communication products (tools), the basic version comes free, while you may have to pay some premium for certain advanced features.
What hardware do you need to get started?
Unlike on-premises applications that require investment in hardware like PBX, phones for every desk, on-site storage space, costly servers and specialized IT staff to maintain them, there is no upfront investment involved with unified communications. They are compatible with your existing desktops or smartphones, and there’s no need to buy new systems or applications.
How long does the setup process take?
One of the key benefits of unified communications is they are cloud-based and there is no installation or setup required. There is no downtime needed, and onboarding is effortless. Users can simply log in using their system and start using it after a simple registration process.
Isn't using cloud-based phones more expensive?
All the unified communication tools use VoIP, which will result in huge savings. When you make calls internet-based communication tools, you no longer need traditional phone systems like PBX, which is often accompanied by a set of related systems such as voice mail, interactive voice response, call accounting, administration consoles etc.
Companies can also gain from lower mobile phone bills that would otherwise cost you around $100 per active user per month and can be more significant for international calls. According to reports, businesses in the US that switched to unified communication tools witnessed at least a 36% drop in average per-line phone bill costs.
What should you look for in a unified communication service provider?
- Your service provider should be able to guarantee an uptime of more than 99%.
- Your service provider should have built-in mechanisms to encrypt the information passed on via the network, ensuring security.
- Your service provider must ensure interoperability which increases the usability and adaptability of the product.
- Your service provider should provide your assurance on business continuity and protect you against server crashes or natural disasters.
- Your service provider should be willing to provide you with a free trial so that you and your team can evaluate and get a better idea about the product.
- Your service provider should be able to provide 24/7 customer support to troubleshoot your problems.
- Your service provider should be capable of scaling your team size and onboarding new users quickly to keep pace with the ever-changing business dynamics.
Clariti as unified communication software
Clariti is one of the best unified communication software that brings all your emails, chats, calls, shared files, social feeds, and tasks in a single app and links related conversations in Workspaces. Organizations implementing a unified communication software solution like Clariti enjoy the benefits of having all their systems work together smoothly and securely to enable effective collaboration.
Clariti lets you take full advantage of all the benefits that unified communication software offer. Using Clariti, if you realize an issue that requires a quicker response, you can switch to chat or voice call with just a click of a button; you don’t’ have to switch devices, applications or jump to any other rooms or channels.
Some of the top unified communication features in Clariti include:
- Clariti provides access to all communication channels, including email, voice calling, screen sharing, group messaging and file sharing for the entire team from a single application.
- Using Clariti, your team members can collaborate at any time and place.
- In Clariti, you can configure multiple email accounts. There is no need to use different email clients.
- Clariti helps companies save time and money by eliminating the need for multiple apps.
- Clariti encourages real-time communication with various stakeholders through preferred channels like text messaging, live chat, or call.
- Clariti allows you to make and receive unlimited audio calls without installing additional apps.
- Clariti supports screen sharing, which is crucial for IT troubleshooting, team meetings, training, demonstrations etc. Clariti allows you to have audio calling and screen sharing simultaneously.
- Clariti provides integrations with all the major cloud storage drives such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, pCloud and Mega so that team members can drag and drop files into a team chat from anywhere and there is no need to carry files and documents separately wherever they go.
- Clariti has both calendars and scheduling services. You don’t need separate tools for creating to-dos or events.
- Clariti provides multiple options for messaging, including direct chat and group chat.
- Clariti easily integrates with other tools your business is already using, like HubSpot and GitHub or other social media software like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Hootsuite.
- Typically like any other unified communication tool, even small businesses can see a workplace productivity boost of up to 52% when they use Clariti.
Conclusion
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. 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 companies, subscribing to a unified communication solution is the best way to streamline these communications and collaboration tools, and improve team productivity. There are a host of benefits waiting for businesses that are planning to implement an all-in-one communication tool like Clariti for their teams. Clariti lets you take full advantage of all the benefits that unified communication software offer.
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