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Unified communications: Top advantages for SMBs

Unified communications: Top advantages for SMBs

If you want to streamline your company’s operations, unified communications (UC) might be the solution you’re searching for. UC offers numerous benefits to your business’s information system, many of which you may not know. In this article, we highlight how your business can harness cost-effective UC solutions to drive growth.

Unified communications defined

Unified communications refers to the consolidation of various communication tools within a single platform. UC encompasses a variety of communication mediums, ranging from traditional voice communication methods, such as voicemail, phone calls, and voice memos to modern multimedia services such as video chat and web conferencing. 

Additionally, UC facilitates real-time communication functionalities, such as call screening and call conferencing. What’s more, data services and transactions, such as eCommerce and online banking, can be incorporated into a UC system’s framework.

How small businesses can benefit from unified communications

The primary advantage of UC for businesses lies in its ability to enhance communication and collaboration among employees. With UC, you gain a comprehensive and adaptable infrastructure that simplifies and improves business communications while effectively managing all related components.

Here are the additional benefits of implementing a UC system:

1. Enhanced mobility

With UC, your team enjoys access to files across various mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets. This capability enables seamless office setup and customer assistance from any location, fostering real-time collaboration opportunities and supporting remote work.

2. Increased efficiency

UC empowers employees to be more efficient at communication primarily via productivity-boosting communication features, such as call information and routing. Features such as web and video conferencing facilitate immediate interactions and enhance collaboration. Moreover, UC helps reduce response delays and bridge communication gaps among dispersed teams.

3. Enhanced data analysis

Data analytics plays a crucial role in informed decision-making for businesses, and UC plays a vital role in this regard. UC platforms provide direct access to advanced data analytics, which, in turn, enables your organization to generate insightful business reports and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Moreover, access to advanced data analytics facilitates a deeper understanding of your customer base. With client data readily available to your entire team, it ensures quicker and more personalized customer service interactions.

4. Instant updates

UC offers a real-time presence update feature where users can share their location and contact details (with permission). This facilitates easy communication with the appropriate person when needed.

5. Centralized contact

Defined contact points ensure stakeholders can reach you through various channels such as email, phone, and SMS, regardless of whether they contact you via a softphone, IP phone, email, or instant messaging.

6. Cost savings

More often than not, reliance on stand-alone communications results in duplication of applications. Apart from the inefficiency of managing numerous tools, it results in unnecessary expenditure due to overlapping applications. 

UC reduces phone expenses by utilizing internet-based calling. It also minimizes the requirement for costly on-site hardware, as a single UC server enables connectivity for all users through various communication tools. Additionally, it eliminates travel expenses by enabling remote participation in meetings from home or the office. 

UC has become the modern-day standard for business communications. If you want to explore how UC or VoIP can revolutionize your business, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to address your inquiries and assist you in developing an integration plan tailored to your business requirements.