As the trend to remote working accelerated, companies needed to find ways that enabled their employees to function without being constrained by fixed locations or the need to connect to physical hardware (servers) or wires (telephone lines). This movement has led to the development of some great software that revolves around solving the issue of remote communications or assisting with employee productivity and workflow.

What exactly is Unified Communication Systems as a service?

UCAAS refers to the systems that allow companies to access the tools they need for communication through a single application or service. So, a company can use many different applications from the same interface as below.

Requirements for Unified Communication Systems

Some of the most common requirements for a Communications Solution would be:

Messaging – The ability to quickly chat to each other in real time

Voice calling – Being able to call from any location on any device

Voice & video conferencing – Hosting effective multi person meetings and conversations when those participants are in different physical locations and possibly using different devices

File sharing – The ability to share and work on documents at the same time or as part of a workflow

These are just a few of the requirements. When you think about the above a whole host of software solutions spring to mind. For example, Skype is a form of voice calling or video calling software, amongst others from Microsoft Teams to Google Hangouts to Zoom just to name a few. In addition, there are hundreds of collaboration tools, for example Monday.com, Asana, Microsoft Teams. All of these solutions have their benefits but the issue with any set of communication tools is around their ease of use and the efficiency of using them or many tools to get the job done.

Why should I get a Unified Communication Systems for my business?

Ease of use and efficiency of using many tools to get the job done is where the concept of Unified Communications comes into play. Jumping from one software application to another and even from one device to another can be very taxing and often inefficient. This is where unification comes from and the need for UCAAS. Think of your telephony requirements, you would need to be able to make voice calls, chat using instant messaging, set up and attend conference calls or video conference calls. If you can do all of these things from one place, it would increase efficiency and decrease costs by having one solution, not many to get the job done.

In addition to having functionality and features in one place, you do not want the cost and hassle of having to buy and maintain fixed hardware. UCAAS solutions are hosted in the cloud, meaning there is no need for physical hardware or infrastructure to access those services.

Pairing operational efficiency with reduced maintenance costs is where the power of unified communications comes into play. The benefits of such solutions can be summarised as follows:

Productivity – Not just the removal of the need to jump between different software solutions and devices, you will see the benefit of being able to deploy a fully mobile workforce, without being constrained by physical locations or devices and hardware. This if embraced by organisations can realise massive increases in employee accountability, productivity and operation efficiency. You can read more about working from home technology in our recent article Working from home tools.

Agility & flexibility – UCAAS service providers should offer packages and features that can scale as your business needs and demands change over time. In the case of telephone services, that flexibility may go beyond the adding and removal of software services. It may also extend to physical equipment, for example conference phones that sit in boardrooms. Ideally, you should have the ability to rent such equipment as part of the service offering and add or remove devices as your business needs change.

Reduced costs – The removal of the need for fixed lines and physical servers comes with the removal of the need to outlay capital on buying the devices and removes the need of maintenance and support. Your service provider should have 1) a service level agreement 2) access to a support team who can help you troubleshoot and resolve any issues in a timely manner.

Video is the new voice

The move to remote working has always had some resistance with people saying that it’s just not the same as a face to face conversation. On a telephone call, it is harder to engage with the other caller and subtleties, like body language can get lost in translation. Collaboration is something that gets compromised without being able to sit together and chat, but this is now resolved using a combination of video calling and document sharing. Video calling and file sharing is therefore key to effective remote communications. Video calling one to one is also a very different animal to multi person video conferencing. So any communications solution needs a robust platform for effective multi-person video conferencing.

Mytelnet offers a full cloud-based telephony service which has been complimented with a bespoke communications platform. Our communications platform can integrate seamlessly with your existing telephony devices, such as your desk and conference phones.

We offer flexible, month-to-month packages removing the worry that comes with long-term contracts and offer your business the flexibility to scale up and down during uncertain times.

So, to get your teams fully connected no matter where they are, with a seamless cloud telephone solution. Start your free trial and be a part of the business communication revolution.

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