Now more than ever, businesses need to keep their teams connected. Not everyone is working in the office right now and this is likely going to be the case for the foreseeable future, so it is absolutely crucial that businesses make sure that their whole team can still stay in touch and communicate effectively. Thankfully, there is a lot of technology out there to help with this, and one of the most tried and true ways to promote teamwork and collaboration throughout your business is through a Unified Communications platform.
Unified Communications is software that links together all of your office phone and productivity services in one easy-to-use app. By connecting your ability to call via both voice and video, with instant messaging and file sharing software, your team gain better access to the services they need quickly alongside a user-friendly interface. This all sounds great but how exactly does this service benefit businesses on a wider scale than just being a simple convenience? The answer lies in its uses as a platform for collaboration and its ability to positively impact your customer service.
Presence:
Being able to communicate simply and efficiently using Unified Communications is an easy way to boost teamwork amongst your staff, this is important to creating a better working environment and doubly so if you have remote staff who can’t always be in the office. One of the most crucial ways that UC can enhance teamwork is through its ability to give your team a persistent digital ‘presence’.
With a Unified Communications system, your staff can display their status, whether they are on a call, busy or available to talk, so your whole team know exactly who they can go to at any time to collaborate with or help with a customer query. This process of setting your status to create a digital presence is a simple but proven way to create a better environment for teamwork throughout your business. It also massively benefits remote workers, who are no longer held back by not knowing which of their colleagues are free to communicate at any time.
Accessible Features:
One of the other ways that UC benefits collaboration is through the sheer number of features it can offer your team, no matter where they’re working. From video conferencing to file sharing and editing, having all these features being available and instantly accessible through one easy-to-use interface can be a massive boost for businesses.
Video conferencing especially is absolutely essential to creating a flexible working environment, providing your team an effective alternative to face-to-face contact even when you’re working from home. UC combines this functionality with other services such as instant messaging to create a more streamlined collaborative experience. For example, if you are on a video call with customers and colleagues, you can use instant messaging to quickly check in with your team and make sure that any customer questions are answered quickly and efficiently. This can all be handled through your UC interface.
Facilitate Remote Work:
Having members of your team working from home is a reality that most businesses won’t be able to avoid. Therefore, it is essential that you take steps to make sure that their user experience is not held back by this change of scenery. Adopting a Unified Communications system is one of the most simple and beneficial moves you could make here. Give your remote workers access to all of the communication tools that they would expect from their office phone system. Delivering these tools through an intuitive interface that suits them can be vital to creating a positive work environment and allows them to work at their best.
The features we have already discussed all come together to benefit remote workers and keeps them on level playing field with the rest of your team. UC’s presence system means that they know which of their colleagues are available to collaborate. All communication tools being accessible in one place means that whether they are making calls, answering customer queries or working on documents with their colleagues, your staff are never at a disadvantage.
Benefit your Customer Service Process:
Far from just being a convenience for your team, Unified Communications can also massively benefit your customer service process. The presence system means that you can make sure that customers access the support they need quickly and from the right person. Assisting your customers is a quick and simple process if your team can communicate easily and as we’ve hopefully shown UC is the premium service for facilitating this.
From sales to technical support, a UC app works alongside every stage of the customer experience to help your team provide a more professional service. Your sales team no longer has to rely on your office phone system to communicate effectively with customers, they can access the services they need whilst on the go. Being able to access easy video conferencing can also be essential to maintaining a face-to-face relationship with customers if you can’t meet in person. UC allows you to create an effective customer service experience, no matter where your team are working from.
All of this should demonstrate just how versatile a Unified Communications system can be for your business. It enhances every communication process that your team goes through, connecting remote workers along the way. At Network Communications Group, we can offer your business a range of UC solutions that are both functional and cost-effective. Find out more today.
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