Defining Unified Communications and Its Benefits
As a business leader responsible for your company’s technology strategy, choosing the right unified communications provider is a critical decision. With so many options and factors to weigh, it can be daunting to select a partner that aligns with your unique business needs and goals. Taking the time to carefully evaluate providers based on your requirements around features, integration, reliability and costs will pay dividends. Take an objective view of your current workflows, pain points and growth plans as you research providers. Solicit feedback from stakeholders across business units to gain perspective. By approaching this process methodically, you’ll be equipped to make the best choice for your organization both now and in the future.
Key Criteria for Evaluating Unified Communications Providers
Unified communications (UC) refers to the integration of real-time and non real-time communication services such as:
– Instant messaging (IM)
– Presence information
– Voice (including IP telephony)
– Mobility features
– Audio, web & video conferencing
– Voicemail
– SMS
– Fax
– Enterprise social software
UC enables accessing multiple collaborative applications through a single interface and device. This leads to substantial benefits for your business:
– Improved productivity and efficiency – Employees can access communications and collaborate anytime, anywhere, through their preferred device.
– Reduced costs – UC systems utilize a single network instead of multiple infrastructures for each application. This eliminates redundant hardware, maintenance, and support costs.
– Enhanced customer service – Integrated systems mean faster, more seamless communications across channels like voice, email, web chat etc.
– Increased agility – UC systems are cloud-based, scalable and make adding new apps or devices simple. This supports business growth and changing needs.
– Better user experiences – Intuitive interfaces with presence, unified messaging, and seamless switching between modalities improves ease-of-use.
Clearly defining UC and weighing the multitude of advantages will help determine if a UC solution is the right fit for your business needs and priorities. The flexibility and scalability of UC systems enable configuring the ideal customized package for your company.
Comparing the Top Unified Communications Platforms
When selecting a unified communications provider for your business, focus on these key criteria:
– Integration and compatibility. Ensure their solution will integrate with your existing business systems and support your preferred platforms. Look for providers that offer open APIs.
– Reliability and uptime. The provider should offer a service level agreement (SLA) guaranteeing 99.999% or higher uptime. Check reviews about downtime and outages.
– Call quality. Confirm they can deliver clear, high-quality audio and video calls consistently across devices. Test their service firsthand.
– Features and functionality. Evaluate which calling, conferencing, collaboration and other tools they provide out-of-the-box. Ensure their offerings match your needs.
– Security. They should use enterprise-grade security, encryption and redundancy across their network and services. Ask about third-party security audits.
– Scalability. The solution should easily scale as your business grows in size and complexity. Look for flexible user and deployment options.
– Customer support. Check response times and support channels like phone, email and chat. Look for 24/7 support availability.
– Pricing and contract terms. Compare monthly fees, implementation costs and contract terms across providers. Watch for hidden fees.
Selecting the right unified communications provider is crucial for empowering collaboration, enhancing productivity and streamlining operations across your business. Evaluating vendors thoroughly on these key criteria will help you make the optimal choice.
