How unified communications helps when email isn’t enough anymore

Other technologies have developed in recent years, but email remains one of the top correspondence solutions for business.

By 2019, the number of worldwide business emails sent and received daily is expected to reach nearly 129 billion—with individuals dealing with an average of 126 business emails each day. Email takes up 2.5 hours of each workday on average.

But email isn’t the only communication system employees use. Your team members also manage phone calls, video conferences and other platforms.

A unified communications solution can improve team efficiency by bringing these systems together to make business correspondence more integrated and consistent. These advantages can help your team get more accomplished, take advantage of mobile accessibility, collaborate more seamlessly and stay competitive.

The following are specific, practical ways unified communications can improve your team’s effectiveness well beyond email alone.

1. Receive voicemail as an email

Using your phone system to access messages can be convenient. Until you have to listen to one message multiple times just to catch all the details. Then voicemail becomes the bane of your existence.

Integrated voicemail—a standard offering with more unified communication systems—makes dealing with messages so much easier. In addition to an audio recording, you’ll also receive transcripts via email. At a glance, you’ll know who called and why. You can even opt to get text message transcripts.

2. Replace in-person meetings with virtual conferences

43% of U.S. employees spend at least some time working remotely, and teams are getting increasingly global. Bringing all these team members together for in-person meetings and collaborative sessions can be time-consuming. Not to mention expensive.

Unified communications that include video conferencing can make it more convenient and cost-effective to collaborate across distances, with minimal disruption to the workday.

3. Integrate business process and reporting applications

Compiling information from multiple sources to create a report or make business decisions can be time-consuming—and can result in errors and mistakes. Bringing these systems together under a unified communications program makes it easy to access and analyze information.

Not only will your organization be able to work quickly, but this integration can make it easier to highlight important trends and business insights.

4. Enable more productivity on mobile

Along with a remote workforce, organizations continually feel the need to be productive on the go in order to stay competitive. A mobile communications strategy within a unified system empowers remote and traveling employees.

Not only can they check in with the team more easily, but they can also access important business tools right from their smartphones. That prevents delays due to lack of communication.

5. Save training time with unified communication

Multiple communication channels are not only a headache for IT to manage, but it also means your employees spend more time learning different systems and tools.

Unified communication tools significantly reduce the learning curve and training time, getting team members on board and communicating more quickly.

Conclusion

While important, email is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to a communications platform. Your organization needs more to be successful and competitive in today’s market.

By embracing a unified communications solution, your team can be more productive. Harness the power of a more consistent experience and greater flexibility for collaborating from anywhere.

For more information on how unified communications could help your organization boost productivity by moving beyond email, get in touch with your managed IT services provider.