Think of the alternative. Do you really want communications that aren’t unified?
It’s a bit of a no-brainer – but what do we actually mean when we talk about Unified Communications (UC)?
As always, a good place to start is the modern font of all information – Wikipedia, which defines UC as: “Communications integrated to optimise business processes and increase user productivity.”
For us, UC means that every communications tool in your business is seamlessly connected. This includes all telephony, email, texts, video and whichever business software you use, for example, project management, CRM or workflow tools.
We call it the unbroken circle for everything regarding telecommunications – as easy to use as turning on a tap or flicking a light switch.
Isn’t everything connected anyway?
Not so long ago the concept of UC was seen as a game changer, but it’s no longer a revolutionary idea. Many of the tools which turned the business world upside down are now taken for granted.
UC first gained traction back in the mid-1990s, when people started to understand the incredible opportunities offered by the internet. Until then, notions such as video conferencing were only found in Sci-Fi movies.
It was no wonder that UC created such excitement, and possibilities grew with the exponential growth in innovation, from mobile phones to satellite tracking.
Technologies have evolved at breakneck speed. It is hard to believe that the iPhone did not exist before 2007. It was recently calculated that an iPhone has over 100,000 times the processing power of the computer on board Apollo 11, the spacecraft that landed a man on the moon in 1969.
It is not just the processing power of a smartphone that impresses. It is the breadth and innovation of the apps and features. In February 2021, approximately 88.5 thousand mobile apps were released through the Google Play Store alone – and that was the quietest month for new releases for two years!
So perhaps, with so much innovation and creativity at our hands, the notion of integrating features does not sound exactly revolutionary in 2021. Which begs the question – why are we still so passionate about UC?
Making technology work for you
It’s okay having access to so much technology, but the modern-day problem is now that we actually have too much. The options are overwhelming and confusing.
To illustrate, a simple search on Google shows the magnitude of choice. By typing in “business software solutions”, Google supplied “About 2,340,000,000 results.” How do you know which one works best for you?!
That’s where we come in. We can’t claim to have checked out over 2 billion Google search results, but we do know how to build a comms package, which is fully integrated and is designed to provide cost, efficiency and time benefits for your business. Unified Communications made for you.
A smartphone on its own is a hugely impressive feat of invention and innovation. We take for granted everyday features such as being able to discover locations of our friends or colleagues, or instant video call. But a UC package offers so much more.
Firstly, it offers scalability. Yes, smartphones are great, but how do you efficiently connect the needs of ten employees, let alone 50 or 200? Personal phone contracts are fine for individuals. For a business, a robust large-scale integrated solution is not just desirable, it is essential.
Secondly, you need an intelligent system that connects your team in the most efficient way. A leading industry website makes the valuable point that it is usually humans that slow everything down:
“One of the key goals of business process integration is to eliminate “human latency” – a business process stalled by the need to wait for human input or communication. In many business processes today, work comes to a standstill until someone can provide the information needed to proceed to the next step.”
When everything is connected, information is instantly at hand.
Thirdly, is the benefit of making the most of incredible technology. There is only one way that UC can be used to its full potential – and that is by creating a solution that is relevant to the business.
Right answers need the right questions
At Rubix, we take the time to ask the right questions to truly understand your organisation.
We want to know:
- What is the mission and vision of the business?
- How do you work now?
- What works well?
- Where are the bottlenecks and pain points?
- How many people work in the organisation?
- Where do your staff members work?
- What are your growth plans?
- Can you imagine your perfect working environment?
We live in exciting times. Never have we had so much amazing technology available to help us at work.
Take your communications to the next level
In isolation, there are some amazing tools that can be implemented. But if the technology is connected and unified for the maximum benefit of the business, you will take your communications to a whole new level.
Check out the Rubix jargon-free guide to Hosted Telephony
