The Advantages of Unified Communications for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

World-renowned author and former Presidential speechwriter, James C. Humes, once stated that “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” This sentiment couldn’t be more relatable for business leaders and managers today. Essentially, businesses are run by communicating with employees and teams in a comprehensive and cohesive manner. Without secure collaboration and a seamless flow of communication, even the simplest of tasks take much longer.?

Here’s a situation we've all experienced at some point. You’re working against the clock, trying to meet a deadline, and you need to connect with an employee who has the final bit of the deliverable. You dial her desk line but there’s no response. Turns out, she has the left office for a few minutes because you couldn’t reach her on the intercom as well. You don’t get any replies to text messages and emails. Finally, you get a response from her a couple of hours later. Meanwhile, though, you’ve already wasted a lot of time and the task gets pushed back unnecessarily.?

To fill in the gaps of communication, implementing a Unified Communications System is the most effective way to go. UC reap multiple long-term benefits for businesses of all sizes. UC platforms enable clearer, faster and productive interactions, paving the way for successful collaboration among teams and employees.??

How does UC work?

Typically, UC equips you with the right tools to handle all your communications in one single cloud-based server. Using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), UC integrates seamlessly with digital communication technologies such as video-conferencing and instant messaging. This way, you can manage your calls over the internet and deliver excellent customer service while you’re at it.???

Let’s look at some of the key benefits of Unified Communications (UC) for small and medium-sized businesses.???

1. Increased Flexibility?

Since a large number of small to medium-sized companies opt for a hybrid working style, ensuring proper communication and collaboration while working remotely is crucial. UC allows you to access digital files across a slew of devices including laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. This enables employees to cater to clients and customers in real-time from anywhere, instantly.?

2. Enhanced Productivity??

A unified communication system is packed with user-friendly features such as call routing, auto attendants, call forwarding, IVR system, and so much more. These tools ensure customers are tended to in a timely manner. Evidently, UC helps small to medium-sized teams reduce delayed response times and boost customer experience.??

3. Real-time Data?

Using this feature of UC will give you real-time information about your customers as well as employees. This data includes contact and location information. With UC’s real-time analytics, team leaders can obtain useful insights to make informed business decisions.?

4. Cost-effectiveness?

Small to medium-sized businesses often prefer to eliminate on-site hardware costs and travel expenses. Since UC is an integrated, cloud-based communication system, a single UC server will enable employees to make and receive calls over the internet. Thus, reducing phone bills and travel costs.?

5. Enhanced efficiency?

With UC’s AI tools and features, employees and managers can choose to automate several processes to reduce human intervention.? With the help of features such as automatic call distribution, voicemail, click to call, and more, team members can free-up time for other important tasks.??

One often assumes that UC doesn’t carry much weight for small to medium-sized businesses as they have a lesser number of employees on their payroll. On the contrary, SMEs with limited staff and a remote workforce benefit immensely from UC.?

According to a recent report, small and medium-sized enterprises comprise the largest and fastest-growing segment of the UC market since 2021. This indicates that an increasing number of SMEs are adopting unified communications to stay ahead of their competition. Do you use unified communications in your business? If yes, share your unique UC experiences with us and tell us how it has worked for your business.??