Unified communications refers to software that provides calling, collaboration, meetings, and messaging within a single application to simplify and improve interactions. As organizations continue to invest in technology to support a distributed workforce, unified communications will become even more essential. Below are the top eight benefits of unified communications:

1. Flexibility and Mobility

One of the best benefits of unified communications is the flexibility it provides users. A unified communications platform enables users to stay connected and productive from anywhere and with any device. This ability can quickly become a competitive advantage, as employees can choose how they collaborate and do so in real time. No longer do employees need to be tied to a desk phone to make or receive calls. A unified communications solution allows you to make or take calls, join meetings, listen to voicemail, chat, and more from anywhere providing greater mobility and flexibility to users.

2. Scalability

Because unified communications platforms are often cloud-based, they will scale to accommodate growth and changing needs as your organization evolves. Whether adding new users, locations, or changing permissions, unified communications platforms make it easy to update functionality as business needs change.

Additionally, how your teams communicate and collaborate may change over time, as some employees may want to work from home, while others may want to work from the office or take a hybrid approach. Legacy phone systems don’t always make it easy to accommodate these changes. The benefits of unified communications make it possible to scale your business and evolve with changing business needs, while maintaining a high-level of performance and productivity.

3. Cost Savings

While unified communications platforms offer better functionality and performance over legacy phone systems, there are also business benefits that help the bottom line. One of the most important benefits of unified communications is the cost savings it provides. Often companies will see substantial savings by consolidating multiple communication tools and services into a single, unified platform. The amount will vary depending on your company’s location, number of employees, and industry. There are a couple of factors that impact cost savings:

• Reduced equipment and maintenance costs: a unified communications platform eliminates the need to invest in multiple systems, maintenance, and service providers to support communications. Because unified communications platforms can be deployed in the cloud, the time and resources needed to maintain the system are drastically decreased, freeing up your staff to work on other projects.
• Reduced travel time and expenses: Because the UC platform enables connectivity and productivity from anywhere at any time and with any device, what was once essential travel may not be necessary anymore. Additionally, those employees who may have had long commutes to be productive in the office can now maintain productivity and connectivity while at home, in the office, or in transit.

4. Enhanced Collaboration

The collaboration benefits of unified communications platforms extend beyond what your typical phone systems can offer. With cloud calling, video conferencing, meetings, messaging, file sharing, screen sharing, whiteboarding, and AI capabilities combined in a single platform, teams can collaborate on a whole new level. If your organization has a distributed workforce, collaboration can be difficult without the right tools. Unified communications solutions like UCx with Webex offers team collaboration that can help your team work more effectively to create new ideas.

5. Increased Productivity

With unified communications, users can leverage the device of their choice for calling, messaging, conferencing, and collaboration. By consolidating phone systems, communication tools, and collaboration apps, organizations can streamline processes to reduce time and effort your employees take switching between different applications. In today’s digital workplace, employees often must pivot between dozens of different applications and systems, but with a single unified communications solution, the user can leverage all the tools and functionality they need within a single app, improving productivity.

6. Streamlined Workflows

Unified communications can help streamline workflows playing a vital role in your team’s overall productivity. Unified communications platforms often offer integrations with other business applications and tools, such as project management systems, customer care systems, and customer relationship (CRM) systems so that you have access to your most important data when you need it most.

7. Improved Customer Experience

By transitioning to a unified communications platform, you are enabling employees to create better customer interactions. Because your communications for calling, messaging, meetings, and video conferencing are in a single application, businesses can provide customers with a seamless and consistent experience regardless of communication channel. Plus, integrations into popular CRM systems make it easy to provide effective communication to your customers, ultimately helping deliver on a better experience.

8. Business Continuity

Communication is a vital part of business today. You can’t afford for it to go down. A unified communications provides greater business continuity and uptime, especially when paired with an SD-WAN solution. When you have both solutions working in tandem, it helps ensure that in the event of a disaster or network outage, communication channels can remain operational, minimizing impact to your business operations.

Experience the Benefits of Unified Communications

UCx with Webex is an award-winning unified communications solution built using best-in-class technology to help transform the way your employees work. Get the best of collaboration, meetings, messaging, and enterprise VoIP in a single solution. Enable your team to do more with leading feature functionality. See the benefits of unified communications first-hand. Contact our sales team today to schedule a demo today.