July 14, 2023
Following our last article introducing the concept of Unified Communications, this article aims to explore more of the detail around specific features & functionality.
As we explained, Unified Communications is basically the convergence of various communication methods and technologies. Whilst individually these are not new technologies, very few providers can actually provide all of them under one easy to manage platform.
This ‘convergence’ can assist all constituent parts within a business. For example, accounts, marketing, sales and IT departments can be more efficient by integrating with leading CRM providers and Social media platforms.
As we explained, Unified Communications is basically the convergence of various communication methods and technologies. Whilst individually these are not new technologies, very few providers can actually provide all of them under one easy to manage platform.
This ‘convergence’ can assist all constituent parts within a business. For example, accounts, marketing, sales and IT departments can be more efficient by integrating with leading CRM providers and Social media platforms.
Telephony
A core part of communication for any business is still the telephone. Cloud based systems are becoming the preferred solutions for most businesses, as they deliver flexibility, security and are feature rich, providing functionalities that traditionally would have only been available to the enterprise market. These are now increasingly being delivered as a service with no upfront costs. Below are some key features you should expect to have included.
- Inclusive UK landlines and mobiles (International bundles available)
- Auto attendant
- Music/messaging on-hold
- Advanced call forwarding
- Call recording
- Extension dialing between all locations and employees
- Hunt groups
- Direct dial telephone numbers
- Personalised voicemail
- Voicemail notification by email
- Caller ID with name
- Caller ID blocking
- Call forwarding/waiting/transfer
- Call park, 3-way calling, do not disturb (DND)
- User friendly online dashboard
Presence Management
No matter where in the world your users are, presence management enables staff to know if their colleagues are available, busy or in meeting etc. It will show a status next to the users name in the address book. In addition a user may have the ability to add a personalised note to say “I am going to be in a meeting from 13:00 – 13:45, I will be available after this time” etc.
With a traditional phone system it’s quite likely you would have no idea if someone is available or even at their desk, so a great deal of unnecessary internal calls are made, simply to establish if someone is available.
Presence management may sound like a very simple feature, but it can save a great deal of time and wasted calls.
Messaging / Chat Instant messaging and chat has been around for a long time via third party offerings. Of course many of these sit outside of the business from a management point of view, which then raises security concerns for businesses. Having an instant messaging platform where your business has full control, delivers high levels of security with all conversations kept in an archive. With these features your business really can improve the way it communicates.
Corporate messaging helps an organisation in a number of different ways. Instant messaging is similar to text messages on mobiles, short messages can be sent rather than longer less efficient phone calls.
By using messaging people can dispense with the ‘pleasantries’ so to speak, asking very quick short questions, which might normally be considered rude.
As another example, you may have an important customer on the phone wanting to talk to somebody in another building, however they are on the phone; messaging enables you to communicate with them to advise they have an important call holding for them. Traditionally this would likely have been achieved by trying to reach a colleague in the same building who would then communicate this to them.
With a traditional phone system it’s quite likely you would have no idea if someone is available or even at their desk, so a great deal of unnecessary internal calls are made, simply to establish if someone is available.
Presence management may sound like a very simple feature, but it can save a great deal of time and wasted calls.
Messaging / Chat Instant messaging and chat has been around for a long time via third party offerings. Of course many of these sit outside of the business from a management point of view, which then raises security concerns for businesses. Having an instant messaging platform where your business has full control, delivers high levels of security with all conversations kept in an archive. With these features your business really can improve the way it communicates.
Corporate messaging helps an organisation in a number of different ways. Instant messaging is similar to text messages on mobiles, short messages can be sent rather than longer less efficient phone calls.
By using messaging people can dispense with the ‘pleasantries’ so to speak, asking very quick short questions, which might normally be considered rude.
As another example, you may have an important customer on the phone wanting to talk to somebody in another building, however they are on the phone; messaging enables you to communicate with them to advise they have an important call holding for them. Traditionally this would likely have been achieved by trying to reach a colleague in the same building who would then communicate this to them.
Video and Audio Conferencing
Video and Audio conferencing, is simply a way of communicating with an audience using the internet.
This could be used internally or externally for various reasons, such as chairing a meeting, delivering training or product demonstrations using screen sharing, or even project meetings with a mixture of clients and staff participating.
This enables meetings to take place regardless of the staff/customer locations, saving on travelling and time costs, and helping to maximise productivity.
Today there is more diversity than ever before in the way businesses are structured, with many having clients and teams across multiple sites as well as home workers.
Meetings requiring participation from various individuals traditionally could be difficult to organise, particularly when you consider that the time out of the office would vary for each individual based on location. This would result in lost productivity, travel costs and possibly even accommodation costs.
Therefore, being able to quickly and easily schedule an online meeting with a simple invite is extremely beneficial to businesses today.
Everyone within an online meeting can see and communicate with each other. As a host your can share your desktop (or give permission for other users to do the same), making this an ideal solution for training or team collaboration. Private messaging is also available within a meeting, allowing individuals to share information or ask questions that may not be appropriate for all participants to see.
Mobile Applications
Mobile applications are key to delivering flexibility. You no longer need to be stationed at your desk to be part of the system.
Apps are available for mobile devices, tablets and computers, which means that no matter where you are, your colleagues can still reach you as if you were sitting in the office at your desk on your own extension number.
Basically mobile devices can access a cloud based phone system, via a data tariff or any internet connection.
Effectively this means that businesses no longer need to be tied to a location or a physical piece of expensive, ‘on premise’ hardware.
Apart from the obvious increased flexibility, this also delivers a full zero downtime Disaster Recovery plan for your communication platform. Should the office be struck by a disaster, or more likely declare a snow day, all users would still be able to answer the calls and continue communicating both internally and externally, just as if they were in the office via the App, software or web browser.
This could be used internally or externally for various reasons, such as chairing a meeting, delivering training or product demonstrations using screen sharing, or even project meetings with a mixture of clients and staff participating.
This enables meetings to take place regardless of the staff/customer locations, saving on travelling and time costs, and helping to maximise productivity.
Today there is more diversity than ever before in the way businesses are structured, with many having clients and teams across multiple sites as well as home workers.
Meetings requiring participation from various individuals traditionally could be difficult to organise, particularly when you consider that the time out of the office would vary for each individual based on location. This would result in lost productivity, travel costs and possibly even accommodation costs.
Therefore, being able to quickly and easily schedule an online meeting with a simple invite is extremely beneficial to businesses today.
Everyone within an online meeting can see and communicate with each other. As a host your can share your desktop (or give permission for other users to do the same), making this an ideal solution for training or team collaboration. Private messaging is also available within a meeting, allowing individuals to share information or ask questions that may not be appropriate for all participants to see.
Mobile Applications
Mobile applications are key to delivering flexibility. You no longer need to be stationed at your desk to be part of the system.
Apps are available for mobile devices, tablets and computers, which means that no matter where you are, your colleagues can still reach you as if you were sitting in the office at your desk on your own extension number.
Basically mobile devices can access a cloud based phone system, via a data tariff or any internet connection.
Effectively this means that businesses no longer need to be tied to a location or a physical piece of expensive, ‘on premise’ hardware.
Apart from the obvious increased flexibility, this also delivers a full zero downtime Disaster Recovery plan for your communication platform. Should the office be struck by a disaster, or more likely declare a snow day, all users would still be able to answer the calls and continue communicating both internally and externally, just as if they were in the office via the App, software or web browser.