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Three reasons to shortlist UC in 2011
According to an article in Avnets' newsletter, the worst economic recession in generations is waning, and with the first uplift in IT spending predicted for 2011, companies are looking for ways to retain customers and attract new ones. Unified communications (UC) can create that business value now. Here are three reasons why a new UC system should be on your IT shortlist.
Whatever the business strategy, technology is a driving force, as technology continues to evolve from a keep-the-lights-on business unit into a core driver of business value. Unified communications (UC) is one technology that is helping organisations create business value now on a platform for future expansion. As organisations develop their business strategies for 2011 and beyond, here are three reasons to consider a new UC system:
1. UC can help your company deliver great customer service. Customers are notoriously fickle, and delighting customers has never been more difficult than now. Customers will only do business with companies that deliver exceptional customer experience, and UC is a vital tool to help ensure exceptional customer service and take advantage of sales opportunities. Self-service applications allow customers to do routine tasks at their convenience. A flexible UC system helps ensure customers always reach the right person at the right time, using their preferred method of communication—phone, email or Web-based chat. A virtual contact centre helps companies leverage at-home agents for increased coverage and lower costs.
2. UC can help your company retain the best workers. Improving productivity has been the watchword of this recession. Retaining the best employees as the job market improves means giving them the tools they need to be highly effective in their roles. Investing in UC does just that, as it puts communication at their fingertips for more effective and convenient collaboration. With our preferred supplier ShoreTel, users can easily manage communications from their computer, and seamlessly move between video, voice (wired or wireless) and instant messaging. Person-to-person video calls are easy and affordable. With Converged Conferencing, workers can easily turn a voice call into a full Web collaboration session at the touch of a button, and make audio conferencing, desktop/application sharing, virtual meeting rooms and online presentations a part of their everyday workflow.
Integrating UC into key business applications also boosts productivity. For instance, integrating a customer-relationship management system with the call centre put customer information at agents' fingertips, which in turn makes agents more responsive and effective. ShoreTel is based on open standards to integrate with leading CRM systems, including Salesforce.com, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics. Integration between ShoreTel and IBM Sametime or Microsoft OCS also makes it simple for workers to collaborate and stay productive, whether working with fellow employees or external Business Partners.
3. UC can help your company simplify IT. No doubt about it, cost pressures are ongoing. But IT can do more with less by untangling the complexity in their applications and communications systems. The ShoreTel UC system is easy to administer. Adds, moves and changes—a pricey activity with TDM PBXs—are easy, fast and highly affordable. When you invest in a UC system that doesn't add complexity to the network, you streamline communications as well as IT operations. With those resources freed, IT can work on projects that generate business value.
Many companies face integration challenges after a merger or acquisition. Our ShoreTel solution integrates easily with other systems, so organisations may use their existing phone systems where it makes sense, and roll out ShoreTel as time and budget permits. ShoreTel lets organisations of all sizes deploy UC at their own pace.
As the economy recovers, businesses must continue to optimise costs to deliver financial results, but they also need new ways to feed competitiveness and profitability. Unified communications is one tool that can help organisations weather the economic storms and take advantage of sunny days ahead.