Things To Look Out For When Choosing a UC Solutions For Your Business
According to Grand View Research, the Unified Communication market is projected to be worth $167.1 billion as of 2025. This statistic was taken into consideration in the global UC market. It basically means that there is an expected increase in UC adoption by businesses and we don’t need to explain why, do we?
So, as a business owner or manager, it is expected that you should have realized the immense benefits of Unified Communications and want to incorporate it into your business. How do you go about it? Do you just jump in or consider your options tactically? Well, if your answer is the latter, we’ll be guiding you through your decision.
What Makes a Good UC Partner?
This is one question you’re expected to have an answer to before moving forward. You need to know what UC features you want to add to your business management, why you are doing it and how efficient you want your UC partner to be. If you don’t have these figured out yet, don’t worry. We would be listing a few characteristics that a good UC platform is expected to possess.
1. Mobility
When asked in a survey, 90% of business executives made it known that uninterrupted remote communication was the most important feature they needed for the smooth running of their business. They further explained that businesses run on resources and information and constant communication, which aids easy management and transfer of business resources. A good UC platform should allow for real-time sharing of files and business information without location restrictions.
2. Unified Messaging
What is Unified Communication without a unified feature? A good UC platform should be able to provide a unified messaging platform that would aid team collaboration. Also, the unified system should offer features that allow team leaders or business administrators to monitor staff work progress.
3. Conferencing
For some businesses, this is the ultimate reason they opted for a Unified Communication platform. With video or voice conference calls, organizations don’t have to worry about all meeting in one place before a meeting can hold. It saves time, money and is a convenient strategy for businesses.
4. Collaboration
Collaboration is one feature that works side by side with UC. How else can you save time without the integration of all business functions in one platform? The flexibility that collaboration offers to organizations and their employees is surreal.
5. Presence
It doesn’t help when an inactive user is being messaged without the sender’s knowledge. This would only go on to slow down the running of an enterprise. For faster execution, a good UC system should be able to indicate if an intending recipient is available. It helps to look for the next available employee to execute that function.
6. Fax Support and Advanced Notification
These two features almost go together. In running a business, files are very important and a UC platform should be able to support file sharing. What the typical UC software does is to route the fax to the destination in the form of an email attachment. These files and every other message received in a UC platform should always come with a notification so they don’t go unnoticed.
With these qualities in mind, let’s now look at those features should look out for when choosing a UC partner.
Important Features to Look Out For Before Opting For a UC Solution
These features we are about to highlight are directly from market software experts. Who better to listen to?
1. Customer Preference
Sian Ciabattoni, the Marketing Director at EMEA-Noble Amcat, highlighted this feature first because in the end, businesses run on their customer base. Communication with customers is paramount and the UC platform should be able to communicate with them in a language they understand. Does the system allow for messaging configurations? You have to look out for this.
2. Security
Whether the system is cloud-based or not, your UC platform holds enough information on your business. The Chief Technology Officer for Intact IS Limited, Tony Butler, listed security as one of the features to look out for in a UC platform. You need to ensure that your UC platform allows for data security measures to keep your data secure.
3. Architecture
Different business UC technologies are built in different ways. “If UC was easy, it would’ve been done already,” says Adam Faulkner, Director at Sabio. He further explained that brands have to really choose a UC platform that fits their taste. You have to look at the ease of deploying functions, the end-user productivity, the features they offer, connectivity and more features as you need.
4. Intelligent Voice Messaging (IVM)
IVM are pre-recorded/synchronized messages that allow for an automated message to customers. This may be during or after a call. They may come in the form of a hold message for customers trying to reach the call center or messages on existing offers. This is a feature that would aid in promoting customer satisfaction and inbound call activities. Analyze the system you are looking at and how it deploys the IVM.
5. Cloud Deployment
Cloud Storage Technology seems to be taking the forefront in the business world but it is no news that not all businesses have fully migrated. This is no pressure but you have to first consider if your business is cloud-based. Most UC systems are cloud-based so this may not be a problem if you already are cloud-based. Where the dilemma comes is in looking for a UC platform that would support a non cloud-based business. It is best to consider a platform that would support your in-house storage system for as long as you want.
Conclusion
Finding the right UC solution for your business needs is not an easy job. There are lots of tactical thinking to be done but we are glad to have provided you with a guide to making your work easier. If we were to give a bit of advice, it would be to take your time and weigh your options.
Originally published at https://nextplane.net on December 2, 2019.
