Benefits of Unified Communications
Unified Communications is extremely valuable for a ton of reasons but there are a few major benefits that stand out.
- Lower cost of ownership
- Increase worker productivity
- Create new efficient business processes
- Improve customer satisfaction
The value proposition of Unified Communications (UC) has changed and is not just about saving money but, more importantly, about fundamentally changing business and building long-term competitive advantage.
Over the years, companies have deployed silo applications that address one specific method of communicating. Think of the desk phone, e-mail, mobile phone, video system, conferencing, and other communications tools. Each of these systems operates independently and do not communicate with other applications. This creates a major burden for supporting each application and drives up the cost of the tool because of redundant networks and hardware, separate management tools and expensive support contracts for maintenance, and administration of voice systems.
Because of the cost advantages of UC, companies are implementing UC to save money. Here are the main methods of lowering costs using UC:
- Reduction of network costs
- Lower maintenance costs
- Reduced long-distance calls
These are the primary cost saving benefits but there are other indirect savings as well for corporations. For instance, companies may reduce office space by allowing employees to telecommute, more efficient use of IT time or even a reduction in IT staff. Regardless of how you slice it, there certainly are big time cost savings for any corporation willing to deploy unified communications.
