Integrated Communications are Essential

Almost every day, I hear or read about the “new normal” — the state that countries, businesses and people will find themselves in as pandemic-related restrictions are lifted.

Some aspects of our work and personal lives will go back to the way they were pre-pandemic, but others won’t. And we will all need to make adjustments to navigate these uncharted waters.

For many businesses, the new normal will mean some employees may never return to working on-site in offices. Some will only work on-site part time, while others will return to the office full-time.

You’ll need to support all of these arrangements. And you’ll need to provide that support in a way that allows dispersed team members to seamlessly connect and collaborate as if they were all together.

Those Band-Aid Solutions Were Only Temporary Fixes

As the pandemic struck, in the rush to adapt to and support a remote workforce almost overnight, you may have turned to third-party apps for messaging, video and collaboration capabilities.

This strategy was the right one at the time because it solved a new, and immediate, need. Your teams could quickly and easily download these apps so they could connect and collaborate from their homes and allow your business to continue functioning.

Now, you need to look beyond your basic ability to function with remote workers. It’s time to fortify your communications strategy by replacing disjointed tools with fully integrated solutions that are designed for long-term sustainability.

Integrated solutions provide the data, voice and video communications and collaboration features you’ve come to rely on, but are less expensive to maintain, less complex to manage and less complicated for your teams to juggle than disparate apps.

And they seamlessly connect to your existing infrastructure.

Integrated Solutions Let You do More

When your communications and collaboration solutions are fully integrated, team interactions are more natural and intuitive, no matter how people are sharing information.

People are free to focus on the topic at hand rather than the mechanics required to use, and switch between, a variety of disparate tools and apps. Everyone can work more efficiently and collaborate more instinctively.

Here are a just a few examples of what’s possible when you integrate communications and collaboration solutions into your existing Business system:

• Access all capabilities from a single application. Have one, cost-effective application that provides everything needed — voice, video, messaging, presence, audio conferencing, mobility and team collaboration. There’s no need to jump between apps with different user experiences. And you can seamlessly switch devices mid-conversation. Picture someone talking on their desk phone or on the softphone on their computer, then easily switching the conversation to their mobile phone as they head out the door.
• Expand team interactions. You can transition between chat, voice and real-time video conferencing across time zones and geographies. You can also securely extend communications and collaboration opportunities to remote team members, partners, suppliers and customers to increase touchpoints and strengthen relationships.
• Have more flexible conversations. Over the past year, many businesses have taken advantage of Microsoft Teams, the collaboration tool that comes with Office 365 subscriptions. A Microsoft Teams integration solutions let you easily switch between chat, video and voice while staying within the Teams web or desktop app.

Evolution Is Faster, Easier, Less Expensive

Naturally, you’ll want to continue evolving your communications system over time.

Adding new features and functions is far easier when you’re using a modern, integrated communications system than it is if you’re using a disjointed collection of systems and apps from different vendors.

These point solutions were not designed to smoothly evolve together. Updates are provided by multiple separate companies when it makes sense for their business, not yours.

Third-party applications that worked together one day can easily become out-of-sync the next if one is updated and the other is not.

Managing all of these different apps becomes very complex and expensive compared to an integrated system where all components smoothly evolve together.

An integrated system also simplifies your evolution to the cloud when the time is right. Every business will fully migrate their communications system to the cloud at some point.

Why not put the pieces in place today to ensure your teams benefit from the smoothest possible transition?

A purpose-built solution brings your teams all of the same great communications and collaboration features they’ve come to rely , but they’re delivered from the cloud.

You have a single communications integrated cloud solution that provides the same experience on desktop computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets, but you don’t have to spend time, effort or money managing the system.

At the same time, you maintain full control over upgrade and maintenance windows, and can mix and match service levels to meet changing business demands.

The Right Partner Helps You Find Your New Normal

There are numerous factors to consider and multiple options to choose from when determining how to evolve your platform today and tomorrow. The good news is you don’t have to make this journey on your own.