Advanced telecom solutions might seem out of reach for the average small organization, but that’s not true for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).
UCaaS is a cloud-based solution that enables organizations of any size to obtain leading-edge communications software for a monthly fee without adding new infrastructure. It combines multiple technologies, including:
- Mobile access
- Audio, video, and web conferencing
- Content sharing
- Productivity tools
- Unified messaging, instant messaging, and presence
UCaaS offers advantages to businesses of any size, but small businesses, in particular, can reap significant benefits:
1. Cost Savings
First, there is no need to purchase, install, or maintain an onsite infrastructure in order to use UCaaS – so while there is a monthly expense, it is something that can be adjusted as business needs evolve. Second, using cloud-based communication technology provides significant cost savings over legacy landline and PBX phone systems. And third, UCaaS consolidates services, meaning small businesses need only one vendor for all their communications and collaboration services – this simplifies demands on your IT department.
2. No Maintenance
Your chosen telecom provider maintains the services for you. Organizations simply contact their provider whenever they have a problem. (This can be a significant advantage if your telecom provider – like CM3 – is local, as they have “boots on the ground” and can be deployed to your physical facility when needed.)
3. Scalable and Flexible
New and smaller businesses often don’t need all the features that larger companies use each day, nor do they have the finances for that. UCaaS enables organizations to select and pay for just the services that will benefit their company. This ensures that you are “only paying for what you need,” as one feathery insurance company would say.
Additionally, UCaaS enables small businesses to easily scale to support remote or hybrid work setups and add or remove users as needed.
4. Enabling a Mobile Workforce
Organizations need to react faster than ever, and UCaaS enables an efficient mobile workforce with access to solutions from anywhere.
Additionally, the way we work is evolving. Today, it is common to see hybrid work policies and even 100% virtual companies. As small organizations compete to recruit and retain qualified personnel, the ability to offer remote work can be an advantage. UCaaS provides the collaboration and communication tools (i.e., chat, voice, video, meetings, file sharing) that enables that remote work force to be highly productive.
5. Unifying Communications
Even when employees are in the same building, they don’t always have access to streamlined collaboration tools. It gets even more difficult when different people, departments, or offices use multiple tools. A mix of platforms and tools can cause delays, confusion, and compatibility issues. It also means employees are tasked with learning new software each time someone introduces a new tool.
UCaaS gives businesses a central platform where employees can access, store, share, and collaborate simultaneously on files and projects. It provides a versioning history for total transparency into who made what changes. It also prevents communication gaps and lost data that can happen when multiple copies are saved and shared for editing.
And, because communications, productivity tools, and applications are all in one place, it reduces the need for training on multiple disparate platforms.
6. Reducing IT Workload
Staffing an IT department with qualified, experienced employees is expensive and competitive. That means businesses need to take care of their existing departments, including not adding to their already hefty workload. Managed UCaaS takes the burden of application maintenance, monitoring, and updating off your team (your telecom provider, like CM3, takes care of it). That leaves your IT team free to concentrate on other critical initiatives, like digital transformation.
7. Optimizing Efficiency
Workflow optimization is a critical building block for success, especially in small businesses. UCaaS offers an integrated solution that increases productivity by reducing the need to switch between multiple disparate software applications. Organizations have visibility into who is available to meet and several options for how to contact and communicate with them. Since the applications and work products are all stored centrally, it is easy to communicate and collaborate quickly and efficiently, saving time and reducing the risk of errors and omissions.
8. Enhancing Security
Securing systems while maintaining consistent and reliable communication and access to data is at the forefront of every organization’s IT department objectives. The more in-house applications and systems there are the greater the burden on the business’s resources. UCaaS reduces that burden by entrusting it to the same top-tier security protocols found in larger organizations.
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Content for this blog was provided by Skyswitch. CM3 proudly deploys the Skyswitch platform.