Choosing Unified Communications Providers for Your Business

Effective communication is the backbone of every professional industry. And today, the available tools to make communication instant and easily carried out are numerous. But if your company is using multiple desktop applications to facilitate communication, the process can be slowed down by technology. When this happens, you’ve probably wondered if there was a better way to communicate.

Unified communications providers have the solution you may be looking for.

What are Unified Communications?

Unified communication is a set of tools and programs that act in unison that helps your business communicate seamlessly.

For example, unified communications include features like voice chat, real-time teleconferencing, content sharing, and instant messaging. All on a single platform and interface.

Unified communications are meant (and often accomplish this) to make your communication channels easily accessed and used.

So instead of having multiple channels of communication that are separate from one another and have no integration between them, unified communications “unify” your channels. Essentially, unified communications streamline communication by using the internet and the cloud to accommodate communication across the enterprise.

Benefits of Unified Communications

Communication is key to the success of any business — big or small. It's how projects are completed, team members stay in touch, and how meetings are held with clients. And with remote work now a part of many companies, the need for quality communication tools has never been greater.

Unified communications allow parties to navigate communication channels with a single click. This means users can transition from a text-based chat channel to a video call instantly, without having to open a separate video call program like Zoom.

It may not seem like switching from program to program takes very much time, but added up day after day, your team members could be losing more time than it seems. Not to mention, constantly switching between programs and applications can often feel clunky.

Once you switch to unified communication, the difference is night and day.

How to Choose Between Unified Communications Providers

The demand for quality unified communication services is rising. As a result, businesses can choose from multiple providers. But not all providers are equal, and what one offers can widely vary from another.

Here’s how you can choose the best provider for your business.

Onboarding

When you’re choosing between UC providers, you’ll want to first ensure that the provider offers onboarding support. Although most components of unified communication as a service (UCaaS) are simple to implement for users, during the initial setup process and later on, should issues arise, you’re going to need technical support.

In short, you should look for a partner, not just a product vendor.

User Experience (UX)

How easy is the provider’s platform to navigate? Do you anticipate your team members having any trouble using the program? Ideally, you’ll want to demo the product yourself. That way, you can get a sense of how the program will translate to your business operations.

Furthermore, it’s best to consult your team members to understand exactly what they need from a unified communication provider.

Downtime

In practice, unified communications vastly improve how your business communicates. But if your vendor’s services aren’t reliable, your business will suffer from downtime. Discuss uptime with each vendor to get an idea of how dependable their services are, and if they’ll actually be helping your business — not hindering it.

Ready to connect with UCaaS Providers?

At KPI Analytics, we host free conferencing between enterprises and software providers. You can connect with reliable unified communication vendors to see how their services can help your business stay connected.

If you want to learn more about our services, schedule a free consultation.