What Unified Communication Systems Can Do For Small Businesses

The workplace of 2021 depends heavily on open communication between employees. And with employees now working from home from all over the country, the necessity of having a Unified Communication (UC) system has been brought to the forefront like never before.

Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can benefit from installing UC systems by streamlining their communications. Research says that employees switch between multiple apps up to 1100 times per day, which combined comes up to 32 days in lost workplace productivity. These are 32 days that could have been better spent furthering your SMB. Here’s why an SMB might want to consider installing a unified communication system at their workplace.

More Productivity

When employees are spending less time switching between apps and trying to understand the interface of said apps, the productivity rates will be higher and they will save up to 115 minutes per day. Additionally, studies have found that the more employees switch between apps, the more their rate of errors increases.

Reduced Costs

Using too many applications not only affects your employees’ ability to work efficiently, but it also comes at a monetary cost. Paying for the apps, subscription fees, licenses and extensions can put a major dent in the pocket of a small business owner. And add to that the cost of hardware and equipment, efficiency improvements, and lost revenue due to lost productivity, and you have yourself a financial sinkhole.

Increased Mobility

Most UC systems allow you to connect to them from virtually any Internet-friendly device, which means more mobility for employees. Whether they want to get some extra work done on the train to work or need to work from home during a lockdown, or would rather work remotely than travel long distances to come to work, a good UC system may also prevent workplace absences by allowing employees more mobility.

Improved Communications

When employees can use a single software to communicate, collaborate and work as a team, it strengthens relationships within the team, leading to more employee satisfaction and more effective collaborations. For small businesses, it is essential to have every team on the same page to drive sales, retain customers and improve user experience.

Better Customer Relations

More mistakes are made when employees are forced to switch between multiple apps to get their work done. This can lead to errors in order processing, mistakes made in projects completed for clients and blunders creeping into day to day tasks. This, in turn, can lead to poor customer relations, lack of client retention and loss of revenue.

On the other hand, many UC systems may also allow your customers multiple ways of getting in touch with you, leave voice messages and quickly hop on to a live chatbox to get a query resolved without having to speak to anyone. The easier and faster it is for a customer to get in touch with a business and get their problem solved, the better their experience with the business and higher the customer retention.

Key Takeaway

Unified communication systems help SMBs reduce employee turnover rates and operational costs, improve customer relations and also increase productivity and mobility among employees by decreasing errors made due to switching between various apps.