How Do UCaaS Solutions Solve Internal Communication Challenges?

UCaaS Has the Potential to Improve Company Communications Across the Board

With 86% of employees blaming company failures on poor communication, according to data from TeamStage, businesses that are yet to embrace the latest and most efficient methods of communication are leaving themselves at risk of lost profits and productivity in huge figures. 

To make matters worse, businesses that are unable to solve their internal communication issues, keeping all team members and departments fully informed on essential matters, often falter in the face of stiff competition and become irrelevant in their area of expertise, if they manage to survive at all.

Enter Unified Communications solutions; an all-encompassing answer to the internal (and external) communication issues faced by thousands of businesses worldwide, with the potential to bring teams closer together, raise productivity levels and job satisfaction, and eliminate problems presented by outdated legacy communications technology, virtually overnight. 

But what exactly are Unified Communications and UCaaS systems? How can they be used for the betterment of internal communications in large businesses? And what specific problems can they solve? Let’s explore how UCaaS solutions solve internal communication challenges. 

What are Unified Communications (UC) and UCaaS?

Are you one of those people who like to group their most-used apps on their smartphone into a single folder on your home screen, so you can access everything you need in the blink of an eye? That’s a pretty good way to think of a Unified Communications system – the only difference is that all the apps in question are related to business communications and are stored conveniently in the cloud. 

A cloud phone system with a lot more bells and whistles, a Unified Communications platform houses all the essential communication tools a business needs in the modern day to remain fully connected and productive at all times. These include such elements as instant messaging, voice calls, email, video conferencing, file sharing, virtual collaborative environments, collaboration tools and more – all housed in one over-arching app that’s designed with usability, customer experience and teamwork in mind.

Sure, improving communication efforts on a company-wide scale is the ultimate end goal of onboarding UC platforms, but most businesses are thrilled at the cost savings involved in the process, too. With many businesses having subscription costs for communication applications in double-digits leaving their accounts every month, the sheer amount these businesses spend unnecessarily is alarming. But with UC platforms, all these tools can be consolidated into a single application, with just one monthly bill. This means businesses can cancel unnecessary subscriptions and house all the communication tools they need conveniently in one place. This makes things so much easier for those in charge of business accounts as well – no more scrambling trying to figure out what each payment is for.

UCaaS is essentially the same tool, albeit slightly different in execution. It stands for ‘Unified Communications as a Service’ and is the umbrella term used to describe UC tools that are managed by a third-party UCaaS provider. These providers are responsible for maintaining the platform and involve updating applications regularly, handling cyber security measures, offering technical support and generally ensuring the platform is fit for purpose at all times. While some businesses prefer to have complete control over their tools without the input of external parties, others enjoy the comfort and peace of mind that comes with letting experts in their field deal with such legwork, letting in-house teams get on with other important tasks.

So, in simple terms:

• UC platforms are the home for all your communications tools
• When you have a UCaaS platform, someone else takes care of all the awkward bits for you

Easy enough, right? What isn’t always easy, though, are the internal communications issues that plague businesses every single day, costing them a fortune in lost productivity and profits. Luckily, UCaaS systems can be used to eradicate these problems. 

The Challenges UCaaS Solutions Can Solve

Poor Teamwork and Collaboration

According to the same data offered by TeamStage in the above link, 39% of employees report a serious lack of collaboration in their current work family. While internal management matters could be to blame, there’s also the possibility that workers feel they don’t have the right tools to encourage them to communicate and share thoughts effectively, in an attempt to drive further business success. This can be even more problematic when there is no consistency among teams as to precisely which tools they should be using to work together and swap ideas – yet another issue raised by having too many separate communications tools in play at once.

However, when a company opts to use a single, wide-ranging communications and collaboration tool like UCaaS platforms, they relieve themselves of the potential confusion among teams, so everyone is on the same page, familiarise themselves with one dedicated collaborative platform and work together efficiently in a cloud-based environment, wherever they are in the world. 

In addition, because they’re housed under the same application, members of a video conference can open a collaborative environment application at the same time and work on the same projects together, with everyone having a real-time view of any changes being made, to ensure nobody trips over another team member’s feet. The ease of use and accessibility of these platforms should encourage teams to work more closely on a regular basis – even if they can’t be close in person.

Employee Engagement

According to a study published in Forbes, when employees are happy they are up to 20% more productive. However, the same can be true at the opposite end of the spectrum; 20% of workers who are dissatisfied with the quality of technology and software available to them cite this as one of the reasons they are actively seeking new employment, according to a study by Ricoh. And if employees aren’t feeling happy or productive, chances are the way they communicate with their internal colleagues is going to suffer.

Outdated legacy communications systems felt clunky and were difficult to grasp several years ago, so imagine how they must feel to modern-day employees who are used to having the most efficient and responsive technology available to them at all times in their own lives.

However, UCaaS platforms are built with ease-of-use at the forefront, with everything a worker needs to remain productive clearly displayed in a simple yet attractive digital dashboard – all backed by fast cloud connections that make these applications quick to access and even quicker to use. Thanks to such responsive technology, team members can enjoy uninterrupted workflows and remain productive – and satisfied – throughout the working day.

Plus, with UCaaS platforms, workers can remain even more productive and communicate more effectively by cutting the amount of time they spend toggling between different applications in their day-to-day. According to a study featured in the Harvard Business Review, employees can spend up to four hours a week moving from app to app; that equates to five full working weeks across a 12-month period, suggesting a huge loss in productivity time due to constant toggling. As all the applications workers need to communicate can be found conveniently stored in a single digital platform in UCaaS systems, employees don’t need to spend hours of combined time searching through a myriad of apps to find the right one to communicate with certain members of their team.

Distributed Workforces

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a distributed workforce is a team that works for the same business yet is spread across multiple locations – different floors, buildings, cities or even countries. In an ever-expanding digital landscape, businesses operating across wide geographic areas are becoming more common, which is why communications technologies need to keep up with the trend and offer teams the opportunity to remain connected wherever they are, for the benefit of themselves and the wider business.

Sadly, though, some teams working in separate locations suffer from a lack of effective communication and shared productivity. While there are many potential factors to this, there’s no doubt that the disconnect created by multiple working environments – be they large, spaced-out offices, multiple floors, separate buildings, or remote working – is, in part, to blame. The very nature of these setups doesn’t present an environment that naturally encourages collaboration, and when employees don’t collaborate or communicate effectively, they fail to push the business forward and deliver results to the best of their ability. Thankfully, this is something UCaaS platforms can help overcome.

Wherever an employee happens to be working out of the above list, they can quickly hop onto a shared video conference through their UCaaS dashboard and begin working “alongside” their fellow colleagues, instantly lifting the feeling of isolation and separation experienced by colleagues who aren’t physically together. Better still, as mentioned previously, said employees can log onto shared collaborative platforms at the same time and work together with a full view of all the progress made, encouraging idea-sharing and creativity, even though they’re physically separate.

Expectations for Remote and Hybrid Working

As mentioned earlier, spreading a team across wide distances has the potential to cause a disconnect in the way they work and communicate. But when so many employees are now working in a remote or hybrid capacity – 46% of UK employees, according to data from Owl Labs – businesses need to do everything they can to foster a healthy and communicative working environment, even if it isn’t a physical one.

In the days prior to shared cloud environments, workers would have struggled to access the files and programmes they needed to perform their roles effectively when working remotely, when compared to their office-based colleagues. This is because storing essential data on hard drives was the only available option. Not only this, but the methods in which remote-based colleagues could communicate with their office-based team were greatly reduced when compared with today, with most relying on phone calls, emails or faxes, if these options were available at all.

However, thanks to the advent of cloud computing, cloud storage and fast internet speeds (3 components that allow for the existence of UCaaS systems), home-working colleagues needn’t worry about not being able to contact or collaborate with their fellow workers who are on-site. By sharing the same cloud-based platform for all their communication and collaboration needs, workers in virtually any location can share thoughts and notes via voice, text or video instantly.

Document Sharing

In a world where the constant sharing of information is essential for not just business success, but for global economies to thrive, the ability to share files and documents of all sizes and types quickly is very important. However, businesses that are yet to onboard cloud computing technology, UCaaS solutions or similar may struggle to disperse these precious files if there is no system in place that make it easy and speedy to do so.

For example, sharing documents amongst the team via email offers its own challenges, as most email services place limits on the size of files you’re able to share via email. Beyond this, businesses can opt for web-based file-sharing services that are accessed through a browser, but given the private nature of many of these documents, this presents security fears many businesses could do without.

That’s why UCaaS solutions can be a breath of fresh air for businesses that need to share internal documents consistently. With virtually no limits on the size of files that can be transferred from one team member to another, and no need to worry about prying eyes catching a glimpse of private information (thanks to the rigorous security protocols in place) businesses can share documents without a moment’s hesitation as and when necessary, boosting the effectiveness of their internal communication capabilities.

Ready to Benefit from a UCaaS Solution? We’re Here to Help

As communication specialists with over 20 years of experience delivering the technologies businesses need to thrive, Elite Group are your ideal partners to onboard and make the most of the features offered by UCaaS solutions. With a dedicated account manager, you’ll always have someone you can speak with, should you encounter any problems. On top of this, we always set aside some extra time to ensure you’re always working with the tools that match your needs precisely.

Thanks to our partnerships with some of the biggest UCaaS providers and brands in communications technology, including our position as an official Microsoft Partner, we’re always able to offer you the best and most advanced solutions to help you stay ahead of the competition.

For more information about our UCaaS services, get in touch with an Elite expert today.