Unified Communication-Simply collaborated

The traditional business communication techniques limit the business communications since the different modes of communication are scattered and one has to stay on desk in order to attend business calls. Moreover, any missed out business call can be a loss of business opportunity. The scattered behavior of business communications leads to difficulty in integrating the entire business. So, it is better to have everything in one place so that the business stays integrated. Unified Communication has emerged as a revolutionizing technology since it merges all sorts of communication modes in one. This means that all the real time modes of communication such as instant messaging, audio conferencing, video conferencing, etc. with all the non-real time modes of communication such as e-mail, SMS, fax, etc. and access to all business communications can be provided from anywhere, anytime and via any media or device.

The most important benefits that Unified Communications offer are:

Collaboration: The blend of all the real time and non-real time modes of communication provides a vast arena where the co-workers, business partners and clients can communicate, share documents and files instantly. So, this provides virtual collaboration of a team which may be near or located geographically apart.

Presence: The best advantage is the presence information which helps an individual to know about the online status of others. So, this status indicator cuts down the time involved in tracking down the availability of a user. Through this feature, clients can know whether a customer care executive is online.

Access: This system provides the freedom to have anytime, anywhere access to business communications and via nay media or device. This means that all sorts of business communications can be accessed from a smart phone, laptop, desktop, PDA, etc. So, there is no constraint on the physical presence of an individual.

Business Process Integration: Integrating all sorts of communications also integrates all the business process applications which include Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship management, Supply Chain Management and other reporting utilities.

Unified Mailbox: This provides the storage of all sorts of messages such as text, audio, video, etc. all in one place. This means that a common mailbox is provided where all sorts of messages can be accessed in one place.

The most important issue when it comes to communication via the internet is the security of the data transmitted. Session encryption, intrusion prevention, spam blocking, etc. are implemented. Efforts are made to provide the authentication while access and to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of the data transmitted. Thus, Unified Communication provides a secure business communication channel.

All these features are highly in demand in today’s world but the cost factor is again a constraint. Since this system involves huge expenditure, small organizations do not consider it as their cup of tea. To make the system cost-effective, it is clubbed with Hosted PBX. This is a third-party service in which most of the hardware is set up and maintained off-premise by the hosted service provider and the entire system is configured ready-to-use. Since the need to purchase and maintain the hardware is reduced, the capital and operational costs are greatly reduced. Virtual PBX also provides scalability and caters to the changing business needs. All these features make this system affordable by the small business firms since they have to pay as they grow. Moreover, the benefits of smart calling features integrated with Unified Communication benefits can help establish a feasible, seamless and integrated communication channel for any type of business firm.