Mexico. Like most of the technology solutions that companies use on a daily basis, unified communications has become the main tools of business communication. While the industry has tried to perfect itself, user habits are changing rapidly.
It's no secret that remote work, the evolution of the economy, and constant instant gratification have changed the way we think and interact with technology, both in and out of the office. According to a recent study, the percentage of people working from home is 38.8% of total workers globally, and this figure will rise to 1.87 billion mobile workers by 2022[1]. Work has now become something that people do from anywhere.
The unified communications industry has kept pace with this change. But not only mobility habits change, but also the devices and systems on which people work. Some company-owned devices, such as mobile phones and laptops, are updated regularly, while others, including desk phones and desktop computers, are left behind.
This combination of new, old operating systems and people working from trains, coffee shops and offices in different countries means that in addition to the user experience, unified communications solutions also need to have built-in security.
And it's not just this, companies also need to consider how people will use these tools not just in isolation, but as part of a team. Agile and increasingly popular ways of working require continuous feedback, and unified communications solutions should facilitate this. Tools that enable real-time collaboration, editing, and sharing aren't just an advantage: they've become a necessity. When all of these factors are considered, it seems that the unified communications industry has a lot of issues to deal with.
The solution is to stop seeing all these factors in isolation. Businesses don't need another solution to link their phones, when their conference calling capabilities don't connect to their video conferencing system. What they do need are enterprise solutions that easily adapt to existing business systems that employees are used to using every day.
Maintaining a hybrid and unified communications environment, with a network of cloud and on-premises solutions, as well as multiple vendors, can be tricky. A lot of internal resources are required to clarify what each supplier brings and how the parts overlap and work together as a whole. Arguably, the difficulty of 'unifying' unified communications is what prevents companies from taking advantage of it.
The BroadSoft Team-One app empowers collaboration across team workspaces, Team-One is fully integrated with key enterprise applications. The app puts all the tasks, files, messages, and notes a business user needs in one place, integrating functionalities like video conferencing, one-click calling, and screen sharing.
It's clear that the next era of the unified communications industry needs to focus on the user. Adapting to changing habits, enabling business agility, providing a seamless experience, and empowering communication across all platforms are becoming increasingly important. When it comes to the unified communications industry, vendors must evolve to survive.
Text written by Alexandra Solymar Matheny, Product Marketing Team-One for BroadSoft.
