Today’s super-mobile sales teams often struggle to stay connected to the rest of the business. Here’s where a Unified Communications system can help. Check out our handy top ten list of benefits.

Thirty years ago a typical business was built on a well-thumbed address book, a telephone and lots and lots of meetings. And what a mess it was. Your sales staff were away from their desk and usually out of reach, and when they moved on their contacts disappeared with them. Thankfully, things have advanced since then. Today you wouldn’t consider running your business without a telephone system or a computer network and yet problems persist. Your sales staff are easily contactable when they’re away from their desk, but they may find it hard to keep up to date with things like orders, pricing, etc. The solution is to combine your network and your telephone systems into a single Unified Communications (UC) network. Doing so offers some pretty substantial benefits.

Here’s a quick run-down:

You’ve got the current costs, now it’s time to focus on how the move to UC will bring you cost savings. The key reduction in running costs is going to be the reduction from two networks down to one. You’ll no longer need to wire every desk in the office with two systems, a single network cable will take care of all of your users’ calls and all of their computing needs. There’s one less system to go wrong, and if you need to add any new employees or you gain a new office then only one cable system needs to be installed. Additionally because the equipment is all based on a standard Ethernet system, everything’s available off the shelf. This means the equipment is competitively priced, rather than any proprietary telecommunications systems that can be both prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to obtain.

There’s also a reduction in the amount of equipment you need to cool and power. The UC system no longer needs a separate telecoms room, it’ll all run out of your normal network server room.

Lower call charges

By switching to UC you automatically make cost reductions in call charges as all
intra-business calls – including calls to employees working at home with Internet connections – are now free. Additionally you’ll get a saving on your business’s mobile phone use.

VMB see typically a 30-55% reduction in mobile phone costs because of the move to a single number that reaches you on the most appropriate phone at your location.

Another key reduction in a UC system can be the reduction in travel and subsistence costs, through the use of conference calls, and video conferencing. As well as the travel costs there’s also the benefits gained from the time saved by not travelling, so instead of spending time in airports or on trains you can carry on working.

Home Zone

There are further reductions to be made by giving more and more users the technology to work from home. A UC system enables remote workers to work with the same efficiency as they would in an office, by providing a full range of communications tools and giving secure access to company networks. So, there’s no need for such big offices, or as many desks and PCs, and all their associated heating and lighting costs can be reduced.

With a standard PBX system, adding a new user may need an engineer to be called out, or may need additional circuits to be added to the PBX system. The benefit of a UC system is that you can scale up or down extremely quickly; adding a new phone is a matter of a few clicks, and moving an extension in the office takes the same number of clicks.