It’s a given that it’s easy to justify the “soft” parts of a Unified Communications (UC) system such as better collaboration, better customer satisfaction, and improved communication, but this won’t cut much ice with your FD. What they want are the hard facts: how much money the system will save and what benefits will it bring to the company’s bottom line? To make sure you have a good case we’ve put together this info on all of the cost implications and cost savings that your UC system will bring.

The first part of your strategy in getting the FD onside is to calculate the actual costs of your current phone and network. Your FD probably sees just the call costs, and as long as they’re competitive they’re unlikely to want to swap to a new system. Most of the true costs for your current system will be interlinked with several other budgets. To get the true costs you need to be able to pull out power and cooling costs for the old PBX phone system, rental and lighting costs for the telecoms room. Then calculate general maintenance and running costs for your phone system. Remember to factor in any staff-related costs, including your time. The best plan of attack is to itemise the costs, especially for costs that are effectively a tax on business growth. These include costs for adding new phones and moving phones around. If you’re planning on adding any new offices or moving offices, then note these costs as potential future costs. You also need to calculate the costs of your current computer network.

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.

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.