5 Things You Need to Know About Unified Communications

This sounds like a simple statement, but it's true, and it cuts both ways. Most businesses have a universal set of core communications needs - voice, email, live chat, social etc. The scope of omnichannel communication can easily be limited to this set of tools, and would still deliver good value. Enterprise Unified Communications, on the other hand, can include a far greater range of applications, and will continue to evolve over time.

There really are two elements to consider here for Unified Communications. First is the number of communications applications being integrated. Some people within your company may only want to work with a handful of these, while others will push the envelope and try as many modes as possible – which is what often makes the case for VoIP vs UCaaS. Second, however, is the way these applications are integrated. The permutations for mixing and matching are endless, and the value of Unified Communications really depends on how far you want to take this.

In this regard, it's a good thing that Unified Communications is a fairly elastic concept. There really is no bar set as a minimum every business must use when deploying UC. Instead, you should look at Unified Communications as a toolbox that can help you build whatever you have in mind. The structure can be simple or complicated - whatever you deem to be best. This also means businesses should take vendor claims with a grain of salt, and if you feel you're being sold on too many features, then it may be time to look at other options. 

The flip side, however, means that the onus falls on the buyer to do their homework. Otherwise, you're just as likely to choose a low-end solution, thinking that you're getting a full-fledged Unified Communications platform, as you are to go with a comprehensive solution that is over-engineered for your needs.

It's very important to not let traditional telephony thinking drive all your decision-making around Unified Communications. First and foremost, UC is essentially software, while phone systems have traditionally been hardware. For businesses that have used legacy telephony for a long time, there tends to be a fixed and narrow mindset around this. These phone systems have very few moving parts and are typically used for 15 years or more. Aside from durability, enhancements or innovations are few and far between. They pretty much work today the same way they worked one or two decades ago, when first installed.

These qualities make telephony systems an ideal capital investment, even if you use VoIP on a landline system. But Unified Communications is very different. In most cases, UC will interface with that very same telephony system, but also with several other endpoints. More advanced Unified Communications offerings will bypass the desk phone altogether, moving call control over to the desktop, and integrating voice into a rich omnichannel communications environment. 

Perhaps more importantly, because of the limited upgradability of legacy phone systems, their value with Unified Communications will quickly diminish. Their capacity to adapt to UC will be reached early on, thereby making it one of the reasons why phone systems strategies fail. On the other hand, other interdepartmental applications will be developed for modes that are simply more compatible with UC. This is a very different value proposition, and decision makers need to think about Unified Communications as an open, constantly evolving solution, rather than a tangible asset that is fixed and durable - but only in a physical sense.

Similar to the above item, UC requires a different way of thinking in terms of its investment merits. For the reasons outlined above, businesses could develop a clear ROI model upon which a buying decision could be made. However, unlike legacy phones, Unified Communications is not a capital investment. Determining its fixed life for amortization purposes is futile, and the benefits for the business really are quite different. Legacy telephony supports the consumption of a utility-like service, and its usage can clearly be measured. This element is part of UC, but so much more is possible.

When Unified Communications is effectively integrated with business functions and processes, there are opportunities to both lower costs and increase revenues. These outcomes are simply not part of the legacy telephony ROI equation – no matter what the advantages of VoIP are. It is still the early days for UC, and more modern performance metrics have yet to be established. In this regard, decision makers need to re-assess the importance of ROI, and view Unified Communications in a broader scope. UC can very much help bring telecom costs under control, but can play a bigger role in making the organization more efficient and the business more competitive. Thinking along these lines, Unified Communications is more of a strategic decision than an investment decision.

Related to the ROI angle, it must be understood that UC delivers value very differently from conventional telecom. In the world of TDM and legacy hardware, ROI is often measured in years. Phone systems are long-term investments, and in a static environment, ROI is a meaningful metric. As the world shifts from TDM to IP, static gives way to constant change, and 24 months is about as far out IT is willing to plan for.

Long term ROI scenarios become very difficult to justify in this world, and innovation is the key for sustainable value creation. Unified Communications plays very well into this model, especially since it becomes a central hub for all communications, and for building a unique customer experience. This ability to connect so many people in so many ways is what allows for results to be seen more quickly than any legacy system could support.

While it may be difficult to quantify all these benefits, the improvements will be evident in many ways, and businesses simply must know what to look for. Unified Communications solution providers can help identify these parameters, and the important thing to recognize here is that benefits will be realized quickly. UC is not about planting a seed and waiting for it to grow - as quickly as employees adapt the tools, the results will come.

While the above outcomes sound promising, UC is still a work in progress, and businesses do not understand it well enough yet to make it truly mainstream. As mentioned earlier, this brief is not a technical analysis, but there certainly are technical challenges around Unified Communications. Much of this is simply because UC is new, and vendors typically take a distinct approach. Without standardization, it becomes difficult to compare Unified Communications vendors, but aside from that, there are still technical issues around making all the elements work together.

Interoperability is a simple way to explain this, and vendors still have a lot of work to do here. Integrating an ERP or CRM, for example, can be a challenging task, since vendors seem to take their own path, in spite of accessible plug-ins and APIs. The same can be said for mobile applications. Integrating mobility and self-service are key value drivers for UC, but again, it's harder to do than it looks. Aside from technology, businesses must also get end users on board for Unified Communications to be effective. To varying degrees, this will require some new behaviors and skills, and businesses must consider UC training for a successful deployment.