Collaboration and effective communication are essential to the success of any company. All over the world, organizations are going digital at a rapid pace. Traditional methods of communication, such as face-to-face meetings, phone calls, or emails, no longer meet the needs of today’s organizations.
With remote working already becoming commonplace, it is no surprise that unified communications are gaining popularity. It’s a revolutionary technology that enhances collaboration capabilities and optimizes communication between colleagues, increasing productivity.
Below, we’ll look at all the benefits of unified communication for collaboration in remote teams.
The growth of remote work
In recent years, remote working has shown a big surge in growth and has become increasingly important. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, this type of work has gone from an opportunity to a critical necessity for hundreds of companies around the world. Remote work involves employees performing their duties outside of the office. They can work from home, in a co-working space, or anywhere with good internet access.
The demand for remote work has increased as the world has gone into digitalization and the expansion of the global marketplace. Remote working has many benefits for organizations. Managers can tap into a larger talent pool outside of geographical constraints, increase flexibility in work-life management, and reduce stress among employees caused by noise in the office. The most significant benefit of remote working is that it allows for organizational continuity during emergencies.
Importance of effective communication between remote employees
Effective communication is vital to the success of a remote team. Communication unites remote employees and serves to break down the distance between team members. Communication problems are among the most common in remote teams. They result in delayed responses, misunderstanding of coworkers’ instructions, or lack of clarity. These problems can limit the productivity of the entire team and affect team morale.
According to research, 80 percent of remote employees believe that effective communication is vital to a team’s success. The lack of interaction can make employees feel alienated or even isolated.
Establishing effective communication within the remote team promotes better understanding between colleagues and quicker resolution of problems and important decisions. Proper communication ensures the reduction of misunderstandings that can have a negative impact on the achievement of goals. In the digital age, effective communication within a company is essential for success.
What is unified communications?
Unified communications (UC) is a modern technology solution that can be used to combine many communication tools into a single platform. It has a wide range of services, including email, messaging, voice calls, video conferencing, and more.
Unified communications allow remote employees, no matter where they are, access to these tools. This unification of communication channels helps improve collaboration in a remote work environment. Also, one of the reasons why unified communications has become so popular is the sheer number of benefits it offers.
Benefits of unified communications
Unified communications has revolutionized the coordination of remote workers and promotes high productivity. Deciding in favor of unified communications can provide organizations with many benefits that will greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of remote teams. Let’s take a look at these benefits:
-
Integration with existing tools
Unified communications have great flexibility and can be integrated into the systems and tools a team is already using. Whether it’s CRM, project management tools, cloud PBX or other programs, unified communications can easily integrate these systems. In this way, remote teams can improve work processes and facilitate successful teamwork for the organization.
-
Better team collaboration
Employee collaboration is paramount to a company’s success. With unified communications, they can use a range of tools that allow them to coordinate team activities regardless of the geographic location of its members. Employees can exchange instant messages, ask questions, and get immediate real-time answers.
File sharing also allows employees to work on one project at the same time. This provides a centralized space for documents and materials related to that project. If a face-to-face meeting is needed, the team can schedule a video conference or a virtual meeting, which facilitates quicker resolution of work issues and better collaboration among employees.
-
Increased productivity and efficiency
Time is a precious resource that is always in short supply. Integrating various communication tools into one platform allows employees to switch between voice calls, video conferences and chats easily. This speeds up workflow because they don’t have to switch between multiple applications constantly. Studies have shown that more than 75% of UC users see an increase in productivity levels.
One platform for all communications streamlines workflow and task management, allowing remote teams to meet project deadlines. The availability of these platforms anywhere and anytime makes it possible for remote team members to stay connected and contribute to the company’s success.
-
Time and cost savings
By integrating all communication tools into one platform, teams automatically increase efficiency and save time and costs. The fewer applications and tools for communication, the lower the costs for different hardware, its maintenance and various subscriptions for additional services.
Unified communications give remote employees access to all the information they need without having to spend time searching for it in a large number of chats or emails. Studies have shown that remote employees spend 30% of their time managing email, which highlights the necessity of a centralized communication system. Quick access to the data they need reduces the time teams waste on unproductive activities and keeps them focused on more important tasks.
-
Mobility
Ninety-seven percent of companies say remote working has increased interest in UC. Unified communications help teams stay connected from anywhere in the world with robust mobility features. They are not limited by physical space. UC offers mobile management functionality on smartphones as well as video meeting apps. In this way, all members of the remote team are always available during working hours.
-
Real-time collaboration
One of the main benefits of unified communications is the ability for remote employees to communicate in real-time. Team members can always see when their colleagues are available with features such as presence indicators. Using instant messaging, employees can quickly start a conversation. This communication removes message receipt delays and facilitates faster problem-solving and decision-making. According to research, companies with UC make decisions 2.6 times faster than without it.
-
Increased data security and confidentiality
Unified communications provide enhanced data security when working remotely. They allow the implementation of various security measures. Strong authentication ensures that only authorized users have access to sensitive information. Data encryption, in turn, protects data from unauthorized access using advanced encryption techniques. And centralized backup simplifies the process and provides easy recovery in the event of system loss or failure.
Conclusion
Unified communications by combining various communication tools into a single integrated platform has revolutionized the way remote teams work. Since the main challenge of remote work is the lack of face-to-face interaction between employees, centralized communication tools provide remote teams with real-time communication, task management, document sharing and virtual meetings. By using these platforms, companies can increase employee engagement and productivity. Despite geographic boundaries, UC makes it easy to achieve seamless teamwork. To unlock the full potential of a remote team using unified communications is the best solution.
