five essential benefits driving uc adoption by smbs
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Five essential benefits driving UC adoption by SMBs
Companies of all sizes are increasingly
being challenged to beat tight
operational schedules and meet
customer demands — all while walking
that tightrope of diminishing IT budgets
and limited staffing resources. As much
as technology has advanced in the last
few decades, there are still only 24
hours in a day.
That’s where Unified Communications (UC) comes into play.
What is
Unified Communications?Unified Communications (UC) allows an organization to
seamlessly integrate, or unify, its typical business processes
with both real-time communications (such as instant messaging/
chat, presence information, telephony/VoIP, call control, and video
conferencing) and non real-time communications (such as unified
messaging — integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax).
It is often assumedthat UC is a
single product
UC is actually made up of a set of products that provides a
consistent, unified user interface and user experience across multiple
devices and media types. In its broadest sense UC can encompass
all forms of communications that are exchanged via the TCP/IP network.
Do more with less — with a solution that is easily managed
*Incorporate mobility to connect the
growing mobile and remote workforce
*Substantial savings on overall operating costs
*Significant uplift in customer service capabilities
*Move beyond basic functionality
Five essential benefits drivingUC adoption by SMBs
1Particularly important to smaller businesses is the ability to
implement any technology that provides enhanced functionality
while also being both affordable and relatively simple to manage.
As expected, smaller organizations typically have fewer or more
limited resources, from budgets to staffing, and a technology, as
is the case with a UC solution, is especially appealing if it enables
the organization to operate as a bigger business, but without
the same costs. UC is increasingly recognized as a technology
that allows SMBs to take advantage of proven increases in
productivity and functionality while realizing significant savings.
Do more with less — with asolution that is easily managed.
“SMB buyers require simplicity and intuitive use in their UC solutions.
Simplicity requirements extend through multiple stages (or touchpoints)
of the UC acquisition — from initial consideration
through ongoing maintenance and management
of the UC environment. SMBs will favor working
with providers (typically via their channel partners)
that can demonstrate the solutions’ ease of use
early on in the sales cycle. Full-featured UC
functionality can be positioned, but solutions that require complex
integrations will be less favored than solutions that can easily be
deployed with a minimal cutover time.”*
*Gartner, Marketscope Report Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony, 9/15/11Written by: Jay Lassman, Steve Blood, Geoff Johnson
Industry analyst, Gartner, points out inGartner Marketscope Report:Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony...
Digium, ShoreTel and Microsoft are positioned in the Visionaries
Quadrant of Gartner, Inc.’s 2011 Magic Quadrant for
Corporate Telephony report.)
2An office is just about anywhere you need it to be, today,
and it is increasingly important for remote and mobile workers to
access the same phone system features, whether working form
a desktop or a mobile device. By implementing a UC solution,
it makes it easy to stay connected to customers and prospects,
from any location, from any device. It also provides flexibility in
managing off-site employees, using features like presence and
conferencing, and having additional monitoring capabilities.
Implementing a
UC solution makes
it easy to stay
connected to
customers and
prospects, from
any location,
from any device.
Incorporate mobility to connect the growing mobile and remote workforce
Important elementsof a mobility feature in aUC solution include:
* fixed mobile convergence and find me/follow me call capabilities
* mobile applications for iPhone, Blackberry and Android
* having access to company directories from any device
* the ability to make calls from your mobile device as if it is from your office extension
* the capability to transfer and record calls from your mobile phone to another number or extension too.
* Look for UC solutions that offer this as an included basic feature; you should not have to pay extra for the capability.
3One of the greatest benefits of implementing the right UC
solution is taking advantage of the cost savings it provides.
This includes both savings on the initial cost of the system, as
well as savings on the long-term costs that lead to a good
Return on Investment (ROI). To achieve the greatest opportunities
for savings, it’s important to understand how to accurately
compare vendor quotes. It’s easy to look at multiple quotes from
UC vendors and assume that the final cost quoted includes the
same parameters. But not all UC solutions are created equal,
and not all UC vendors can offer the same cost savings.
Another way to help SMBs achieve cost savings is to consider
using a hosted solution which provides UC features in the cloud.
Substantial savingson overall operating costs.
SMBs need to be aware of key differences
in quotes that can add thousands of dollars
to the cost of implementing UC solutions —
both in near-term and long-term costs, and in
both hard and soft costs. For example, many
vendors offer a quote for base features, but the
business-critical features that an SMB needs,
and the the features that make UC so useful
— like mobility and third-party integration,
require an additional fee. Licensing fees also
often drive up costs, as well as maintenance
and upgrade costs, down the road.
To get a trueapples-to-apples comparison...
4Significant uplift incustomer service capabilities
The right UC solution should be more than a phone system,
it should be a better communications system that provides
improved operational efficiency. A quality UC solution allows
SMBs to serve customers more effectively using features such as
call queues and IVRs, for example. SMBs should be able to use a
UC solution to know more about every incoming call, in order to
route each call appropriately, ensuring there are no more missed
calls or lack of visibility.
Jobbers Warehouse Supply (JPW) is a leader in the automotive
aftermarket. This established SMB needed a UC system that would
allow them to prioritize incoming calls from their customer base.
The UC solution that JPW selected offered an intuitive, user-friendly
web interface that allows the operator to drag-and-drop calls while
chatting online with co-workers, conferring over calls, reciprocating
requests, and assigning instructions.
JPW was able to get an integrated customizable database software using
SugarCRM, with two inbound call queues. The customer service agent
simply clicks a selection box next to the customer name in SugarCRM to
set a “preferred”, “general”, or “new customer” status, which determines
into which of the queues the calls are routed. General callers move into
the non-priority cue and remain on hold while preferred status callers
move into the priority cue and take precedence.
“At JPW, 80 percent of ourrevenues come from 20
percent of our clients, and werequired a solution that would
facilitate priority treatmentfor that reigning minority.”
Tom Marks,CEO, JPW
FOR EXAMPLE:
Jobbers Warehouse Supply
5Too often, SMBs evaluate new technologies based on
whether or not the system can meet the organization’s
current needs — in reference to both basic features included
with the technology and in reference to the current size and
structure of the business. That type of decision can cost an SMB
thousands of dollars in future upgrade costs. “Future expansion,”
may not mean something as extensive as expanding physical
locations; it could be as simple as adding or moving an employee.
The right UC solution allows SMBs a flexible system that provides
extended functionality and that will grow with the business.
Move beyond basic functionality
When evaluating UC solutions, consider systems that can:
* Easily accommodate future growth/operations needs of the business, without an additional, heavy investment down the road
* Systems that include detailed reporting options that provide business-critical information about business operations and customer needs
* Ability to integrate with third-party business applications,
such as CRM, for a better user experience
ConclusionThe adoption of UC solutions by SMBs is being driven
by far more than a current trend in the marketplace.
UC is a business communications solution that meets
critical business needs for organizations of all sizes.
UC can be a competitive advantage for businesses
that need a single system to manage multiple tools and
platforms. UC allows businesses to be more productive,
enhance customer service capabilities, and offer
substantial near- and long-term cost savings.
In an effort to provide a similar solution accessible to everyone, Digium offers Switchvox — a full Unified Communicationssolution, built on the power of Asterisk.
Switchvox is a business phone system specifically
developed for small- and mid-sized businesses
and organizations that want the power of the open
source Asterisk solution, but without the need for
custom development skills for installation. The
advanced features, ease-of-use, and simple out-of-
the-box setup make Switchvox an ideal solution for
organizations with limited technical staff.
A full-featured UC solution, fueled by the innovation
of open source technology and open standards,
Switchvox allows users to integrate their phone
system with their existing networks and get all of
the advanced features they need at a price they can
afford. Most importantly, by using Asterisk open
source software as the foundation for Switchvox,
Digium is able to provide a communications system
with superior capabilities for a fraction of the cost of
proprietary systems.
Digium’s Switchvox solution delivers UC features
everywhere you need it: on-site, in the cloud, and
with mobile.
Switchvox®. Digium’s Powerful UC Solution
Digium®. We’re changing the way businesses communicate.Want more informationon Switchvox? Take a virtual tour ofthis powerful UnifiedCommunications platform:www.digium.com/switchvox
Contact us — we’re here to help.Talk with a Switchvox specialist: 1 877 344 48611 256 428 6271sales@digium.com
Founded in 1999, Digium is the creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the industry’s first open source telephony platform. More than one million customers in 125 countries have deployed Asterisk-based systems. Digium is committed to ending the days of expensive, proprietary telecom. The Switchvox family of Unified Communications solutions is built on Asterisk and is designed to provide enterprise class features at affordable prices for small and medium businesses.
The award-winning line of Switchvox IP PBX phone systems provides more than a phone system — it delivers a Unified Communications platform that integrates multiple features that increase productivity and lower monthly communication costs. It’s the affordable solution with a proven return on investment for businesseswith 10 to 400 users.
Learn more at digium.com/switchvox
Copyright © 2013 Digium, Inc. All rights reserved. Digium, Asterisk and Switchvox are trademarks of Digium, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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