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At its core, unified communication is about so much more than just making and receiving calls. It’s a solution designed to simplify the business worker’s experience in every conceivable way, and it brings with it a host of unique benefits that cannot be ignored.
In addition to allowing you to route calls based on presence, one of the major unified communications advantages is that these systems integrate with many of the popular CRM applications you’re already using. Not only does this help remove communication bottlenecks, but it also dramatically improves your ability to serve your customers – which may very well be the most important advantage of all.
Having said that, embracing unified communications is a major shift from the traditional way things are done across your business – meaning that there needs to be a cultural shift that takes place right along with it. Getting to this point won’t necessarily be difficult, but it does require you to keep a few key things in mind.
1. The “All Hands On Deck” Approach
The most important thing to understand about the cultural shift that will take place as you execute your unified communications strategy is that you’ll need to proactively work to get everyone in your organization on board. Help people at every level understand why this level of organizational change is necessary, and how their jobs will be easier after this transition.
For example, show them unified communications examples that highlight the things they’ll be able to do that they can’t do right now, and illustrate the advantages that this technology brings to their workday.
2. Success Depends on User Acceptance
Along the same lines, you’ll also have to work with your unified communications partner to make sure that any solution you end up with is actually beneficial in practical, “real world” scenarios that your employees are likely to face.
In other words, unified communications technology should allow people to immediately work “smarter, not harder.” It shouldn’t be a lateral move, and it shouldn’t be so cumbersome to use that it actually makes people’s lives more difficult.
Tailor your solution to the way your employees like to work – don’t force them to change to make up for the limitations of the technology.
3. Department Champions
You’ll also want to make sure that department leaders are doing their part to get the people working underneath them excited for the advantages unified communications brings with it. They should work together to develop messaging and other collateral that outlines the benefits that your new UC system has to offer.
4. The Importance of Training and Measuring
Finally, you need to make sure that employees are adequately trained on the new solution so that they can get the most out of it as soon after deployment as possible. Not only will this help you achieve a return on investment far faster, but it will go a long way towards increasing buy-in as well. As you do this, take note of any objections that are raised and take meaningful steps to address them. Continue to measure your adoption rate to make sure you’re always headed in the right direction moving forward.
Key Takeaways
- Getting the buy-in of the entire company is critical to the success of your unified communications strategy.
- Never forget that the success of your initiative will depend on user acceptance.
- Make sure that department leaders are prepared to communicate the major benefits of your new solution.
- Offer training to help people get the most out of your new unified communications system and measure user adoption moving forward.
So if you’d like to find out more information about the major steps you need to take when implementing a unified communications-focused cultural shift in your organization, or if you have any additional questions you’d like to discuss with someone in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact Voicecom Plus today.
