Simplicity in Service: How Unified Communications Is Changing the Face of the Customer Experience

A sales rep in your office. A vendor en route to a job site. A customer located across the country.

Just a few years ago, the thought of these three far-flung associates engaged in real-time meaningful collaboration seemed unrealistic. But today, unified communications (UC) make possible video conferencing, instant messaging, remote printing, and other technologies that dramatically improve the collaborative work process.

The great leap forward in voice and data sharing takes on particular impact when you consider how the “BYOD” (bring your own device) trend has taken hold of the work environment. No longer are workers – or customers – tied to their desktops and landlines. Instead, they are texting, not calling, collaborators; and designing presentations and hosting meetings via laptops, tablets and even smartphones.

Simplicity in service

As UC continues to change the face of customer service, simplicity has become a watchword. Some surveys have suggested that consumers accustomed to their mobile devices prefer direct access to online information as opposed to going through a “live” third party.

Your customers may hesitate to go through a receptionist to find the associate they need, for example – but they’d have little issue asking Apple’s Siri to find and call the person for them!

So any enterprise integrating UC into its work process is best served by examining how this nimble and robust technology supports enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and supply chain management – all facets of internal and external customer service that drive increased productivity, end user satisfaction, and reduced costs.