Facebook, BP, British Airways: they’re all changing the way they work FOR GOOD.
Following suit are thousands of other organisations – big AND small – for whom the much-talked about hybrid model is fast-becoming the world’s default.
Remote, more flexible workforces; lower physical infrastructure costs; and less travel expenditure are all boosting bottom lines.
But, despite this smarter, leaner new order of things; productivity, customer service levels and workforce harmony remain mission-critical factors.
Communications technology, we know, is helping drive and support this fundamental shift in how we do business.
In short, phone systems now need to be so much more.
The ways in which businesses and their customers interact must respond to that challenge, or face being left behind.
Cue: innovation, design, and disruption.
“There’s no doubt that the way we communicate has been altered forever by the pandemic,” says Simon Horton, Vice President, Sales (Europe) at global voice and video comms giant Sangoma – one of the leading businesses at the vanguard of change.
“Organisations, no matter their size, no longer operate from a single, physical location and no longer serve their customers in one single way or via one single channel.
“Workforces have to be much more remote and flexible, but they also have to be able to interact with each other and those they serve in the same way they did before.
“Customers will not be tolerant of a deterioration in service, employers will expect continued full productivity from their workforces and employees working from home will have constraints on space and issues with the blurring of the line between their business and their personal communications.
“It means that, in many cases, phone systems are no longer fit for purpose.”
Great, then, that the tech sector in general – and unified comms in particular – are delivering big-time on the innovation front.
It’s great for businesses seeking help direct from providers, but also great for channel resellers: for whom opportunities also abound.
Sangoma – and in particular its Switchvox solution – serves as the perfect example.
A full-featured IP-PBX and integrated UC platform designed for up to 1,000 end users, Switchvox moves organisations from the old world into the new – providing all of the communications functionality, reliability and security they need, backed by Sangoma’s global scale and pedigree.
Crucially, the system’s deployment and ongoing management is super-easy too; meaning the changes organisations WILL have to make need not act as barriers.
“For the new home worker, the benefits are huge,” says Horton.
“They can effectively be at home whilst having at their fingertips all of the same functionality they have when they are in the office.
“In the new-look office, Switchvox supports increased hot desking via an easy log in/out feature; provides a view of inbound caller information; and sophisticated call metrics for supervisors.
“For members of the workforce out on the road, their office number travels with them and they get a reliable mobile app that puts all of the office functionality in the palm of their hand.
“These advances are game-changing for everyone: businesses, their customers AND their employees”
Add seamless and complex converged call routing functionality; contact centre call management features such as waiting and call-back; and automatic failover to other colleagues, and it’s easy to see how Switchvox can transform an entire organisation.
More widely, the innovation on which it is based WILL continue to help shape a future in which we all thrive – even if, right now, some of us are moving more slowly than others.
“The effects of the pandemic on the way we all function in both our personal and professional lives means we are at a pivotal moment in the evolution of communication technology,” says Horton.
“It feels good to be helping organisations all over the world embrace that positive change and capitalise on the resulting opportunities.”
- To learn more about Switchvox, visit https://www.sangoma.com/business-phone-systems/
