Around the world, companies are rapidly increasing their investments in technology to empower faster, more efficient, and more productive teams. Unified Communications technology is one of the most attractive (and lucrative) investments to achieve these goals.
According to one study, by adopting Unified Communications (UC) tools, companies can achieve an average 52% increase in workplace productivity, 45% better efficiency, and a 25% higher profit. In the competitive professional services landscape, this makes UC investments a no-brainer.
Professional services companies responsible for helping other businesses grow and expand their operations in various industries are under significant pressure to transform digitally in an evolving landscape. The faster and more adept these companies become, the better their bottom line.
Let’s look at how UC is making waves in professional services.
The Growing Demand for UC in Professional Services
Like many organisations in the current landscape, professional services brands are tackling various complex challenges. Customer demands are growing more profound, and the pressure is constantly on to maximise resource utilisation and increase billable hours. Unified Communications technology could be one of the core pillars in a Professional Services company’s road to success.
By aligning teams in a distributed environment, improving opportunities to communicate with clients, and opening the door to insights into business processes, UC paves the way for agile growth. The right technology can make team members more productive while pinpointing opportunities for growth in a professional services space.
The suitable UC investment in a professional services company supports:
- Boosted efficiency: Efficiency is everything for a service-based company. Accountants, consultants, and other experts need to be able to manage clients quickly and effectively without compromising on service. According to a report by Forrester, the average company can save up to 8 hours of wasted time per user per week with the right UC solution. The same study also found that tools like Microsoft Teams for UC could improve decision-making by 17.7% by synchronising crucial information in a single platform.
- Rapid scalability: Many professional services companies have been scaling to global levels recently, thanks to the increasing acceptance of remote hiring practices. With a UC solution, it’s easier to manage all of the communication assets of a global business in one environment, scaling according to the needs of each team in different areas. The solution also allows for the rapid flow of information through a connected ecosystem.
- Improved security: When working with professional services companies, other brands want to know their data is being kept secure. UC platforms align multiple avenues for information into one environment, so it’s easier to track the flow of crucial data. Some companies can even take advantage of data sovereignty practices to keep more of their information in the same place. An aligned ecosystem is easier to track and easier to secure.
- Better insights: To deliver the best possible service as efficiently as they can, professional services companies need to keep a close eye on critical stats and metrics. Aside from making the ecosystem more secure, aligning your communication tools in a UC system can also make it easier to get a more unified view of all the data crucial to a business’s operation. This leads to better insights and more robust decision-making for teams.
- Reduced costs: Like many companies, professional services brands constantly look for ways to keep operating costs low. This is particularly true in a post-pandemic environment, where budgets are limited. A UC solution can make it easier to minimise costs by reducing the amount of physical hardware needed for communications. The same tools also allow for hybrid and remote working, which reduces the need for a physical space where employees can come together to work.
The Trends Driving UC for Professional Services
Efficiency is perhaps the most significant factor driving the adoption of UC in professional services organisations today. Companies want to work with other brands capable of offering quick solutions to their problems without compromising accuracy or quality. With Unified Communications, it’s easier to align a team of professionals around a task, regardless of where they are in the world.
Forrester’s report mentioned above that the average information worker saves daily by having all the tools and features they need to connect with clients and colleagues in the same pane of glass. As the professional services industry evolves and innovations occur in the UC landscape, some of the trends driving adoption for modern teams include:
- Virtualisation and the cloud: As the world becomes more digitised, more work done by professional services companies is happening online, through the cloud. A virtualisation strategy, which moves more data and processes into the web, allows for a more agile and flexible workforce. With virtualisation and UC tools, professional services brands can onboard customers and connect with specialists worldwide without spending a fortune on travel and real-estate investments.
- AI and analytics: Insightful tools built into the UC environment can provide professional services companies with more of the information they need to create strong relationships with clients. Some vendors even make it possible to align UCaaS and CCaaS environments for a more comprehensive view of all the data moving through the workplace. With AI tools to capture this data, assess trends, and deliver more meaningful reports, professional services companies can adapt quickly to the needs of their customers.
- Remote work: More than ever, hybrid and remote work is becoming commonplace for professional services companies. The specialists in this environment can efficiently work from anywhere worldwide, with access to valuable tools over the cloud. As the workplace transforms post-pandemic, robust UC systems will help keep teams aligned in a distributed world. 5G connections and mobility tools can empower teams to work more effectively in the field.
Discovering the Opportunities for UC in Professional Services
An efficient and aligned back-end environment is crucial for any company focused on delivering exceptional services to other businesses. The right UC technology in the professional services sector opens the door to better productivity levels, more engaged employees in a distributed environment, and higher-quality insights for business leaders.
