Workplace productivity is currently taking a central focus due to the current drive for staff to return to the office. There’s a big debate surrounding whether teams can remain productive working remotely or whether the office is the only place where things really get done. The greatest levels of productivity come from teams who can use the right technology to make the most of their working environment.
Depending on your industry there will be different requirements for the technology that you use. In this blog, we’ll cover 4 of the ways that the right communications platform can bring elevated levels of productivity to any business.
Providing new ways to collaborate internally
Internal collaboration is essential to productivity. The past year and a half has shown that without a reliable way to stay in touch with colleagues, getting things done is very challenging. Thankfully, with the right communication services at your disposal, collaboration will be better than it ever has before.
A unified communications service provides a great way for colleagues to work alongside each other. Even if some staff are remote or others office-bound. Through this platform not only can you call or message colleagues, but you can also work on the same documents at the same time using file sharing capability. When working from home it can be a challenge to know who is working on what, but the ability to share work between teams can be incredibly valuable.
Collaboration is further improved by UC’s video conferencing service. This allows you to maintain face-to-face contact with your team, and its screen sharing featuring helps you to better explain the tasks you’re working on together.
Help to manage your customer service team
Customer service staff have arguably the most important role in your business. Whether introducing new customers to your services or taking care of existing ones, it’s imperative that your service runs smoothly. Without the right technology the customer service experience can feel disjointed and drawn-out.
CRM integration allows you to speed up the customer service process and provide a more bespoke experience to your clients. This service is included within our UC platform and allows your communication network to connect to a variety of customer relationship management tools. From here anytime a customer dials in, your staff will automatically see their name and details. This means they can greet them by name and resolve their query faster.
It can be difficult to know when a large quantity of calls are overwhelming customer service agents, especially if some are working remotely. Call management systems allow you to track every stat related to your network. From the number of calls coming in, to which operators are handling the most. From here you can make simple adjustments that can make a big difference such as assigning more users to a specific team during busy hours, or providing better training to those falling behind.
Plan and schedule your work more effectively
Poor organisation is the death of productivity. Businesses who fail to plan and schedule internal or external communications struggle to get work done in a timely manner. Businesses need technology to ensure that all their staff can remain in the loop.
Through a UC platform, members of your team can easily display their availability through a presence system. This means that their colleagues can see if they are available to collaborate, away from the office or busy on another call. This gives you a better way to plan and manage your time.
Scheduling is further supported by integrations with 3rd party software. We understand that your business likely uses a variety of different productivity services. Therefore making sure your communications service works seamlessly alongside them has to be a priority. We integrate with Outlook, Office 365 and more to help you book meetings with staff and clients alike.
Bring remote workers back into the loop
Remote work is here to stay. The benefits that it brings to morale and productivity can’t be ignored. It is crucial then that businesses facilitate this way of working and accommodate remote staff.
One way to achieve this is by scheduling regular contact with remote staff. This should be done via your UC platform’s video conferencing service to maintain a face-to-face connection. This reduces the sense of isolation that can be caused by working from home and helps to give remote staff a better sense of direction.
In terms of the communication service that you equip remote workers with, we’d recommend turning to the cloud. Cloud phone systems have the advantage of being able to be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This means your team will spend less time setting up their network and more time focused on their roles and working at their best.
We hope that these tips have helped to give you some ideas of where your communications can improve productivity. If you have any questions about the services mentioned here, get in touch at 0800 298 6022