Highlights:
- Taking the right paths forward
- Required pit stop: Integrations
- RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams
- Paving the way for a flexible future
In recent years, the workplace has transitioned into a new world. The way we work has gone through a rapid metamorphosis, with flexible communications taking center stage.
More businesses are now shifting to remote and hybrid work models. In a marked change from previous years, research suggests that 97.6% of employees would like to work remotely at least some of the time.
With these new working models coming into play, the tools that once served us are coming up short. As the communications landscape continues to evolve, businesses have been left asking “How can we navigate this new world?”
Whether you’re hoping to improve your internal or external communications, replace your current tool, or add a new one, we’re here to help you overcome your communications conundrum. The right communications tool, with complete flexibility, can be your competitive advantage and key to stronger team collaboration and productivity.
📚 Grab our free eBook and learn how to future-proof your workplace with flexible communications.
Taking the right paths forward
It’s critical to navigate this new communications landscape the right way—your business’s success depends on it—and we’re here to help. In this blog post, we’ll share the best paths to take moving forward when it comes to communications and highlight a required pit stop: integrations.
Path 1: Message, video, and phone—together
Did you know 67% of workers believe a unified platform would improve their workflow? Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) makes it possible to have phone calls, messaging, and video conferencing all in a single app. With an all-in-one, integrated communications tool, you can easily communicate on your preferred channel of choice from anywhere—no more toggling between multiple apps.
Managing multiple communications apps can get costly and cause headaches, which is why UCaaS is the best route to take. Having just one vendor to service all your business communications needs will make your life simpler and open up more time for you to focus on your business.
With advanced UCaaS tools, like RingCentral MVP™, you’ll see a direct, positive impact on your business results. For example, RingCentral’s small and medium business customers saw a 68% increase in employee mobility, 50% increase in customer satisfaction, and 33% increase in employee productivity after deploying RingCentral’s unified communications and contact center solutions.
Thanks to RingCentral, California-based startup Theta Lake is able to use unified communications to unleash innovation and communicate like an enterprise.
“Even though [our team] is separated by geography, RingCentral is helping us to build a close-knit and highly effective team—all working toward a common purpose… The more time we spent working with RingCentral’s unified communications solution as an integration partner, the clearer it became how valuable it could be internally.”
Anthony also has some words of advice for other small businesses that are considering a new communications tool:
“Find the right communications partner now, even if they offer more than you need while you’re in startup mode. If all goes to plan, you’ll soon be a growing and thriving company, and at that point, you’ll want your business communications environment to support your success, not hinder it.”
Path 2: Prioritize productivity
Fun fact: 81% of employees feel collaboration apps improve productivity. If your communications and collaboration tools aren’t boosting productivity, then reconsider your next move.
Technology is meant to maximize productivity between employees, vendors, and other stakeholders—not hinder it. Think about what your employees need to be successful, and then give it to them. For example, employees don’t want to deal with complicated and unreliable tools.
Empower your employees by enabling them to collaborate seamlessly across messaging, video meetings, phone calls, texts, and faxes. Even consider the little things that can make all the difference in your employees’ work lives, such as letting them use their business phone number on their cell phone, so they can easily connect on the go and not be tied to their desk.
Always keep productivity as a focal point when making decisions. Ask yourself, “Will this decision help boost productivity?” If so, it’s a path to strongly consider.
Path 3: Mobile-friendly with the cloud
Being able to work from different locations is at the top of everyone’s priorities, and 77% of businesses agree that cloud communications support a mobile workforce.
Employees don’t want to be tied to their desks, especially when remote and hybrid work is on the rise. By choosing a cloud-based communications provider, you can manage your business from anywhere and communicate using any device (phone, laptop, tablet, you name it) on mobile, desktop, or web. With RingCentral MVP, you can even use a switch feature that lets you seamlessly change from desktop to mobile (and vice versa) as you work on the go.
Moving to the cloud isn’t as scary as you might think it is either—with the right vendor, you can easily keep your existing phone number or get new local, global, or toll-free numbers.
We’re living in a time when desk phones are now optional, not mandatory, so why not take advantage of it.
Path 4: If it’s not reliable, it’s time to axe it
When it comes to communications tools, having strong reliability is a requirement. If you can’t rely on your messages, video meetings, or phone calls to work, then what’s the point? Imagine having your phone call drop unexpectedly when you’re on an important call with a client—that’s not a good look and can potentially cost your business money.
Make sure you set your business up for success with bulletproof reliability. For starters, pick a communications vendor that offers 24/7 multichannel support, 99.999% uptime that keeps you connected during outages and disasters, and a #1 rating by industry experts. For example, RingCentral is a Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant Leader six years in a row.
Path 5: Security credentials are essential
Did you know, on average, only 5% of companies’ folders are properly protected and cybercrime is estimated to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025? In addition, security breaches have increased by 67% over the last five years. This is alarming to say the least.
Organizations are spending more than ever to protect their business from security threats. It’s time to step up to the mark when it comes to communications compliance and security provisions.
Pick a communications vendor that has leading security certifications, such as SOC 3 and HITRUST, and compliance with industry requirements, such as HIPAA and FINRA, to ensure that your business always operates securely and in accordance with industry standards.
With RingCentral, you’ll get a number of global certifications, including SOC 2, SOC 3, HITRUST, FINRA, HIPAA, C5, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and GDPR compliance. To top this all off, RingCentral is complete with seven layers of security to fully protect your business.
Required pit stop: Integrations
Now that we’ve walked through the five paths to take when it comes to navigating the communications landscape, let’s talk about one critical pitstop: integrations. By choosing a UCaaS solution that integrates with the way you work, you’ll be able to take full advantage of flexible communications.
Still not convinced when it comes to the power of integrations? Let the numbers speak for themselves with our top five benefits list below.
Start having some fun and simplify your workflows with integrations. There are hundreds of integrations and open APIs available that make it easy for you to work directly from your favorite apps. With RingCentral, you can leverage 250+ integrations in the RingCentral App Gallery and open APIs through the RingCentral developer portal to customize all your workflows, including integrations with Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and Google Cloud.
Whether you’re looking to take a multi-vendor approach to your UCaaS stack or use a single vendor, RingCentral provides you with the flexibility and options you need to be successful using whichever tools you choose.
Let’s walk through one example of an integration that can help future-proof your business: RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams.
RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams was a fast-growing app during the pandemic. The company added 95 million users in 2020 alone.
But there’s one area where it falls short: telephony. If you have Microsoft Teams, then you’re well aware that it does not include external telephony. There are two ways to add telephony to Microsoft Teams. You can either use a Microsoft Calling Plan or use Direct Routing with a third-party provider like RingCentral. Direct Routing lets you use a telephony carrier to connect to a PSTN (public switched telephone network).
RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams lets you access all Microsoft Teams features, while gaining the power of RingCentral’s enterprise-grade telephony to back it up.
🔍 Learn the top 12 benefits of RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams with our free datasheet.
Below are just some of the many benefits you’d get with RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams:
- Ease of use: Integrate natively into Teams to enjoy the same interface without additional downloads, bots, or plugins.
- Advanced PBX features: Enjoy advanced call controls, IVR, call handling and recording, reports and analytics, call queues, SMS, fax, and more.
- Mobility: Communicate and collaborate seamlessly across any mode, any device, anywhere.
- Flexibility and scalability: As your team grows, add new users within a few seconds.
- Ready to deploy: RingCentral helps maintain and operate your complete high-availability Teams Direct Routing infrastructure using Microsoft-certified session border controllers (SBC).
- Analytics: Identify key trends, set alerts, and more, for complete visibility across voice communications.
- Global calling: Reach 40+ countries, up from the 26 countries that Microsoft Calling Plans offer. Plus, enjoy local and toll-free numbers in 110+ countries.
- Stronger reliability: RingCentral has 99.999% uptime SLA compared to Microsoft Teams’ 99.9% uptime SLA. This might not seem like a big difference, but it is. RingCentral’s 99.999% uptime SLA equates to six minutes of downtime a year, while Microsoft Teams’ 99.9% uptime SLA equates to nine hours. Imagine how much this can negatively impact your business given the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. Yes, you read that right—$5,600 per minute.
It’s no wonder over 85% of Microsoft Teams users have enabled telephony through a third-party Direct Routing service over Microsoft Calling Plans.
Let’s take a look at one business benefiting from the RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams integration. Top UK law firm Howard Kennedy, with 400 employees, uses RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams to consolidate business communications and serve its international network of clients. Jonathan Freedman, Head of Technology and Security at Howard Kennedy, shares:
“RingCentral Cloud PBX for Teams integrated effortlessly into our Microsoft Teams environment. On top of this, RingCentral had 99.999% availability and a solid reputation for business telephony.”
Paving the way for a flexible future
UCaaS and integrations are paving the way for a future of flexible communications, and RingCentral is center stage. The way we work has changed a lot over the last year, and that means the tools we rely on have too.
With RingCentral, you can run your business how you want. Whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the move, your productive streak can continue. Thanks to top-rated security, advanced PBX and customer engagement features, and a flexible platform, RingCentral is trusted by more than 350,000 small businesses.
With the RingCentral Advantage, we’re with you every step of the way—you’ll get a comprehensive mix of experts, tools, and resources to help you successfully deploy RingCentral across your business. Most importantly, RingCentral is specifically designed to grow with your business for long-term scalability. We’re more than a solution, we’re your partner.
Originally published Aug 17, 2021, updated Dec 30, 2022
