Just two short years ago, most professionals worked in offices. In 2022, it’s a brave new world where many aren’t sure where they will be working tomorrow–in a corporate office, from their home, or on the road heading to a necessary meeting.
Some companies have made remote work a permanent option. Others have embraced hybrid work—a work model that incorporates a mixture of in-office and remote working within a worker’s schedule.
How we communicate at work has undergone a similar upheaval. Legacy systems simply don’t translate well to our new world of work—they’re dated, not flexible, and tied to a specific location.
Consider the following scenarios:
- An executive needs to be in the office for meetings, travels frequently, and works remotely on certain days to be closer to family.
- A fully remote worker uses her cell phone and laptop for work but feels cut off from the collaboration she used to have when she worked in an office.
- A remote employee must flee to a co-working space when kids are home from school because of school holidays.
- A mostly in-office worker spends some winter days working from home because of frequent snow and ice.
What do all of these scenarios have in common? They require a communications system that isn’t actually tied to a workplace—one that’s flexible and works everywhere employees are.
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Enter the cloud-based unified communications system: a system that’s secure, reliable, and works anywhere on any device. Here are just a few ways a flexible unified communications system can help your business simplify workstreams.
Drop the complexity
Unified communications systems like RingCentral make your life easier. Gone are the days when people were forced to switch between multiple apps—more apps just means more headaches and higher costs. With unified communications as a service (UCaaS for short), you can eliminate both pain points by having all your communications needs in a single app.
No wonder 67% of workers believe that a unified platform will improve their workflow.
Imagine a world where you can have just one vendor for all your communications needs. Sounds great, doesn’t it? You can have an easy-to-navigate app for phone, messaging, video, texts, and faxes that can be set up in minutes. In addition to having just one app, you’ll also have just one bill and one vendor. It doesn’t get simpler than that!
Keep it secure
You can’t simplify workstreams without first knowing they’re protected. The hard truth is that businesses are hacked every day and have their data stolen, exposed to others, or held hostage for a payoff. Your work devices should be protected by antivirus software or even a virtual private network (VPN) that can keep prying eyes from getting access to confidential data or proprietary information that puts a business at risk.
For peace of mind and the highest level of protection, RingCentral’s systems are protected end-to-end with seven layers of enterprise-grade security. RingCentral’s global certifications include SOC 2, SOC 3, HITRUST, FINRA, HIPAA, C5, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and GDPR compliance.
Under this kind of UCaaS system, all your data and communications will be protected at the highest level. This is especially important if you collect customer data, which must be kept safe and private. But it’s also important for employee data and in many other instances where a breach would be devastating to your business.
Make it scalable
Small businesses may balk at a UCaaS system, thinking they don’t need much more than a way to talk on the phone. But most small businesses and startups don’t intend to stay small, and it makes sense to start with a flexible system that can grow with your business.
Keep an eye out for scalability when purchasing a communications tool. How do you know if one is scalable? For starters, you should be able to add new lines, offices, and remote teams in a matter of minutes, not hours or days.
Make sure that it integrates with a wide range of popular apps and software tools (think Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Google Cloud) and allows you to develop your own custom apps with powerful APIs. That’s the sign of a truly scalable software solution—one you can customize to fit your unique business needs.
Work from anywhere
Employees don’t want to feel restricted and tethered to their desks. They want to be able to work on the go and have true mobility. Future-forward businesses are putting communications tools in place that allow them to manage their business from… well… just about anywhere.
Cloud communications has transformed businesses everywhere, and yours is no exception. 77% of businesses agree that cloud communications enables them to support a mobile workforce. Desk phones can be completely optional—now you can manage all business communications from mobile and desktop apps.
If you’re on a call, you can even switch from desktop to your phone (and vice versa) with a click of a button.
A best-of-breed solution is right in front of you
An advanced UCaaS system can be a valuable partner to help your business streamline workflows and future-proof your workplace. Which partner should you go with? Consider RingCentral. RingCentral offers an award-winning UCaaS system trusted by more than 350,000 small businesses.
Whether you’re looking to improve your internal or external communications, RingCentral can help you enhance communications between employees and customers alike with a best-of-breed UCaaS solution. The future’s looking bright with RingCentral by your side.
Originally published Feb 14, 2022, updated Dec 30, 2022
