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Building a UC ‘sundae’ that supports seamless communication and collaboration
Now more than ever, communication is the lifeblood of innovation and business growth. From traditional telephony and email to online chat and video calling, and now the next generation of AI-powered chatbots and contact centres, the range of tools we use to communicate and collaborate with customers and colleagues continues to grow. With the modern dispersed workforce and a high standard of omnichannel customer service expected as standard for customers, it's an exciting time for sure, but how do you stack the right UC flavours for your organisation's needs?
It's natural that organisations at all levels continue to cultivate their own Unified Communications ecosystems, driving an explosion of new technology platforms. But with more and more communication and collaboration tools available, all of which will need to be integrated with the wider technology infrastructure to deliver the desired ROI, I often speak to professionals who're not sure where to begin.
So, with that in mind, let's take a step back and explore how to build a Unified Communications stack - your own UC 'sundae' - that not only fulfils your immediate goals, but provides ample room to scale and evolve in the years ahead…
The network remains the foundation of effective communication
Before investing in any new technologies, it is absolutely essential that you ensure the underlying connectivity will support them, and Unified Communications is no different. For any communication and collaboration platform - whether it's traditional telephony, or the next generation of omnichannel contact centres - the highest levels of resilience, availability, and security are essential.
Making deployment, integration, and up-scaling stress-free
When it comes to IT, no solution exists in a vacuum, and it's vital that you bear this in mind when building your own UC ecosystem. So, with the underlying network in place, the next step is ensuring the right UC platform is deployed, and intelligently integrated with the wider IT infrastructure.
If there are legacy communications tools that you wish to retain - telephony - for instance, your UC provider should be willing and able to work with you to put this into practice, ensuring a smooth deployment process, where your end users are able to start making use of the new solution as quickly as possible, with minimal disruption to their existing workflows.
The highest standard of cyber security must overlay any UC deployment, with proactive steps taken to ensure that any integrations with existing infrastructure does not create new attack vectors that bad actors could (or rather, will!) exploit.
With a solid foundation of enterprise-class networking, ironclad security, and next-gen UC in place, the opportunities for future growth are huge. For example, in the emerging era of omnichannel customer service, the contact centre has become many organisations' primary point of customer contact. Many of the principles driving true omnichannel communication and collaboration within the workforce can be taken further to deliver a new breed of customer journey, where agents are equipped with the tools they need to deliver successful resolutions as quickly as possible.
It's time for a holistic, full-stack approach to building IT infrastructure
Now, we've touched on quite a few different solutions here, and you might well think that putting all this into practice will require engaging with multiple specialist providers, with all the challenges around management, integration, and cost control that is likely to present.
But there's another way…
At EXPO.e Networks, Unified Communications is part of our flavour offerings, along with expansive other flavours across Network, Cloud, and Cyber Security. With this evolving range of flavours, encompassing Teams Calling, VoIP, UCaaS, and Contact Centre - developed in collaboration with industry leaders like Microsoft, Cisco, and Five9, we take a holistic approach to communication and collaboration.
We recognise that optimum integration and a high level of customer service are both equally as important in the modern workplace, so with our fully integrated flavour offerings, not only do you ensure your estate seamlessly works together, but you also have access to our UK-based service desk, available 24/7, with everything available as a fully managed service if you opt for it.
Additionally, we offer a reduced rate on your connectivity when you purchase any of your UC stack flavours with EXPO.e Networks on top.
Purchase any UC or Contact Centre solution from EXPO.e Networks and get 10% off your circuit price1
So, contact us today and start creating your own, unique UC sundae!
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1.Terms and conditions apply. Minimum number of seats/licences required.
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Discover a full stack of more than thirty tantalising IT flavours, covering Network, Cloud, Unified Communications, and Cyber Security - all powered by our own enterprise-class, homogenous network, to ensure completely seamless integration.
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