Conferencing, collaboration, connection, and mobility. These are more than just buzzwords. In response to the evolving needs of today’s businesses, the development of business technology has been impressive. This year we can expect conferencing, collaboration, connection, and mobility to take on new meaning as small to medium businesses adopt and leverage new communication technology.
1. Conferencing with video technology
While not exactly new, video conferencing solutions have recently seen a significant resurgence and adoption among businesses.
When it was first introduced, video conferencing came second to traditional telephony as a communication tool mainly because of its unreliability. Not only did video conferencing require higher network bandwidth, but it was susceptible to a lot of technical glitches—from dropped calls to low-quality lines.
Thanks to faster Internet speeds, better mobile technology and hardware, improved video compression, and better display resolutions, video conferencing is growing to be a primary form of communication in business. It allows for real-time, visual coordination, regardless of where you are, with numerous additional functionalities such as file sharing, instant messaging, and screen sharing.
Need to step-up your video conferencing skills? “Get Ready for your Close Up with These 10 Video Conferencing Tips.”
2. Collaborating with unified technology
Effective collaboration hinges on how well a company can communicate and coordinate. These days, it’s not just a matter of aligning with office and field-based employees. You also have to take into consideration remote employees, work-from-home programs, team members who travel frequently for work, and giving non-office-based stakeholders access to critical data.
New communications solutions are prompting better collaboration via unified communication platforms that include Hosted VoIP. These platforms typically offer a scalable or pay as you go plan. Therefore, it’s also more cost-effective for smaller organizations.
3. Connecting with integrated technology
The great thing about communication technology today is that it can integrate into existing tools and platforms that your office already uses. For instance, Hosted VoIP solutions can be used with computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Communication will thrive for your employees if they can easily access work information with a cloud-based solution. For example, an integration that allows your employee to access work from their personal computer allows for work communication to continue—even if an employees is working from home.
Before, introducing new technology for a small business required a lot of legwork and time. The integration process almost required a customization worked out by software engineers. Small business didn’t have the resources and money to do that. So small businesses missed out on game-changing communication technology. But now productivity, project management, and collaboration software may integrated with existing tools and platforms you’re already using. Now that technologies are pro-actively providing integrations with popular work software, small businesses can easily integrate new technologies.
4. Mobilizing with technology
Mobility is critical for small to medium business, and the communication technology today empowers SMBs with more mobile capabilities. Hosted VoIP, collaboration software, and productivity tools all leverage on Internet communication and mobile devices to make businesses more flexible and mobile.
Technology allows employees to easily redirect business communications straight to their mobile devices. Contacts and data can be shared and accessed through multiple devices. If needed, personal devices can even be configured to support traditional landline office desk phone functions. This means you can conveniently work remotely.
These emerging technologies can support the growth of smaller businesses and give them an opportunity to compete with larger companies. If you would like your company to experience the flexibility and collaboration that Hosted VoIP can provide, get in touch with us today.
