Business doesn’t always happen face to face. Rather than let that affect productivity, technological innovation has provided options to maintain efficiency, accessibility, and effective communication.
Eventually, it has also paved the way for businesses to evolve. Armed with the right tools that delivered mobility, businesses realized they could use the same technology to run virtual teams. Confident that productivity could be streamlined, they began introducing concepts such as bring your own device (BYOD) and work from-home programs. Assured that access to critical documents could be shifted to the Cloud, businesses sought to become paperless.
It’s evident that it wasn’t just technology that was evolving; given these new capabilities, businesses were too—especially in communications. Check out the different ways communication is evolving to meet the demands of modern businesses.
#1. Stronger focus on mobility for employees
Workplaces today put a lot of focus on mobility.
The need for employees to stay connected, whether it’s because they’re constantly on the go, or because your office employs remote workers, is obvious. Thanks to mobile devices such as tablets, laptops, and smartphones, it’s easier for companies to support this.
Today, there are apps that support real-time communications, so productivity doesn’t suffer regardless of where you’re working.
#2. Empower better collaborations for teams
Collaboration in the office used to mean sitting down with all your employees in a conference room, meeting face to face, and discussing the agenda at hand. This isn’t always possible nowadays when you have teams out in the field, or when you work with employees based in another part of the globe.
Recognizing the importance of collaboration, however, collaboration tools that allow documents to be stored and edited in real-time on the Cloud have become the new norm. Combined with powerful communication features such as conferencing and real-time text and chat, technology has shown that it can adapt to the modern workforce’s evolving needs.
#3. Ensure streamlined communications between employees
Access to today’s mobile devices has proven to be very useful for business communications. However, between all these different types of devices, trying to communicate using various platforms, and the back-and-forth between your personal and work-issued devices, can be confusing and overwhelming.
In fact, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study, employees tend to spend 19 percent of their average workweek searching and gathering information. That’s time that could be better spent being productive.
A platform that can centralize communications and foster seamless collaboration is the solution. Hosted VoIP, for example, is a tool that essentially allows employees to streamline business communication even while using multiple devices.
With a larger focus on these different aspects of business communication, the need for technology to keep up is evident. While there are no hard and fast rules that dictate when you should tap into these new tools, it certainly puts the spotlight on how technology can improve productivity, operations, and save money.
One of the easiest and cost-effective tools you can implement right now is Hosted VoIP. Shifting to cloud-based phone services makes your business more efficient and easier to manage. Simply replacing your existing traditional phone equipment with a cloud-based PBX provides better mobility, fosters collaboration, and reliable ways to communicate.
If you would like to find out how Jive can help improve your communications, get in touch with us today.
