Planning to sell Unified Communications (UC) to your end users? Don’t expect them to get too excited right away. Moving them from traditional voice systems to the world of IP may be exciting for you, but the basic components of voice gateways, core processing servers, and IP phones do not, in and of themselves, offer value to your employees. So, what’s the key to revving up your employees and ensuring optimal buy-in?

For starters, turn away from the conventional approach, which has been something like this: first deploy it, then tell your employees it’s available, and assume they’ll figure out how to use it. It will backfire. Instead, include end-users in the process right from the start. It’s the only way to get their buy-in, and this is critical to a successful UC deployment. By placing value on user needs upfront, you will inspire their confidence in employing the new tools.

What’s more, they should be informed of the benefits such as more-timely interactions, increased revenue, and even CAPEX/OPEX savings, as well as secondary benefits like eliminating clunky traditional phone systems. By thoroughly explaining the payback from deploying UC, employee buy-in is assured.

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Better cost control

UC technology is accessible from any device (e.g. phone terminals, laptops and mobile phones) all over the world, so a company can deploy a mobile workforce with minimal costs. The UC vendor is there whenever tech support is needed, as part of the contract. With a product like VoipNow, an organization can experience significant local, mobile and long-distance call cost savings, especially those with multiple branches, through intelligent call routing. VoipNow will automatically choose the best telephony trunking provider, based on criteria such as time of call, destination, price, and availability. This way, the system minimizes costs while also increasing availability. The ROI is felt soon after implementation, however the technology is designed to also save money in the long run.

Fun fact: according to recent studies, a business that allows employees to work out of the office half the time saves $11,000 per worker annually. Tools like VoipNow Mobile make this possible for organizations big and small. Designed specifically for iOS devices as a secure SIP-based softphone using the VoipNow platform, our handy app allows users to make and receive business calls on the go. Call management capabilities include contact integration, call transfer, call hold/mute, call recording and call history, and speakerphone. You can also pick up regular phone calls when the app runs in the background. So while it replaces your desktop phone, it doesn’t take your smartphone hostage in the process.

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Enterprise-wide collaboration

The ability to communicate and collaborate throughout the company is essential for any organization. UC tech goes the extra mile by linking together product specialists, service reps or IT gurus from outside your company to collectively answer customer questions or solve internal problems. Outsourcing takes a whole new meaning. Let’s look at a practical example of how UC-powered collaboration enhances customer service.

A service rep in California may be on a call with a customer requesting answers beyond his understanding. Instead of ending the call with an unsatisfactory answer or asking the customer to wait for an email reply, the service rep can involve a product specialist in the call. This specialist is located in New York, without the customer being aware of this fact. Regardless of his location, the product specialist can act as a Queue supervisor and participate in the call with two options: listening to the call and whispering to the service representative.

Stories may not be enough to get your workforce to hop aboard the UC bandwagon. The best way to ensure their buy-in is to directly include them in the deployment process right from the get go. It’s best to get past the big blockades early, for smooth sailing later.