What’s the Connection Between VoIP Phone Systems and Unified Communications?

As part of your VoIP phone system research, you have (or will) no doubt come the term unified communications, or UC for short. However, you may not be readily familiar with this concept.

The simplest way to understand the connection between VoIP phone systems and unified communications is to break the discussion up into three sections: big picture, technology and “WIIFM?” (“What’s in it for me?”).

Big Picture

In the broadest sense, the fundamental purpose of UC is to improve productivity, drive efficiency and optimize business processes by integrating people and technology in a shared context. In other words, UC is not just about “doing more with less,” but it fundamentally increases the capacity to do more, while it improves quality and results.    

Technology

The technology and architecture of UC is such that end users (e.g. employees, customers, etc.) can convey a message via one medium, and receive it on another. What’s more, this exchange can happen in real-time or non-real-time based on a variety of factors, including pre-set preferences, sender/receiver location, the device or devices that are being used to facilitate the communication, and so on.

What's In It For Me?

Ultimately, the most important question that you want to answer when it comes to the connection between VoIP phone systems and UC is, quite simply: what’s in it for me? Fortunately, that is where UC really shines and earns its designation as a game-changer. 

Specifically, UC is what allows VoIP phone systems to deliver a suite of advanced features that drive productivity, efficiency, performance and results. These features include (but are not limited to) integrated voicemail, instant messaging, SMS, video/web conferencing, presence information, call control, and fax integration. 

What’s more, UC can be integrated with other solutions in the environment – such as customer relationship management and sales force automation software – in order to create seamless workflows, and establish a single interface to access customer information that is automatically updated in real-time.

As noted by TechTarget: “UC allows applications to be used concurrently, creating multichannel sessions so employees can collaborate more effectively. Furthermore, UC delivers a consistent user experience, meaning employees can work the same way regardless of the endpoint, operating system or network used to access the platform.” 

Learn More

To learn more about the connection between VoIP phone systems and UC, contact the Votacall team today. Our Votacall Hosted PBX with UCaaS solution was awarded “Unified Communication Product of the Year” by global integrated media company TMC. We understand how to translate UC’s big picture and technology into the keys that are essential for bottom-line business success: integration, simplicity, productivity and accessibility. Your consultation with us is free.

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