We all know how much customer expectations have changed, especially since the pandemic hit. The expectation is that the experience will be frictionless and consistent with always-on service regardless of how, when, and where engagement happens. The same goes for employees. We have entered a new era of work defined by exceptional experiences that allow users to work seamlessly and efficiently anytime, anywhere. What does this look like?
First, let’s look at what it doesn’t look like:
Multiple solutions: Many companies are struggling with UCaaS app redundancy, be it apps implemented by IT or those introduced on the side by different departments. Different people have different ways of communicating and collaborating, but that shouldn’t mean maintaining (and paying extra for) multiple different solutions across an organization. The right UCaaS solution should replace a combination of one or more existing apps (significantly saving on costs) and allow seamless integrations with hundreds of desktop apps, workflow automation, and CRM tools that employees rely on including Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, and more.
Lack of fluidity: The pandemic accelerated a trend that was already happening: work that is ever more unplanned, dynamic, and collaborative. Unless you have 100% of your workforce working on-site 100% of the time, you’re going to need a flexible, all-in-one communications solution that enables employees to easily reach customers and each other regardless of where they are, what device they’re using, or what form of communication works best for them. For example, a customer service employee being able to easily access a subject matter expert regardless of location to help solve a problem in the moment while a customer is on the line. The future of work is about eliminating rigid processes so that employees can freely collaborate and creatively fill gaps to drive better customer and business outcomes.
An effective work-from-anywhere strategy requires several components like connectivity, security, and global availability with communications being one of them. For the purposes of this blog, we’re going to focus only on communications. Here’s what organizations need to be thinking about…
The evolution from UC to Workstream Collaboration
Workstream Collaboration (WSC) is the next evolution from unified communications, replacing the familiar system of using disparate tools to collaborate via standalone applications with configurable workspaces built on top of workflows. WSC empowers teams to communicate in context through the integration of chat, voice, video, and meetings with business workflows and external applications (i.e., Outlook contacts and Google calendar). Gartner predicts that by 2022, 70% of teams will rely on WSC as their primary means of communicating, coordinating, and sharing information. By 2023, the firm expects that 75% of organizations using WSC will have it fully extended to all employees – an increase from 45% in 2019. Learn more from our CMO, Simon Harrison.
One vendor with one single source of management
In a recent “work from anywhere” study conducted by Avaya, over 70% of executives said they prefer to have one single vendor for all their collaboration technology – the study found that this is especially important to large, multi-office enterprises that average 4+ different vendors. The right solution should provide an all-in-one experience that is simple to use while streamlining administration and billing by providing a single vendor and bill for all communications needs.
Creative freedom for managing communications
The right solution should give employees more creative freedom for how they manage their communication workflow, be it someone who’s more digitally savvy or someone who prefers a balance of traditional and digital methods – just like customer preferences for engaging with businesses how they desire.
Despite differences in how people work, every user will be made constantly visible and accessible with the ability to quickly respond, regardless of where they are or what they’re doing. Eliminate departmental siloes and enable your organization to act as a single, integrated, aligned business with employees and teams working in a way that works best for them. Learn more about Avaya’s award-winning Workstream Collaboration solutions.
