Oddly though, business communications tends to be something of a forgotten child in the IT family. Often overlooked, communications get less attention than the rest of a business’s technological infrastructure and can go for years without an upgrade or review.
Communications today are far less about picking up the phone – and instead about a whole universe of data-based mediums including email, instant messaging, text messaging, bespoke apps, video and webchat. To communicate and collaborate effectively, a company needs to view its systems in a holistic sense, with desktops, mobiles and tablets all intrinsically linked and voice, video, multi-media messaging and team communications closely intertwined with business processes.
To provide a picture of the way in which communications are developing, simply take a look at contact centres. Staff are as likely to be live chatting on online messaging systems with clients as talking to them on the phone. A successful organisation should respond to its customers in the way they want to communicate – be it by text, email, live chat or voice – rather than dictating how they should get in touch.
For years, Avaya’s CS1000 system has been a mainstay of business communications. It’s been a fantastic and reliable solution which has proven its worth and more than repaid its investment. However in order to keep up with the pace of technological change, it is time to turn the page. Avaya’s communication solutions – including Avaya Aura and IP Office –give businesses a seamless and flexible way of accessing different channels of communication, and serve as a foundation for the long-term digitalisation of industries.
Recent research commissioned by Avaya and conducted by IDC asked enterprises what drives their digital transformation efforts. Of the respondents, 62% said they wanted improved employee productivity – followed by 54% for enhanced customer experience. That long-term thinking is, of course, entirely rational – by making staff more productive, you can tick off the other boxes, reducing frustration for customers and ultimately saving money for the bottom line.
Avaya’s latest communications software offers far greater flexibility and compatibility than its predecessors, and helps businesses be nimble and to respond to market changes quickly. In fact, it’s remarkably easy to deploy – customers can opt to reuse existing Avaya handsets if they wish, data migration has been automated and it’s easy to integrate with other applications. On top of that, there are financial benefits – such as discounts on software, hardware and services as well as packages that allow customers to pay on a per usage basis, rather than through an upfront, capex based licensing fee.
There are many powerful positive reasons for giving due attention to your communications core. And similarly, there are risks if you don’t give it any focus. If you neglect it, you could miss out on a great opportunity to boost your business by interacting in a smoother, reliable and more effective way with key customers.
Which is why Avaya is making it as easy and cost effective as possible to upgrade to our Avaya Aura and IP Office platforms. With flexibility for deployment on cloud or on-premise and the option to upgrade at a pace that aligns with your business objectives, Avaya is enabling customer to simply put communications firmly at the core of their business, so they can truly keep track of what their customers want and need and help their staff meet those customer needs quickly and effectively every time.