Unified Communication Needs by Department — and How IT Can Meet Them

As an IT leader, it was once your job to make the business case for digital transformation and unified communication (UC), but that mission has been accomplished. Today, the C-suite is fully on board. Yet, while most senior leaders are focused on solving their own communication challenges, you understand everyone's pain points — if only because they keep griping about them.

The CEO wants cloud solutions in place yesterday and wants to see results by tomorrow. Customer service wants an omnichannel contact center, sales leaders want more bang for their CRM buck, the CMO wants more integrated and personalized marketing campaigns, and the COO wants to shore up inefficiencies with automation. The CFO hears all this, too, and keeps reminding you to keep costs low.

How can you meet all these needs without breaking the bank? By investing in one unified communications platform that combines two key solutions.

One Platform to Rule Them All

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact center as a service (CCaaS) are similar technologies with different purposes and functionalities. Both are cloud-based solutions that consolidate multichannel communications — voice, video, messaging, and conferencing — into a single platform. Yet, while UCaaS is designed to improve internal collaboration and cross-department efficiencies, CCaaS modernizes employee/customer interactions.

By integrating CCaaS and UCaaS, you get the functionality of both platforms — and you can get it all from just one solution. CX Cloud Express layers Vonage's new CRM-integrated contact center solution on top of its traditional UC platform.

What's more, the benefits of UC and contact center integration extend to every area of your organization, giving each stakeholder the solution they need.

Solutions like Cloud CX Express are easy to implement, with no hardware to install or maintain. UCaaS and CCaaS are already consolidated and ready to be integrated with CRM and CPaaS.

Unified Communication Needs and Solutions

An integrated platform that combines the best UC solutions with the advantages of a contact center helps your organization solve challenges in nearly every department, including:

Sales

Sales professionals say it's 40% harder to get a response from prospects than it was two or three years ago, and 30% harder to close deals, according to HubSpot. That seems counterintuitive, considering all the sales enablement tools now available. But those tools require accurate, comprehensive customer data — the kind of data that salespeople and service reps are supposed to enter into the CRM and that could be gleaned from other internal data sources as well. Yet, in many organizations, employees don't use the CRM and department databases remain siloed.

With UCaaS/CCaaS integration, there's no excuse for forgetting about CRM. Employees can use the platform from any internet-connected device, including their smartphones, so all communication happens via official channels. Customer interactions are automatically logged into the CRM, and employees are prompted to enter relevant notes. The platform can also be integrated with marketing automation solutions and other key databases to make collaboration that much easier.

Marketing

To remain relevant in the age of online marketplaces, modern marketers need to track buyer behavior, automate campaigns, and personalize content. But like sales, they need fully integrated data to effectively reach customers.

They also need to make it easier for customers to reach the brand. When you add communications platform as a service (CPaaS) to your unified communications stack, your marketing team can add real-time communications features — voice, video, chat — to their social channels and marketing content, enabling prospects to reach out with just one click or tap.

Marketers can also use SMS APIs to automate personalized messages based on customers' online behavior, recent interactions with the brand, and even geolocation.

Customer Service

Digital technology has forever changed customer expectations. Customers know companies have data on them, so they expect quick, personalized service. Customer experience leaders and their teams want to provide it — not only to avoid dealing with angry customers, but because they genuinely want to do a good job.

Enter the omnichannel contact center, where employees can communicate with customers via any channel and seamlessly switch between channels when necessary. Thanks to CRM integration, your unified communications platform triggers screen pops that identify incoming callers (or messengers) and provides contextual insights into the customer. That way, employees and customers can have personal, engaging conversations they both feel good about. The combination of UC and contact center solutions provides an opportunity to take the customer experience to the next level.

Production

Machines and software have gotten smarter, and they're now capable of holding up their end of the conversation, but without the right communication integrations, humans don't always get the message.

Whether your production team is manufacturing products or developing solutions, they need more efficient ways to collaborate with the technology that helps them get the job done. With a cloud-based unified communications stack, they can get automated alerts and SMS notifications — for example, when a machine needs servicing or a delivery is delayed. They can also use the UC platform to collaborate closely with colleagues, contractors, vendors, suppliers, and other strategic partners — ensuring everyone stays on the same page and production stays on schedule. Their work is made easier and their communication smoother with the integration of various UC solutions.

IT

Your team's needs matter, too. The more legacy technology you have to manage and secure, the less time you have to work on strategic projects that drive innovation and company growth. Just as importantly, the more vendors you do business with, the greater the complexity and cost.

Solutions like Cloud CX Express are easy to implement, with no hardware to install or maintain. UCaaS and CCaaS are already consolidated and ready to be integrated with CRM and CPaaS. There's just one communications vendor to call if something goes wrong — and only one bill to pay.

Beyond Departments: What Employees Want

You're not the only one who's been urging the C-suite to upgrade communications technology. So have their teams. Employees know there are better ways to communicate, and it's frustrating when workplace technology lags far behind consumer technology.

In fact, 62% of job seekers say that a company's reputation as a digital leader significantly impacts their desire to join the organization, according to Randstad. People want to join companies that use efficient communications technology, and when they join these organizations, they want to do great work. But they need the right technology to do it. Thankfully, when it comes to communications solutions, you can meet all their needs at once.