Introducing a Unified Communications platform can save your employees time on everyday tasks.

At Acronyms we frequently get asked how businesses can save time, but before delving into the answer, there has to be an understanding from the person or organisation asking that question. In all likelihood, businesses aren’t going to find a huge pile of missing hours sat in the corner of the office.

Therefore, if you’re wondering how IT can save your employees time, it’s worth pointing out from the outset, that unless your doing something drastically wrong like not using computers at all (and it would be a bold approach!) then IT isn’t going to suddenly find your staff an additional few hours every day.

The reason for that is that to truly save time you have to save lots of single minutes and combine these single minutes over a longer period. When multiplied across an entire workforce, it is then that you’ll find the real savings. Just don’t expect to find one big lump!

So with that in mind, a unified communications platform is something that can really help. It sounds complicated, but essentially what we're talking about here is a single piece of technology that can assist with communication across a range of different tasks. So for example, here at Acronyms we use a platform some of you might be familiar with called Microsoft Teams. On Microsoft Teams we can send instant messages to one another, we can work on the same files collaboratively at the same time and we can make video calls and have meetings amongst colleagues or external parties. Instead of using an instant messenger, file storage and video conferencing via three pieces of different software, using three different bits of tech, they are all available in one place.

This means that if we're discussing a particular document in a meeting, whether the attendees are internal or external, we can share it there and then on screen for everyone to read. We can also work on it there and then if need be, which has that added benefit of saving time on minute taking, which can sometimes omit important details. In short though, this tool allows us to communicate internally and externally, whilst working together, without the need to switch between tools in what can sometimes be a cumbersome manner.

In reality this will only save any individual a few minutes every day, if that, but over the course of a year it'll soon add up quite dramatically. Again, when this is multiplied by an entire workforce there can be huge savings to be made. From my experience, it'll also make everyone’s lives that bit simpler, as they will have less balls to juggle, and this only helps morale and overall output. Limiting the amount of software employees have to use makes it easier for them to learn as inevitably more time is spent on it and this too can be of great use for those employees that may struggle when it comes to adopting tech.

If you have any questions about unified comms, or any of the above, please feel free to reach out. Alternatively, more information can be found on our website on both Unified Communications and Microsoft Cloud Services.