UC Simplicity and Savings

Easy-to-use UC applications help contact center reps, sales professionals, and IT managers quickly perform daily tasks while optimizing use of their knowledge, skills and ideas.

In the face of budget constraints, decreasing manpower levels and limited resources, organizations need strategies to improve efficiency and boost employee productivity in order to survive. The right unified communications solutions can deliver a rapid return on investment and boost productivity, and many organizations are now realizing the benefits of easy-to-use, readily accessible, and time-saving business communications.

Companies that have implemented UC have seen a 55 percent increase in employee responsiveness to others (2.7x more than all other companies), a 52 percent increase in an employee's ability to gain knowledge or data from others (almost 3x the industry average), and a 60 percent increase in the flexibility of the workforce (more than 3x all other companies), according to an Aberdeen Research study, Driving Workforce Productivity with Unified Communications.

What these companies have realized is that UC simplifies day-to-day tasks. For instance, when UC is deployed:

• Customer service representatives resolve customers' problems quickly and easily by having access to account details
• Customers reach the appropriate company representative without long hold times through sophisticated call-handling modes
• Administrative assistants locate a manager in a hotel several times zones away through presence information
• Salespeople share edits to presentations with other team members at the click of a button using advanced collaboration tools
• IT managers add an employee without physically touching the new hire's computer thanks to an easy-to-use system management interface

"People in general are becoming more accustomed to communicating with each other in all kinds of electronic forms from instant-messaging to videoconferencing," said Bernard Gutnick, senior director of product marketing at ShoreTel. "We take the cost and complexity out of person-to-person communications. Every product enhancement ShoreTel rolls out builds upon this legacy of accessibility and ease-of-use."

Benefits like these mean that organizations are increasingly embracing a UC strategy and looking for ways to transition quickly, easily, and as cost-effectively as possible. "A speedy UC adoption means a faster return on investment," Gutnick advised. "But in order to be truly cost-effective, organizations must choose an IP platform that is easy to deploy and based on open standards so they can leverage existing investments and transition at a pace that is comfortable and affordable."

The productivity enhancements achievable from a successful UC strategy are realized in corporate environments, branch offices and home offices — anywhere someone needs to do business. "If I'm working from home and I call a colleague in the office, I can show them the document I want to discuss merely by pressing a button on the computer that creates an on-the-fly collaboration between our computers," Gutnick said. "No more setting up a bridge call, moving into a conference room, or waiting for the other party to pick up." Over time and across dozens, hundreds, even thousands of employees, the productivity gains realized by — one of many in ShoreTel's palette — deliver true business value.

Another ShoreTel application that is helping organizations boost productivity is ShoreWare Content Center, which provides easy-to-generate customer reports that offer call centers snapshot views of the activity taking place in their facility, whether it's the number of calls that concluded in a sale or the amount of out-of-service numbers dialed. Administrators can set up virtual call centers with groups of agents distributed around the world at the click of a button. Calls roll to the next available attendant as though he were seated in the next cubicle.

The real test of any business application is ease of use and support. Not only can a system that is easy to use and easy to manage result in empowered employees, but it can help dramatically reduce costs. "When we conduct demos for prospective customers, we highlight the value of UC applications not only in terms of the communications they enable, but in terms of calls not placed to the help desk," Gutnick said. ""ShoreTel has eliminated the complexity associated with voice over IP and created a platform that is extremely user friendly. This translates to a low total cost of ownership and a rapid return on investment that few organizations can afford to ignore."

For more information on ShoreTel's ease of use and low total cost of ownership, or to schedule a live demonstration, contact a ShoreTel sales representative.