Effective communication is the basis of decision-making, cooperation, and efficient running of operations in any business. In a world heavily reliant upon digital processes, enterprise communications tools are vital in facilitating interactions and workplace productivity. With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting most day-to-day business operations, you may have to rethink your communications strategy to cope with sudden changes in the workplace and consumer behavior.
Understand your goals
Communication demands vary widely between organizations. So, it’s crucial to first define your goals before setting up an enterprise communications system. An effective communications infrastructure should overcome the generic communication barriers and satisfy the unique needs of your business as well. A vaguely defined communications structure, no matter how versatile, may not suffice. You need to ask yourself some important questions to narrow down on what your business requires:
- Are you a multi-location, global, or single-location enterprise?
- Is your workforce on-site or remote?
- What communications security level do you need?
- How do your staff and clients communicate?
- What coverage or scope of connectivity do you need?
Once you’ve found the right answers to these questions, it becomes easier to visualize an ideal communications strategy for your organization. Below are five key requirements of enterprise communications ideal for modern businesses.
Enable staff mobility
Staff mobility is currently a mainstream phenomenon in the workplace. Businesses cannot afford to overlook the benefits of workplace mobility and flexibility. Sixty-four percent of the global world leaders who took part in a recent survey said that flexible working had a profound impact on employees’ productivity.
An enterprise communications system should have cloud-based connectivity to enable a flexible working environment. That way, employees can work remotely, bring their own devices to work, and connect to the business from anywhere. Remote connectivity is a convenient and necessary communications feature, especially with so many employees working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Solve both client-facing and staff collaboration
Clients and staff prefer to communicate using various means depending on the situation, parties involved, and urgency. For simplicity and convenience, the communications solution should house all the contact channels that your business needs on a central platform, including:
- Phone
- Instant message
- Video conference
- Fax
- File sharing
A holistic communications suite provides unlimited variety so clients and employees can choose the readily available or most suitable means to connect.
Automated backups for business continuity
Do you have a quickly recoverable enterprise communications backup system? If you don’t, you risk losing vital communications and files exchanged within and outside your business. Unexpected network outages, power interruptions, and natural emergencies can cause loss of valuable communications references and data. Automated state-based backups maintain business continuity by ensuring you never lose a step when conducting business.
Visibility and control
As a business leader, it’s important to maintain full control of the organization’s communications system. You should be able to manage users, dictate permissions and privileges, view communications logs, and monitor activities. Keeping tabs on what’s going on helps create a sense of accountability among employees, minimizing the misuse of corporate property.
End-to-end security and encryption
Also known as snooping or sniffing attacks, eavesdropping attacks are a common security threat to enterprise communications. Eavesdroppers can take advantage of unsecured communication lines to steal sensitive and confidential business information during transmission. This is not a chance you want to take. Always consider the end-to-end security features of a communications system.
All transmissions should be encrypted by default. End-to-end encryption guarantees that only the designated recipients can access and decipher any information sent over a secured line. Communications security is not only a question of precaution but also a matter of necessity in the business environment.
A unified communications platform is the absolute solution for your enterprise communications requirements. A cloud-based UC solution blends all the essential communications channels into one universally secured system. UC features and functions empower collaboration, mobility, and efficient workflows.
