As a result, organisations rushed to implement quick, short-term solutions to get through the immediate issues at hand and employees scrambled to use any tools available, which has created inter-operational problems through lack of standardisation and the security threats that this way of working invites.

As we begin to adapt to hybrid models long-term, Unified Communications has gone from being a nice to have to a mission-critical cloud service.

Businesses now need to standardise and centralise their communication and collaboration tools in the cloud to allow employees to work at their best and without disruption, no matter where they’re operating from. It will also be vital in supporting more agile ways of working that engages employees and manages customer expectations.

Meeting employee expectations

Remote working has led to greater productivity, but it’s not been without its challenges.

We have seen the rise of the employee experience, wellbeing and full life management as employees struggle to get the right work/life balance, grow tired of video calls and start to report feelings of loneliness and isolation.

While some governments and organisations are starting to encourage the return to the office, its clear hybrid working and flexible hours are here to stay. Getting it right will be a continuous learning journey and presents a big opportunity and challenge for business leaders and IT teams.

There needs to be a seamless employee experience – whether they’re logging on from home, on the go, or at the office. Especially as teams will be working across multiple devices too.

Unified Communications innovations are supporting this demand for better collaborative tools. Driving productivity such as meeting transcription, translation, noise suppression, background blurring and providing a unified experience on any device.

Research has demonstrated how important one cohesive communications platform is, showing that 69% of employees waste up to an hour each day navigating between apps, amounting to a waste of 32 days per year1.

And as businesses develop globally, communications platforms need to grow at scale with them too.

Delivering a cohesive and strategic path

Working together, we have combined teams messaging, softphones and conferencing, so employees can collaborate no matter where they are, as long as they have access to the corporate cloud.

Our platform offers cloud integrations that deliver new ways of working and increase agility for IT teams with instant scalability – using an orchestrated global strategy across mobility, 5G, network, and cloud communications.

Ultimately, employees can get more done with fewer frustrations, leveraging a single app that runs on our high-quality network, accessible from anywhere. This in turn can improve the customer experience and transform business processes, especially where automation is implemented.

The value-added services in migration, adoption, and integration will ensure businesses are realising the full benefit of the platform and marks another step forward in their digital transformation strategies.

Making UC a priority

Unifying communications has to be a priority as organisations continue rolling out and building their digital capabilities. 

While some businesses are born digital, others will need to work hard to transform legacy systems and infrastructure, but all will ultimately need to undertake the journey.

Now is the time to start that journey – or supercharge it. And through our partnership, as leaders in 5G, mobility and cloud communications and collaboration solutions, we will bring enterprise customers worldwide the skills they need, to build the digital communications of the future.

Learn more about Vodacom Business's leading communications and collaboration solution.