As companies expand internationally and add more remote workers, unified communication and collaboration solutions become more important than ever for furthering enterprise transparency by keeping disparate parties connected.

The number of employees working away from central offices – whether because they work at home or are located thousands of kilometres away from headquarters – is on the rise. A 2012 study from HR consulting firm Towers Watson found that 47 percent of those polled work remotely all or part of the time, and CSO Online contributor Gordon Makryllos reported in September that 78 percent of the global workforce is part of teams that include international members.

These arrangements present numerous problems for organizations, namely because keeping workers operating in different municipalities and time zones on the same page is difficult. Without the proper means of communications, workers can easily become disengaged and disinterested. According to the Towers Watson study, 22 percent of workers said they feel unsupported, and 17 percent think they are detached. As remote working and globalized workforces become more ubiquitous, these feelings are likely to be more commonly held unless adequately addressed.

“[E]ngagement, as traditionally defined, is not sufficient to give employers the sustained performance lift they need – or keep employees doing their work effectively in today’s pressured and fast-paced work environment,” the study’s authors wrote. “Second, the root of the problem lies in gaps in two critical areas that have become essential to sustainable engagement – and that organizations can close in cost-effective ways.”

How UCC binds together remote workers

 
To make sure these issues do not appear, Makryllos recommended that organizations adopt unified communication and collaboration as a service (UCCaaS). With a cloud computing solution featuring tools such as IP telephony, telepresence and integrated messaging, employees can quickly and easily contact others regardless of physical distance.

“As UCaaS takes hold, employees begin working more efficiently, adapting to the ease of communicating in real time via a single interface, but across multiple communication styles,” he wrote. Makryllos later added, “If UCaaS is running optimally, the benefits to the end user and the broader business are extensive. Shorter time frames and less follow-ups results in increased productivity. The allowed interactivity can also increase decision making, reducing time lines, and increasing satisfaction and budget delivery.”

Enterprises looking to implement a UCCaaS solution should turn to FlexITy, one of the largest managed IT services companies in Canada. As the only Canadian IT consulting service to offer the full suite of Cisco UCC solutions, FlexITy will help make sure that the UCCaaS system put in place leads to positive outcomes for C-level leaders and globally distributed workers.

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