Top unified communications challenges and how to address them

Technological systems can offer an array of benefits for enterprise users, but they are not without obstacles that must be addressed in order to ensure advantageous use. The same can be said for many technologies, including unified communications.

Although UC systems can enable increased cooperation, collaboration and productivity across an enterprise, there are a few challenges business leaders and their users must face. Let’s take a look at some of the issues that could crop up with a UC deployment, and how companies can address these problems within their organizations:

1) Initial deployment
One of the first obstacles companies must face with their UC technology comes during deployment. Many enterprises may already have a legacy system in place that they’ve been using for quite some time, but does not support their current rate of growth or their employees’ communication needs. When it comes time to upgrade, however, the business might be faced with the troubling prospect of completely removing their current system and fully replacing it with something new. This could not only present challenges for users who are unfamiliar with the system, but for the IT department as well, which is charged with making the switch.

Thankfully, there are solution providers that offer UC systems that are able to integrate with existing technologies to ensure a robust initial investment and a full ROI.

“No business should need to rip and replace every piece of hardware and software on the network, just to get working, seamless and interoperable UC,” said Mark Loney, StarLeaf CEO and UC expert. “The only way to do this is to leverage current investments in existing platforms, merging and integrating them so that the reality of any-to-any communication is achieved in a cost effective and productive way.”

2) Managing remote access demands
Another challenge that is increasingly seen in today’s enterprise sector is the rising need for access to the UC and other systems from outside of the office. According to research from WorldatWork, an estimated 44 million people operate from a location other than the company’s office at least once a year. In addition, International Data Corporation found that in 2013, there were approximately 10 million telecommuters in the U.S.

This means one thing for UC technology: It must be accessible both on the company’s premises and other locations in order to ensure that employees working from home or from the road can connect with the resources they need.

One way to address this challenge is with a cloud-based UC system that can enable any authorized user to access the platform from any location with an Internet connection. This means if workers want to operate from their home offices or are traveling, they can still communicate and collaborate with their co-workers.

3) Choosing the right vendor
Forbes contributor Steve Olenski noted that challenges can also creep up as businesses look for the right UC vendor that will suit their company’s needs.

“Selecting a UC vendor that can deliver as much as the solution as possible will give an enterprise the best chance of a smooth and successful migration to cloud UC,” noted Arthur Chang, PanTerra Networks president and CEO.

For this reason, decision-makers should trust the UC deployment to an industry leader like iT1 Source, an expert provider of UC solutions. To find out more, contact iT1 Source today.