Having effective communications is not only vital for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be competitive and grow, but critical for their survival.
This is according to the CEO of Zwana Unicom, Nigel Sinclair Thomson, speaking at the ITWeb Unified Communications conference in Bryanston, Johannesburg, this week.
He said SMEs should start using unified communications (UC) to improve competitiveness in these challenging economic times.
“Unified communications allow employees to send messages on one medium and receive the same communication on another, providing businesses with the flexibility to work remotely.”
These companies have to focus on the most basic elements of their business - the need to cut costs and grab every single opportunity to sell to and serve customers, he pointed out.
Unified communications, he said, can help SMEs manage or overcome the top challenges that may be limiting growth or competitiveness. These include constant pressure on key employees, an owner who needs to be everywhere, multi-functional job roles, intense competition for customers, and limited IT and telecom expertise.
According to Sinclair Thomson, the benefits of UC on-demand for SMEs are that solutions can be deployed rapidly with a corresponding decrease in time to value and a quicker payback on UC investment.
Because it meets the needs of mobile workers - the model adopted by many SMEs - customers of these businesses get better service at all times, he explained. UC on-demand makes it easy for customers to convert to in-house solutions if required, Sinclair Thomson added.
Fewer technical staff is required in-house to operate these on-demand communication systems so it gives SMEs an opportunity to concentrate energies and resources on their core business, he noted. “This gives them the ability to compete with larger counterparts.”
Unified communication gives SMEs freedom from lock-in to vendors and old technologies because they can mix and match the technologies from different vendors, he pointed out.
However, Sinclair Thomson also pointed to challenges facing SMEs wishing to implement UC. This includes the initial investment in capital for infrastructure and licences (some of which might not be used initially). While this can be expensive for many SMEs, the ROI is very quick.
“Integration costs and technical personnel costs are also a challenge for SMEs because it is expensive to focus on non-core business,” he said.
Sinclair Thomson advised SMEs to maximise the utilisation of new technologies, such as UC, to help grow and improve processes.
This can be achieved through the ability to integrate new devices and applications, and streamline business processes. In this way, employees can access the right information at the right time, increasing business profitability and efficiency, he concluded.
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