Why you are ready for unified communications

For many a small business, the concept of unified communications remains a bit of a mystery. It has something to do with putting all communications in one place, right? Sounds complicated and expensive. And it`s probably not for me or my business.

If this is the thought process that runs through your mind when contemplating unified communications, then Louis Yssel, CEO of YSL Group, wants your attention.

"Unified communications does sound complex and unattainable for the small business owner," he agrees. "But it`s not."

He puts its applicability for the business owner into very simple terms. "Would you like to achieve more with your time and spend less fiddling with SMSes, trying to remember or find messages or phone numbers or kicking yourself because you`ve forgotten to call someone back? These are the sort of everyday challenges which a good unified communications solution can help the business owner solve or avoid," he says.

Evaluating how unified communications will benefit your company is perhaps not a straightforward question or comparison of cost savings. Rather, says Yssel, it requires a step back to consider what communications means within your business. "Just about every company is dependent on communicating to be in business. Whether it is with suppliers, customers, partners, staff or associates, it is communication that enables business to operate. What you need to ask yourself is how things might improve if communications were to improve. If you were able to get the message to the right person without any compromise or risk of it being lost, and if you were able to have an instant clear view of all communications, what would the benefit be?"

It may be a little rhetorical and hard to quantify, but Yssel reckons most small business owners know the answer is likely to be better company performance.

With a single point where all communications terminate and can be accessed, efficiency and order is brought to the communication environment. That central point is the Microsoft Outlook inbox. Yssel says through a hosted solution, small business owners can have a complete unified communications solution for a low monthly cost starting at just R500. The system aggregates voice and voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax into the inbox. No messages are missed, no information is lost.

The only prerequisite, continues Yssel, is that the appropriate connectivity is established to support the unified communications solution. "Putting everything into one place and using a hosted model for the underlying software and services depends on a high-speed link if it is to work properly; the very minimum is a 512kbps ADSL line for a two-user office, but the faster, the better," he says.

So are you ready for unified communications? Yssel believes everyone should be. "The question is not whether you are or are not ready for it; it is rather `have you realised that you need it?`" he says. "There is no company owner who doesn`t want to do more with less, achieve more in the same amount of time. Unified communications allows this to become a reality - and it is ready for you."