Unified Communications Can Fill Mobile Worker Productivity Gap

By Rich Steeves,

TMCnet Web Editor

Let’s face it. Most decisions that companies make are designed either to make money or to save money. The biggest reasons why businesses choose to implement unified communications technology are to make workers more productive or save money on telecommunications bills. But do unified communications really save companies money, especially in this day and age of the mobile worker? Well, a recent study released by session border controller specialist Sonus Networks (News - Alert) answers that question with a resounding “yes!”

The study, titled “Mobile Unified Communications (News - Alert): The Emergence of 4D Convergence,” shows that enterprises can recoup up to $5,000 in annual productivity losses per employee by using mobile unified communications solutions. The study shows that companies without UC deployments face a productivity gap between mobile and onsite workers that results in the loss of 2.5 hours of productivity per employee per week.

Also of note is the fact that two thirds of all enterprises acknowledge that their workers are mobile nearly 25 percent of the time, using smartphones and tablets to stay connected. Add to this the fact that nearly 18 percent of projects are delayed because of ineffective collaboration, and you start to see how communications problems can lead to the hemorrhaging of money.

But many companies are turning to UC strategies to bridge this gap. One third of enterprises have already implemented mobile unified communications to make collaboration more seamless. These UC capabilities can prove critical to the success of a project, and UC should be treated as the equal of voice, data and IT systems.

"This latest Webtorials report provides enterprises with a terrific snapshot of the opportunities and challenges to deploying Unified Communications in its current state," said Wes Durow (News - Alert), vice president of Global Marketing at Sonus. "Enabling mobility across the enterprise should be the first consideration as companies plan their UC deployments and that means having a robust, open-standard, SIP-based communications architecture in place that can support employees no matter where they are or what device they use."

Want to learn more about SIP Trunking and how to integrate it into your current UC strategy? Don’t miss the SIP Trunking- UC Seminars collocated with ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida.

Edited by Brooke Neuman