The key to making employees more productive (without bribes)

By Rachel Foster / February 12, 2013

Gone are the days when employees would use a single computer and phone for all of their business communications. Technology such as smartphones, tablets, cloud services and web conferencing has made it possible for employees to work anytime and anywhere. Although this level of connectivity can lead to a number of business benefits, many organizations struggle with connecting remote employees and ensuring they have all the communications tools they need to be productive.

Dax Nair, Allstream’s director of marketing for unified communications, discussed these challenges on the latest episode of The Business to Business Show on 570 News Talk Radio. According to Nair, many organizations are limited with their existing communications infrastructure and should unify all of their communications into one seamless system.

“On top of the basic telephony and voicemail that people have been using every day, we can now add web conferencing, video conferencing, instant messaging and other communications tools into the mix,” said Nair. “Unified communications is the technology that enables businesses to seamlessly bring communications across organizations – from anywhere, at any time and on any device and network.”

One of the biggest benefits of unified communications is that it improves response times when trying to connect with customers, partners and vendors. For example, you may currently need to give out ten different phone numbers if you want someone to reach you. With unified communications, you can give out just one number and it will ring through to you no matter where you are or what device you have on hand. This is also a huge benefit when sales people are on the road trying to connect with decision makers to close deals.

When choosing a unified communications solution, Nair states that it is important to consider the level of complexity in your work environment, such as how dispersed your organization is. You should also consider whether you want team members from different locations to work together, as unified communications can help you leverage skill sets from across the country or around the world.