Work smarter, not louder: How UCaaS can simplify team communication

Today, the average knowledge worker uses 11 different applications to complete their tasks. That’s almost double the number of apps they used in 2019. 

It’s safe to assume that a large portion of those apps are used for communicating. You use your instant messaging platform for quick back-and-forth. And email for your asynchronous announcements and updates. And your video conferencing solution for meetings. And your project management platform for project-related updates. You get the idea. 

And, even if each application serves a distinct purpose, having this many communication tools is overwhelming for workers. They’re inundated with relentless pings and notifications—or they need to waste precious time clicking around and searching for the information they need. 

So, it comes as little surprise that 58% of knowledge workers say they’d like to use fewer applications to do their jobs. And a whopping 76% think having a single source of truth would reduce their work-related stress. That’s where UCaaS comes into play. 

What exactly is UCaaS?

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a cloud-based platform that brings all of your different communication tools—like phone calls, emails, video meetings, messaging, and file sharing—into a single service.

Rather than spreading your team’s communication across disparate applications and tools, it’s all happening in a centralized spot that people can access from anywhere.

While you may not have been familiar with UCaaS before, you’ve probably heard of several popular UCaaS systems. Microsoft Teams, Webex by Cisco and Zoho are some well-known examples.

What are the benefits of UCaaS?

Successful communication is the foundation of any high-performing team and organization, and that makes it tempting to stick with your current processes and solutions rather than rocking the boat with a new system. However, UCaaS offers several compelling benefits.

Streamline your communication

Of course, the most obvious advantage is that the UCaaS systematizes and streamlines your team’s communication by bringing everything into a centralized spot.

When 47% of workers admit they struggle to find the information they need to do their jobs, establishing a single source of truth for all of your employees makes it easier for them to share updates and surface relevant resources. 

Boost your productivity

More communication apps means more notifications, and half of workers report that regular messages negatively impact their productivity.

UCaaS cuts down on the number of tools your team needs to use to communicate. It makes it easier to find relevant information and resources, and provides a more intentional structure for how to communicate (and when to do it). People can spend less time managing messages and more time focused on their more meaningful work. 

Increase your efficiency

UCaaS doesn’t just increase the productivity of individual workers. It can also improve the efficiency of your entire team. 

Needing to juggle various applications and click between systems to communicate undoubtedly slows your team down.

Plus, it increases the risk that messages get lost or missed. When poor communication is one of the top causes of inefficiency within organizations, a more streamlined approach can help people get more done in less time. An impressive 81% of business leaders believe consolidating software applications will increase efficiency. 
 

Avoid team overwhelm

Work stress is common, with 77% of workers saying they’ve experienced work-related stress in the past month. And, while there are a lot of factors at play, technology fatigue is a major player in making workers feel spread thin and overwhelmed.

Consolidating your communication can minimize notifications, systematize how people exchange information, and make it easier for people to find what they need—all of which makes their work lives simpler, smoother, and significantly less stressful. 

Improve your collaboration

It’s all too easy for important information to become siloed. UCaaS can knock down those barriers and ensure everybody—regardless of their team or department—can readily find the information and resources they’re looking for. 

That makes it significantly easier to work with people across the organization. According to this report, 80% of knowledge workers believe a single source of truth would improve cross-team collaboration within their organizations. 

5 tips to implement UCaaS successfully

So now you’re sold on the benefits of UCaaS and ready to implement it within your organization. But changing the way your team communicates (even when it’s a positive change) can feel disruptive and risky.

Here are five tips to ensure your UCaaS implementation is more successful and less stressful. 

1. Audit your existing tools

When workers are already experiencing tool fatigue, the last thing you want to do is roll out another solution on top of everything your team is already using.

The goal here is consolidation. That means you need to understand what apps your team is using now and how (or if) any of those can be consolidated into UCaaS. As you review your team’s existing tools, ask yourself:

• Is this tool being used?
• If so, what is it being used for?
• Where does this tool fit in your existing workflows?
• Is it used in conjunction with other tools? If so, which tools?
• Does it have the same functionality offered by a UCaaS platform?

Getting a better grasp on your current tech stack will help you introduce UCaaS in a way that feels like a benefit rather than something that adds more bloat to your team. 

2. Get team buy-in

Humans are hardwired to resist change, so it’s normal for your team members to roll their eyes or express concerns over any new software or tweaks to their existing processes.

You can combat some of that hesitancy by involving them in the decision-making process and rollout. Pull people from different departments to offer their insights, understand how they’ll use UCaaS, and select a platform that meets everyone's needs.

It not only helps you make the best choice for your organization, it makes adoption easier. People are usually more invested when they feel like they were involved from the get-go. 

3. Craft a communication strategy

One tool alone won’t solve all of your problems—not even UCaaS. It’s when you adjust processes and communicate expectations that you’ll get the most value out of any technology platform.

With that in mind, you’ll want to iron out some clear norms related to in-person and digital communication within your team or organization. For example:

• What's suitable for a private message versus what should be visible to the entire team?
• Which channels should be used for which types of messages?
• When does asynchronous communication suffice? When is a meeting necessary?
• What do people need in place (such as an agenda) before putting a meeting on people’s calendars?
• How can people signal to their colleagues that they’re focused on deep work and shouldn’t be interrupted?

Ironing out your answers to questions like these and aligning your team around them can prevent miscommunication and frustration while also making your UCaaS implementation far more successful. 

4. Ensure strong security and compliance

Your team exchanges a lot of valuable or sensitive information that you want to protect—especially if you work in a highly regulated industry. 

As you consider UCaaS providers, pay close attention to security features and protocols to confirm that they’re compliant with all of your industry’s standards.

Features like end-to-end data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and clear access controls can help your team communicate seamlessly without putting confidential information at risk. 

5. Prioritize training and support

You could find the most intuitive UCaaS platform on the planet, but people will probably still need a little bit of help figuring out how to best use it. 

For example, more than a third of workers admit they need help with technology at work. Yet, 49% of workers say they’ve received no training in the past year—not just on technology but on anything pertinent to their work. 

Don’t just announce your new UCaaS platform to your company and assume people will jump right in. When you inform people of the new system, explain why you’re implementing it and highlight its benefits to increase enthusiasm about the change.

Follow that up with frequent training sessions related to the platform’s features and best practices. Or create self-serve resources for people to rely on.

There’s flexibility to find the best educational approach for your organization. But the point is this: If you want people to adopt and use the platform, you need to teach them how to do so. 

What does the future hold for UCaaS?

It wasn’t that long ago that people were relying on typewriters and fax machines for workplace communication. And they probably couldn’t imagine a world where they could instantly send a message to someone across the globe or attend a work meeting from their couch.

It’s proof that communication at work has come a long way—and progress won’t slow down anytime soon. Particularly with artificial intelligence (AI) and other advancing technology, we’ll continue to see major advancements in UCaaS, such as:

• Increased AI integration: From automatic meeting summaries to real-time translation, UCaaS platforms will increasingly incorporate AI features to streamline workflows and facilitate smoother communication.
• Deeper app integrations: Communication is a piece of all of your team’s workflows, and UCaaS providers are recognizing that communication happens across all different projects, teams, and processes. UCaaS will continue to integrate and blend more seamlessly with related tools like CRMs, project management platforms, HR systems, and more. Rather than needing to navigate to separate communication tools, the experience will be far more integrated and cohesive.

Put simply, UCaaS will continue to become smarter and more connected so that effective communication becomes a natural and easy part of working together rather than a burden or bottleneck. 

UCaaS: Less clicking and more connecting

The way we work has changed drastically, and continues to do so. That means organizations that rely on legacy systems for team communication aren’t supporting effective collaboration and connection—they’re sabotaging it. 
 

UCaaS brings all of your team’s communication into a single, centralized place. It boosts productivity, reduces stress, and achieves your ultimate goal: helping your team work better together—without all the noise.