Unified Communications, Mobility and Mobile Twinning

An ever-increasing portion of the contemporary work force is comprised of “teleworkers,” individuals who spend a significant portion of their time working outside of an office environment. The Washington Business Journal estimates that more than 33.7 million Americans telework, showing an astounding 43% growth over the past decade.

This trend is largely the result of technological innovations in the field of Unified Communications (UC). Through Unified Communications solutions, disparate devices, systems, and messaging platforms coalesce seamlessly, thereby allowing users to remain connected regardless of physical location.

Perhaps the most practical arena for UC is voice communications, as the telephone remains the front line of customer contact for the majority of businesses. Call forwarding features allow all calls to a single user to be sent directly that user’s cellular phone. Customers are thus provided a single point of contact, and may be assured that their call will not be missed.

Current-generation PBX’s can often take this a step further. With mobile twinning, both the user’s cell and desk phones can be set to ring simultaneously. As such, one has the freedom to move in and out of the office at will while still allowing others who receive calls to their DID to answer any incoming calls.

Unified Communications solutions may also be utilized in other areas of a business. A voicemail-to-email solution allows a worker to receive and listen to a recorded voice message, and reply immediately in the proper format. Likewise, eFax solutions can send incoming faxes directly to an email inbox in .pdf form, eliminating paper consumption and scanning. eFax also allows workers to fax directly from their desktop, complete with a pre-designed cover page.

Such solutions are as advantageous to business owners as to end users. When the ultimate goal is to optimize productivity while minimizing cost, as is the case for many small businesses, unified communications are ideal. Teleworkers are able to remain as connected as officers workers, thereby saving costs on office space, and are able to multitask in the field while remaining available to customers.

Twinning and call forwarding solutions also allow business owners and managers to monitor productivity in the same fashion as for office workers. As calls are routed through the PBX to cell phones, call monitoring and call accounting software may be utilized to verify employee activity even when they are on the go.