AN ANPI WHITE PAPER HOSTED UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS: KEY FEATURES & KEY BENEFITS

Transcription

1 1 AN ANPI WHITE PAPER HOSTED UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS: KEY FEATURES & KEY BENEFITS

2 INTRODUCTION 2 Hosted Unified Communications Projected Revenue $40M 2012 Hosted UC can save up to over traditional phone services The adoption of Hosted Unified Communications continues to rise. Infonetics estimates the market to double between 2012 and The reasons? Hosted Unified Communications (UC) offers a multitude of communication and productivity benefits, and the cost savings are proven and undeniable. In fact, by moving communications to a cloudbased provider and taking advantage of built-in efficiencies, companies can save up to 50% over traditional phone services and avoid the large capital expenditures and ongoing equipment maintenance costs associated with other solutions. Meanwhile, the integrated features, such as web conferencing, video conferencing, messaging, business VoIP and presence (seeing the current status of co-workers), will make any company run more smoothly and more quickly, producing more satisfied customers in the process. If you are considering joining the Hosted UC movement, it would help to understand a few of the key features that allow you to conduct business anytime, anywhere and on any device. This ANPI White Paper will dive into the top five features that in addition to the overall and ongoing savings should lead you to switch to this better way of doing business

3 PRESENCE Employees can save time by not having to track down their fellow coworkers or clients. 3 Perhaps the one aspect of any Hosted Unified Communications solution used most often is the feature called presence. Simply defined, presence provides users with up-to-the-second information on the availability of other users. Phone calls no longer account for the vast majority of communications. The evolution of technology, coupled with the rise of smartphones and tablets, has opened up society to the acceptance of, and reliance upon, text-based communications. This includes real-time communication vehicles such as s, SMS and instant messages. In addition, employees can communicate via voice over smartphones or desk phones, and can engage in web conferencing or video conferencing, when necessary. Employees can save time by not having to track down their fellow coworkers or clients. For example, an employee working out of San Francisco might have to collaborate on a project with an employee working out of Buffalo. Rather than the San Francisco-based employee having to reach out to the Buffalo-based coworker only to realize she is away from her desk, presence features provide information such as whether she is currently at her desk, idle, offline or busy. Right off the bat, this means that the two will connect when both are free to do so.

4 PRESENCE Facilitate real-time communication with experts in various fields. 4 Because of the capability of Hosted UC solutions to connect geographically disparate employees, Presence features also facilitate real-time communication with experts in various fields. For example, imagine a call center agent that has a customer on the line asking technical questions. With the help of presence, the agent is able to instantly determine which engineering expert is available at that particular moment in time, shoot a quick instant message and get a prompt response. Without presence, that customer would be placed on hold while the agent gets an answer if the agent can get an answer at all. Hosted Unified Communications reduces wait and hold times, and improves customer service immensely.

5 DESKTOP SHARING Allows businesses to hold online meetings, host conferences and seminars. 5 With tools to enable easier and better employee collaboration, the right Hosted UC solution will instantly increase the productivity and efficiency of a company. One such tool, desktop sharing, is thoroughly useful and provides users a myriad of benefits. With the right Hosted UC solution, decision-makers can realize how the integration of such solutions into day-to-day business operations can simplify operations while improving them making life easier for everyone, customers and agents alike. By and large, desktop sharing is a feature that is a front runner for saving the most time, money and headache. Desktop sharing is exactly as it sounds. A user gains the ability, through a Hosted UC solution, to share his or her desktop with anyone to whom they grant such access. With this feature, an employee is now able to see exactly what is happening on the screen of another employee s computer. Because Hosted UC solutions allow for business connectivity wherever an Internet connection is available, employees can communicate together, whether they are working at home, at the airport or at a coffee shop. But with desktop sharing, that idea is taken a step further. The technology allows businesses to hold online meetings, and host conferences and seminars, giving viewers the ability to witness a presentation remotely and see changes being made to a document or presentation in real-time. This means collaboration is made possible even if employees are geographically disperse.

6 DESKTOP SHARING Share PowerPoint presentations, generated data charts... 6 With desktop sharing, what one person is seeing on their computer, everyone can see, making it simple to share PowerPoint presentations, generated data charts or other information. And these online meetings can be led by two or more different people, in different locations, so multi-component presentations can be loaded up in separate parts and each presenter can handle the distribution of information. In addition, file transferring through desktop sharing is a simple process that allows all collaborative users to get their hands on vital information instantly. Real-time collaboration is another great feature associated with desktop sharing. Presentations can be opened up for sharing with multiple users viewing the same desktop, which they can then collaboratively edit and update so everyone has the best information from whichever corner of the globe they are operating. In the same vein, assisting customers remotely through a Hosted UC solution is almost effortless. If a business stumbles across a problem they are not able to resolve, they can share their desktop with support so technicians are able to see exactly what issues are occurring and quickly resolve the problem. It can sometimes be difficult for an inexperienced user to describe an unfamiliar problem, but by allowing an experienced technician remote access, problems can be addressed immediately.

7 FIND ME /FOLLOW ME It also enables the appearance of being always on and reachable. 7 If an important business deal is suddenly coming to a close, if there is a client emergency, or if any of one thousand other business circumstances comes to pass, it is important that calls can be routed properly. Gone are the days of leaving messages to sit for hours at a time without response, letting pressing matters linger. Find me/follow me connects people almost immediately. Find me/follow me combines two powerful features: simultaneous ring and sequential ring. With simultaneous ring, calls to a business phone number can ring simultaneously at up to ten additional devices such as desktop phones, home offices, smartphones and laptop computers. With sequential ring, calls to a business phone number can ring at up to five additional devices, in a pre-selected sequence. Both of these features allow for an employee to give out one business phone number keeping their personal mobile phone and home numbers private and be eminently reachable. The advantages of being able to avoid answering machines are two-fold. While constant contact is a highly commendable business ideal, the ability for a customer to be able to get in touch with someone who has the expertise necessary to help resolve an issue instantly is crucial for businesses of any size. It makes for a more pleasing customer experience than facing a pressing issue and waiting around for a response.

8 FIND ME /FOLLOW ME Allows calls to reach employees out in the field or working remotely. 8 A Hosted UC solution that allows calls to reach employees out in the field or working remotely unchains them from the desk and allows them to head to environments where they can be more productive. There, they can better utilize their skills and talents closing deals or meeting with clients while fielding calls on the road that are going into their office line. Whether they are eating lunch around the corner, or on a business trip around the world, these mobile professionals can juggle issues immediately instead of having to put anything or anyone on hold. The benefits of find me/follow me also extend to the perception of a business. Since there are affordable options for Hosted UC solutions that provide services to businesses of any size, even the smallest business now has the ability to create a much larger, more professional appearance. It also enables the appearance of being always on and reachable. Fewer missed calls, of course, means fewer unresolved issues.

9 VOIC -TO- Calls will be sent directly to their smartphones & computers. 9 Constantly calling in to check business voic is not only bothersome, it is a waste of time and energy. An integrated Hosted UC solution with voic -to- technology frees workers to work. Employees can set up their business voic so it gets forwarded to their accounts. When someone calls and leaves a voic , that message is converted into an audio file that subsequently gets attached to the that is sent to the employee s account. Because employees are often on the go, they will often miss potential sales calls. Instead, those calls will be sent directly to their smartphones and computers, so they can see at-a-glance if a voic message has been delivered. Voic -to- technology also allows for relatively easy storage of important messages. While an important voic can easily be lost in most traditional telephone systems, voic s that go to can be easily archived in an folder, and/or the audio file can be saved to a hard drive. In addition to the storage convenience, voic -to- technology is also conducive to sharing mission-critical messages with team members. If an important voic is received that should be shared, rather than have the team all huddle around a desk and listen, the with the sound file attached can be sent to each member in seconds. Technology has allowed the workforce to grow outside of its traditional bounds, and a voic -to- solution is just one of the Hosted UC tools that enables workers to remain extremely productive outside of the office.

10 AUTO ATTENDANT SERVICE Professional answering service on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 10 SALES HOURS OF OPERATIONS The auto attendant is perhaps one of the most important components of a Hosted UC solution, though many people might overlook it. The feature is a time-saving, employee-freeing component that puts the power of determining an incoming call s destination into the hands of the customer. In addition, this one feature can give the impression that smaller businesses are, indeed, very big. With an auto attendant provided by a Hosted UC solution, an incoming customer caller is not greeted by an individual employee who must spend time determining a customer s issue, as well as the proper place to route the call. Instead, that incoming customer is greeted by a simple phone tree that allows the customer to dictate his or her own destination (allowing the employee to be more productive elsewhere). A menu is typically presented to the caller, introducing the company by name, then asking the customer to press a corresponding button in response to a number of questions used to guide the caller to the appropriate representative. It even gives companies an opportunity to provide requested information to callers without ever needing to tie up additional manpower.

11 AUTO ATTENDANT Auto attendant feature eliminates the requirement of having a person as the first line of interaction for incoming callers. 11 For instance, a caller could receive options through the phone system as follows: Press 1 for service; Press 2 for sales; Press 3 for hours of operation; Press 4 for questions and concerns; Press 5 to repeat this menu; Hold the line or press 0 to speak with a representative. Routing of calls from a similar menu can also allow for them to be directed to specific mailboxes or extensions, or to additional submenus. The auto attendant feature eliminates the requirement of having a person as the first line of interaction for incoming callers. Instead of having a person fill the position of transferring calls to various destinations, companies can instead spend that freed salary on hiring a body with more mission-critical responsibilities that cannot be automated. Smaller businesses with tighter budgets can find a great deal of benefit from this point alone, but the benefits of an Auto Attendant do not end there. Because of the digital nature of Hosted UC, the auto attendant never sleeps, which means help for customers is just a phone call away. Businesses utilizing the option now have a professional answering service on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. After-hours callers can even be informed about normal business hours of operation and be instructed to leave a message. Always having the ability to interact with customers, even when there is no one at the office, means making sure an opportunity is never missed.

12 WHY ANPI 12 Now that you have a better understanding of some of the main features of a Hosted UC solution, the benefits should be much more clear. The ANPI Hosted UC solution, ANPI VIP, was designed to include all these features plus many, many more in a single, fully integrated solution. That means all productivity tools will be at hand, all the time, and employees no longer have to juggle applications or vendors. And with a unique, widget-based Customer Administration Portal, all those features are easy to use and manage. Here is a small sampling of what makes ANPI VIP unique: Fully Integrated: All ANPI VIP features are fully integrated and can be managed in one place. Other Hosted UC products have separate user interfaces for certain features. A Customer Administration Portal Designed for the Customer: ANPI VIP has a unique, widget-based Customer Administration Portal to monitor and control every aspect of the phone system. And thanks to the drag-and-drop convenience of widgets, every page can be personalized to give each employee the experience they desire. Navigation is intuitive and requires very little training. Unlimited Local, Long Distance and International Calling: While most providers offer local and long distance calling, only ANPI VIP includes unlimited local and long distance, plus international calling to 22 countries at no additional charge. For a company conducting business internationally, this can make a world of difference. Reliable Nationwide IP Network: ANPI owns a nationwide IP network, backed by a 24x7 Network Operations Center. Every month, millions of end users rely on the power of the ANPI network to meet their communications needs. For More Information To learn more about ANPI VIP Hosted Unified Communications, please visit anpi.com. For a personal consultation, or a free demo of ANPI VIP, call (855) or write to businesssales@anpi.com