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A recent presentation from ANPI, a provider of hosted voice and data phone systems, speaks about the reality of business communication and the need for systems to bring employees together so they can collaborate well both inside and outside the office.

The slideshow begins by declaring that employees are on the move. Their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile devices allow them to get out of the office and complete work that, 20 years ago, would not have been possible away from office desks. Employees still want engagement, though, and for many tasks, it is necessary from them to reach out to other employees to complete their chosen projects. ANPI cites research from Forrester (News - Alert) and Chadwich Martin Bailey that claims 43 percent of the total workforce will work remotely by 2016 and that the lack of mobile unified communications (UC) capabilities results in a productivity gap of 2.5 hours per week, per employee, versus onsite workers. Furthermore, a mobile UC system that closes that gap could save businesses up to $3,200 per employee, per year, and an additional $1,500 in travel cost savings. Those numbers make a strong case for why mobile UC systems are essential within the modern business environment.

ANPI asserts that its VIP system can allow employees to work and collaborate on any device and from any location. Its mobile UC system sports remote collaboration for voice and text messaging, initiation of calls, and the sharing of desktops. It also allows employees to take office-directed calls from anywhere with the use of advanced call forwarding. In addition, it provides a presence feature so employees can see where others are located at any point during the day and find out if they are busy or available for chatting. Presence also includes features that integrate with voicemail and chat functionality such that, when employees are marked as "No Answer," their calls will be sent directly to business voicemail, and the integrated caller ID can allow employees to call back their contacts from their mobile devices or desks without losing contact information. In addition, the simultaneous ring feature can allow calls to ring to a user's desk phone, mobile phone, and home phone with each incoming call; it supports up to 10 devices at any one time.

The VIP mobile app is available for iOS and Android (News - Alert), and it also contains a desktop client for both Windows and Mac platforms. ANPI says its products can work well for businesses that have employees that work from home, businesses with sales representatives who are consistently giving out their contact information to prospective clients, and businesses with employees who regularly commute from one location to another but who must have access to their contacts from both locations.