As emerging voice-over-IP (VoIP) solutions advance, more and more companies are tapping into the benefits provided by these solutions. Utilizing advanced IP telephony, VoIP solutions are delivering unified communications (UC) to telecommuters and in-office employees with unprecedented cost benefits, productivity and scalability. As a result, today’s workforce is more mobile and liberated than ever before.
In fact, in a recent article written by Teo’s director of marketing and business development Thomas M. Beck, he writes of a 2010 survey that indicated that businesses that let 100 employees work half of their time from home can save more than $1 million per year. In addition, each employee individually saves about $6,800 per year. Another survey indicates that besides the financial gain, employees who adopt telecommuting models are happier and willing to devote more time to their work, wrote Beck in a CRN Community editorial.
While there are many communication technologies available to address the needs of employees in the workforce, many are fragmented, containing a hard to manage infrastructure. From telephony and email to instant messaging and networking, communication services have not been integrated easily or cost-effectively. Hence, wrote Beck, technology plays a big role in enabling a mobile workforce to efficiently and effectively work from another location.
Although, a number of VoIP solutions like Skype and Google Talk are available, they do not adequately address professional communications needs, according to Beck.
Using VoIP solutions, Teo has developed a novel unified communications (UC) solution that promises to deliver seamless, cost effective communications to users. With Teo’s UC solution, employees have one phone for everything and a single IP extension for wherever they are, eliminating the need for expensive landlines and VPNs. Consequently, by fully integrating mobile, remote, and distributed workers, Teo’s UC solution increases employee productivity and efficiency, said the supplier.
Although, some companies have been thinking of Skype (News - Alert) as an alternative to UC, Teo’s Beck sees many limitations in Skype. Much like video conferencing features offered by some UC platforms, accessing Skype is not that easy, according to Beck. First, the user must create a new identity (another username and password to manage). Second, Skype users are limited to communicating in a closed network of other Skype users. Third, it costs more to call non-Skype users.
Unlike Skype, asserts Beck, UC requires one phone number for everything, a single IP extension for wherever they are, eliminating the multi-device, multi-ID and multi-application juggling act that so many are subjected to on a daily basis. Ultimately, added Beck, “This increases employee productivity and efficiency by fully integrating mobile, remote and distributed workers. Workers are granted the ability to be productive without being confined to their office desk.”
Furthermore, Beck’s CRN Community article highlighted the professional UC platform’s ability to work with the user’s existing numbers so that one can send and receive calls from the regular phone system. And it makes it possible to do it from anywhere to anyone. Some other UC capabilities include IM, the ability to set and view presence and even hold video calls and group conversations.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jamie Epstein