Let’s take a moment to think about the unified communications solutions we use, and the user experiences they provide. There are all sorts of solutions and programs out there designed to improve the user experience, from user-friendly interfaces to high quality services; anything that makes communications easier and more pleasant for the users are sought after.

Of course, not all users seek the same things. While some might like presence features, others find it intrusive to have co-workers know where they are at all times. Then there’s performance issues that must be looked out for, not to mention maintaining a constant quality across locations and devices.

It seems every new solution that comes out boasts more interoperability, better features, more savings, and enhanced everything. While many of those things are subjective – not everyone finds certain controls to be entirely intuitive, or “better” features might seem like a step back – it’s all part of an ongoing goal to make the user experience better. There are obvious ways to go about that, such as improved video and audio quality, less bandwidth usage, scalability, and so on, which companies keep aiming to improve, although it can be trying at times.

Now, due to the subjectivity of what is “good enough,” it’s hard for one person to say what the best user experience is. Still, from surveys and polls we can determine what the majority of people believe provide a good user experience, and where improvements still need to be done. For example, a recent survey revealed that many workers utilize interoperability for video chatting programs, so that they don’t have to waste money on multiple programs. Even that is part of the user experience -- a customer is more likely to be happy with a program that lets them communicate between devices and systems rather than one that makes them purchase another to communicate with their colleagues.

The constant need for improvement shows not only how far UC still needs to go, but also the dedication that so many companies have to providing the best services possible. It’s easy to look back to the days of rotary phones and think “we’ve improved enough, let’s leave it at this,” and while we have made remarkable progress technology-wise, there is still much work to be done.

For a more in-depth look and discussion at the user experience for unified communications, Netscout will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, September 19^th. Those interested can sign up here.

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