Source: http://blog.arkadin.com/en/reduce-costs-unified-communications/

Author: Sarah McGovern

A major aim of many enterprises embarking on their digital transformation journey is to reduce costs via new solutions and processes. And the implementation of unified communications brings various opportunities for such a cost reduction.

The consolidation of different communication and collaboration channels in tools such as Microsoft Teams or Cisco WebEx Teams enables employees to work with anyone from anywhere with any device. Thereby companies can save on travel expenses, office charges and hardware costs.

However, the implementation of UC alone will not reduce your costs. You also need to review the respective business policies. Often, these are too rigid and outdated for modern working so that key benefits of unified communications cannot be fully realised.

Here are the main policies you need to consider to truly reduce costs when implementing UC:

Travel expenses

A major policy that your company will need to adapt is your commuting and expenses policy. Consider how often employees travel and for what purpose. Can employees’ travel time be reduced with unified communications? Identify which journeys can be avoided and substituted with digital meetings.

Hardware costs – BYOD

An increasingly popular trend in the market, which unified communications facilitates through a multi-device interface, is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). BYOD enables employees to work from their own personal devices, meaning companies can reduce costs by supplying less hardware.

If your company chooses to incorporate a BYOD approach, it’s important that you adapt a security policy to accommodate this change. Which extra security measures need to be taken if employees are using their own devices? And which devices can employees actually work from?

When looking at BYOD it may also be worth looking at a BYOA – Bring Your Own App – policy within your company. See our article on the topic for more information.

Office charges – work-from-home and hot-desking

Another key area where unified communications can significantly reduce your company’s outlay is office costs.

With unified communications, employees have the freedom to work-from-home, remotely or on the go, meaning your company can move to a smaller office as less people work in the office itself. However, for flexible working to be a success, your organisation must have the appropriate policies in place.

Consider your company’s work-from-home and hot-desking policies: How many days can employees work from home? Do home office days need to be approved? If so, what’s the process? How do employees connect to the company network securely?

You may also want to review your employees’ KPIs for remote working to make sure everybody gets the most out of flexible working. Ensure that your employees understand the best ways they can stay connected and collaborate with their colleagues while away from the office.

If this enhanced flexibility means that many of your employees now choose to hot-desk, it’s essential that your organisation also has a set of guidelines that outline where employees can hot-desk, what privacy and security measures must they take when working in a shared space, and where employees should leave their personal items while hot-desking.

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To explore more about reducing costs or to speak to Arkadin, why not Register Free here for UC EXPO 2019?

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