The pandemic has changed many aspects of our personal and professional lives. In many cases, it is the technology we use that has underpinned these changes. 

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS), for example, has enabled workforces worldwide to stay connected with their colleagues and customers. 

The initial shock of office closures led to the widespread adoption of UCaaS platforms overnight so businesses could stay operational. Now, they’re in the process of adopting IT strategies for the mid and long-term. This means implementing robust business continuity plans to avoid scrambles like those in 2020. 

Communication should hold a vital role in a business continuity strategy to ensure organizations can carry on functioning seamlessly in the event of a disruption. 

However, despite its importance, comms can often be underrated when it comes to disaster recovery planning – according to net2phone Chief Technology Officer Jeffrey Skelton. 

“Every company was forced into evaluating their business continuity capabilities because of the pandemic,” he explained. “They had to adopt remote working and support workflows in a remote way. 

“However, the things businesses think about are the key things for supporting customers and managing revenue streams – so things like servers, customer databases, LAN, security, authentication, and things like that. 

“But a business continuity plan shouldn’t just be about systems; it should be about people. When you start thinking about people, you have to start thinking about the phone system and collaboration platform.” 

Skelton highlighted the critical role that UCaaS played in keeping people connected at the start of the pandemic as an example of where it excels. 

Many businesses were still using on-premises PBXs in March 2020 when lockdowns were enforced around the world. In a lot of cases, employees switched to using personal devices to stay connected to colleagues and clients. 

While this may have done the job to a certain extent, Skelton said it does not allow businesses to present their brand identity effectively. 

“The PBX is one element of the overall, unifying structure for managing communication,” he explained. 

“Being part of that PBX is being a part of the communication patterns of the company, internally and externally. Public telephone and toll-free numbers arrive on the PBX to support customers, and they become a part of the company’s comms pattern. 

“The move to UCaaS and hosted PBX removes the physical entity of the PBX and allows the company to maintain its identity wherever its employees are calling from.” 

Ongoing Transition 

Many businesses, particularly SMBs, made fast transitions to cloud-based models at the start of the pandemic. Despite this trend, Skelton said that this transition is far from over. 

Even businesses already in the cloud are discovering new benefits of UCaaS and unearthing new tools to improve both their internal and external communication. 

net2phone encourages organizations to have business continuity in mind when considering their UCaaS strategy. 

The firm gives organizations multiple platforms to field calls, like desk phones, Web RTC, web-based dialers, and a mobile app. 

Its platform also supports ring groups, so a call can be automatically redirected to another member of a department if someone is unavailable. 

The plethora of options means a company can retain its identity, even in times as trying as a pandemic. 

“The key thing is maintaining a company’s communication pattern,” Skelton said. 

“We all have mobile handsets and the ability to make calls at any time, but you want that call to be made with the business’ identity. 

“UCaaS lets you continue to participate as a member of the organization.” 

  



from UC Today https://ift.tt/2GkxDdm