In an era of hybrid working, how do businesses unify communications securely?

This article originally appeared in the Irish Times on June 13, 2024.

In today’s world of hybrid working, businesses require a unified communications solution that delivers seamless collaboration, cost-efficiencies and a more productive workforce. Gone are the days of the fixed telephone line.

“It’s well understood that Covid was a big accelerator of hybrid working” says John McCarthy, head of solutions, products and services with Vodafone Ireland. “Companies needed to act fast and did not have a lot of time to consider the challenge strategically. They tended to layer hybrid solutions on top of their existing infrastructure.”

But this situation is changing: “Businesses are now taking the opportunity to pause and reassess the decisions they made during the pandemic and whether there might be a more integrated and efficient way forward.

Award-winning cloud-based solution

And that’s where Vodafone Business Unified Communications (UC) comes into play. It is an entirely cloud-based solution that integrates phone, video, messaging and file sharing from anywhere and across multiple devices allowing companies to shape their world of work in the way that suits them best. This solution is a partnership between Vodafone and RingCentral, David Hamill, senior product specialist for Vodafone Business, explains. “RingCentral is a global company with more than 500,000 customers and three million users on its award-winning, unified communications platform. By partnering this platform with Vodafone’s global cloud communications infrastructure, we are providing a one-stop shop for customers keen to move their fixed connectivity to the cloud”.

Alongside a full suite of collaboration features, this solution offers the capability to make and take telephone calls from a fixed line number on a mobile phone, a PC, a laptop, a tablet or even a desk phone. As Hamill continues “The trend is undeniably towards the cloud. We are witnessing the sunsetting of older communications standards. By the end of the year, it is estimated that 75 per cent of enterprises will no longer have fixed phone lines or desk phones.”

Flexibility and agility at the heart of unified communications

The beauty of the Vodafone Business UC solution lies in its flexibility. “This is at the heart of the offering,” McCarthy points out. “Customers don’t have to take all of the services it offers. They can just enable and pay for what they need for now and keep their future options open. For example, customers may already be using Microsoft Teams for collaboration and wish to stick with it. Vodafone Business UC can integrate with Teams whilst still delivering the benefits of voice on the cloud. The solution is very flexible in terms of the receiving environment and the needs of the customer.”

Indeed, the solution can integrate with over 300 different popular applications out of the box including MS Teams, Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zendesk. Employees can waste a lot of time toggling between applications. By offering an entry point to these applications from inside our communications platform we make it much easier and faster for employees to engage with the products and tools they need to help their customers.

While some companies might be making do with expensive and difficult to maintain legacy voice systems, the fact is that they will soon have little choice but to change. “Now is the time to have a conversation about the move to cloud,” says McCarthy. “Legacy on-premises PABX systems and ISDN based connectivity are coming to the end of their useful lives."

Managing costs

The cost benefits are considerable. Hamill explains that businesses can use their existing broadband infrastructure to facilitate their digital journey as they move away from copper to a unified communications solution in the cloud. Vodafone Business UC is priced very competitively and has a much lower cost of ownership than legacy systems. It’s a compelling proposition, even if you just want to replace voice communications. You can continually reassess and take on more functionality over time.”

There are also advantages for companies with overseas locations. “Vodafone Business UC is built on our Vodafone Business Global SIP network, which connects it into the international telephone network,” McCarthy explains. “It gives you a single, converged voice and data network. This means you can dial any extension from any location within the company without having to make an international call.”

Solutions for businesses of all sizes

The solution is suitable for businesses of almost any size, Hamill points out. “It can cater for as little as five users to as many as 5,000 and beyond. In fact, it can even suit a business with just two users. They might have two telephone lines and they can replace them with a single licence and be able to make calls from any device on the go.”

Vodafone provides training for customers as part of the implementation process for the solution, he adds. “It’s a self-serve product, but our specialists provide full on the job training to administrators to show them how to use all the features of the solution. We provide post-implementation support as well.”

The future of hybrid working

Looking to the future, McCarthy expects that the shift to hybrid working underpinned by cloud communications technology will only intensify. “With Vodafone’s UC solution, businesses can embrace this shift more completely – flexibly leveraging comprehensive communication and collaboration features whilst simultaneously decoupling from ageing on premise technology and realising savings. Ultimately, we are giving both time and money back to our customers. By better enabling the communications they need to run their businesses, we are empowering their employees to become more productive.”

If you would like to learn more about Vodafone Business UC with Ring Central, visit our Communications page.

This story is part of a Connected Business series.

2024, "In an era of hybrid working, how do businesses unify communications securely?", Irish Times, August 11. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/2024/06/13/in-an-era-of-hybrid-working-how-do-businesses-unify-communications-securely/