As businesses seek to adopt new technologies as part of wider digital transformation journeys, whilst facilitating increased mobility in the workplace, the case for converged communications in 2019 and beyond is hard to ignore. Gamma’s converged solutions – Horizon phone system and Connect – provide a powerful, integrated combination of fixed VoIP and mobile telephony, helping employees be productive and deliver stand-out customer service – wherever, whenever.
With this being the case, we recently chatted to Domenico Idone, FMC Product Manager at Gamma, to hear why so many businesses are choosing to pursue a converged communications technology strategy.What are the main benefits of a converged communications solution?
Simplicity, mobility, efficiency. Businesses that opt for a converged communications solution will benefit from all of these things – and, of course, all the positive knock-on effects they bring! Simplicity, in the sense that users have a single account no matter what device they’re using, meaning there’s no duplication of phone numbers or voicemail accounts. Mobility, as employees can work as effectively when they’re on the move, similar to when they’re in the office. And efficiency, because streamlining communications while catering for increased mobility can’t help but make a business operate more effectively, bringing significant long-term value to the table.
What sort of businesses would benefit from converged communications?
Put simply: any business with a mobile need and/or one that wants to improve productivity and customer service. Which is just about everyone, these days.
Converged communications technology is ideal for any business that has employees on the move – care workers, estate agents, delivery drivers, and so on – or any business that wants to support an effective mobility strategy, giving employees the option to work remotely all or some of the time. Equally, it’s ideal for businesses with multiple sites that have varying communications requirements, or those with a need for temporary offices or pop-up sites, giving them instant means to communicate without needing to implement any other infrastructure.
Our Connect solution gives businesses all the features of Horizon Collaborate, from call recording and converged voicemail services to full reporting and analytics, but from any mobile device. And integration is as easy as handing out SIM cards.
Can converged communications change with the needs of a business?
Being such a flexible solution, evolving with the needs of a business is one of the things converged communications does brilliantly. It makes scaling up or down totally doable – whether it’s adding/removing new employees or setting up a temporary site. The other thing it allows you to do is portray professionalism with the same phone number associated to an account, regardless of the device or location. Equally, this means being able to give the impression that you’re local, even if you’re not (at a given moment in time), which can be reassuring for customers.
Are there any barriers to implementing converged communications?
Setting up and integrating converged communications couldn’t be simpler. The only potential barrier is if you’re investing in both fixed and mobile telephony at the same time, and you already have existing suppliers/contracts with different end dates. This is a stumbling block that’s easily overcome, though, as Gamma can work closely with businesses to roll out an incremental converged communications adoption plan, designed especially to suit their unique needs.
What happens when things go wrong – say, if the data was to go down?
The handy thing about a mobile solution like Gamma’s Connect, which is hosted via GSM networks, is that it can actually work as a backup solution when things go wrong. If, for example, there was an internet outage at the office, meaning the fixed phone went down (due to it being a VoIP service), communications would automatically go through to a connected mobile device instead. So there’d be no missed calls from customers, partners or prospects, and no need for disruption to internal communications.
What does the future of converged communications look like?
The way I see it, converged communications is the future! At Gamma, we’re working to add features to our converged solutions all the time. So, on top of fixed and mobile telephony, businesses will be able to benefit from other services, including sharing and collaboration tools.
