Unified Communication Solution a Tool for VoIP Service Providers to Generate Revenue

VoIP Service Providers have yet another way they can enhance the loyalty of existing business customers and, in the process, gain additional revenues. It is through Unified Communication Solutions that can be offered as a service to such clients. As matters stand VoIP services may be offering IP PBX and WebRTC solutions besides voice mail, SMS and fax. Here is why VoIP services and their customers benefit by opting for unified communication solutions.

Not Just Unifying All Communication Channels

The obvious benefit of UC is that it brings together all diverse channels of communication. You have presence information, IP phone, fax, conferencing, data, SMS, mobile telephone and desktop communication seamlessly integrated together. Business customers of VoIP Service providers may already have all these or a few of such communication channels already in use. Still, given the way customers tend to pick whichever channel is available and convenient for the moment, unifying everything makes sense. Businesses speed up responses by switching to the unification of communication and accessibility. The UC solution syncs all contacts and channels into a seamless blend. This is just one advantage. There are others.

Cost Reduction

UC brings along with it about 40% reduction in costs.

• Hosted UC solutions reduce dependence on internal IT personnel to keep the various systems up and running.

• Your customers can have employees working from home with no hiccups to their work or operational efficiency.

• Business clients reduce dependence on hardware and consequent upgrades and maintenance.

• Integrating all IP related services into a unified billing platform reduces costs.

However, it takes more than cost reductions to convince business users to switch to UC solutions.

UC Brings Value – First Point Customer Service

Take an example of customer services. At one end they have to handle inquiries and leads. At the other end, they must handle existing customers and their complaints. A customer may call and that call goes into an IVR and is handled by one employee who may or may not respond right. The same customer may send an email that is handled by another employee or remains unattended. A call may go to a call centre handling the enterprise’s service section. This dislocation leads to customer discontentment and possible loss of reputation and revenues for the enterprise. UC connects the dots and enables fast efficient customer services.

Collaboration

VoIP service providers will find it easy to push UC as a service by pointing out just how useful it is as a collaboration tool for internal teams and for collaboration between internal and external teams in a business organization. Get businesses to subscribe to UC and they get WebRTC audio-video chat and conference besides seamless confluence of all their existing communication channels that make working together with a breeze regardless of their location or device in use.

A prime example is that of a business unit that has its office in one location, branches in other location and several remote-based home workers and agents in the field. Mobile users, when they become part of the UC network, use the software in the phone to connect and make calls as well as receive calls and keep track, besides collaborating and engaging in chats or conferencing. Such mobile staff members may be interfacing with customers and with the UC system, they can easily connect with back office, head office or their boss. UC reduces the cost of multiple phone lines while facilitating interaction. One great feature is the Presence feature that lets others know about availability. UC syncs devices and locations.

Who Can You Target With UC as a Service?

The first thing to do is to tie up with unified communication solution provider capable of providing a hosted offering. This frees you from the burden of upgrades, maintenance and troubleshooting. You can focus on targets customer segments that will bring in steady revenues.

Healthcare: Healthcare is one promising target segment for unified communications. A typical hospital may have in-house doctors, doctors on call, doctors traversing corridors, nursing staff and paramedics. The communication system may have an internal channel to page doctors or other employees and an external connection point. Integrate UC and they will thank you for making life easier for everyone.

Manufacturing: Rope in the manufacturing segment and you have a large revenue-generating segment. Manufacturing typical has production in one place, purchase and sales in other locations. As stated above, putting a unified communication solution in place will ease their collaboration pains and help them to speed up matters. They save costs, satisfy customers and avoid expensive mistakes that communication delays can entail.

Education: Education is a scenario somewhat similar to healthcare. A few key personnel must be available and provide service to hundreds. In this case, the key personnel are teachers and their targets are students. Then again they need to interface with parents and work with school administration. UC enables speedy, precise and timely communication using various channels like SMS, voice and conference to manage administrative functions. Educations may take it a step further by using the conferencing feature to conduct remote classes.

Financial sector: Financial sector comprising of banks, insurance companies and service providers represent a large customer base. It is a promising segment where UC solutions provide a perfect fit. This sector has hundreds of employees in an organization that may have several branches and field agents who all need to be connected together and connect with customers.

Startups: Offer UC as a Service to startups and you will earn their undying gratitude for offering an enterprise-class solution on an affordable monthly subscription.

Picking the right unified communication solution provider is the key to success in gaining more customers and increasing revenues for VoIP services. You could opt for a cloud-based service and have freedom of operations with a reduced burden of upgrades. You could subscribe to UCaaS and straightaway resell services to your downstream customers. Regardless, for VoIP service providers, Unified Communication is a great way to increase revenues and keep customers satisfied through a seamless communication channel.