5 reasons to choose a unified communications application
The business case for bringing calls, chat, video and presence into one application.
By the Telappliant team
Unified communications brings calls, messaging, video and presence into a single application, replacing the separate phone system, chat tool and video app that most businesses still juggle. Here is the business case, not the feature list.
1. One inbox instead of four
Missed calls, voicemail, chat messages and meeting invites currently live in separate systems that do not talk to each other. A unified communications app puts all of it in one place, so a call that was missed while someone was in a Teams meeting shows up immediately with a transcript or voicemail, rather than being discovered hours later.
2. Staff can work from anywhere without losing their number
A unified communications app on desktop and mobile means an employee's business number, extension and call history follow them, whether they are in the office, at home or on site. Calls to the office number ring the app wherever it is signed in, so customers never notice the difference and staff are not carrying a second work phone.
3. It replaces several subscriptions with one
Most businesses are paying separately for a phone line rental, a video conferencing tool, an instant messaging app and sometimes a fax or SMS service. A single unified communications platform typically consolidates these into one predictable per-user cost, which is easier to budget and easier to manage when headcount changes.
4. Better data on how the business actually communicates
Call reporting, response times and busy periods are visible in one dashboard rather than scattered across separate systems that each report differently. That makes it possible to see genuine gaps in cover, such as a team that is regularly missing calls at lunchtime, and fix them with evidence rather than guesswork.
5. It is the only realistic answer to the PSTN switch-off
Traditional phone lines are being retired across the UK. A cloud-based unified communications platform is the natural replacement, because it runs over your existing broadband or leased line rather than a line that is disappearing, and it adds collaboration features an old phone system never had.
What to check before you choose one
- Does it integrate with the CRM and helpdesk tools you already use
- Can numbers be ported without a lengthy blackout
- Is call quality independent of your office Wi-Fi, using a properly provisioned connection
- Does the mobile app match the desktop feature set, not a stripped-down version
