LONDON — Oct. 14, 2010 — If people are the core asset of every business, then making it easier for them to work together is surely key to business success. The nature of an operator’s business often results in complex, siloed business groups, and the modern workplace sees people traveling and working out of the office, online, on e-mail, on desk phones, on cell phones, on smartphones, and on instant messenger, as well as at a desk in the office. With so many different ways to collaborate with colleagues in an already complicated company structure, it’s crucial to have the right tools to manage communications effectively.
Helen Hughes, Communications Sector Senior Marketing Manager
Telefónica O2 UK has successfully implemented a unified communications (UC) solution as part of its Life@Work project to improve communications between its geographically dispersed 12,000 employees and over 22 million customers, reduce travel costs and cut its carbon footprint. UC supports individual productivity, workgroups and collaboration, and with the modern day flexible working trend, this is of primary importance as many organizations are highly dispersed with employees often in various offices or at home throughout the country or globe.
UC offers employees choice of flexible communication methods, and seamless switching between forms of communication ensures a good user experience at all times. Communication with third parties is also greatly improved, expediting decisions and generally moving things on much more quickly. Easier collaboration enhances colleague relationships and improves workflow, and those who work at home feel truly engaged and valuable members of the team.
Beyond the business productivity argument, it’s also important to be conscious of costs that can rapidly escalate with people being contactable across any screen or any location. UC can dramatically reduce out-of-pocket costs, such as telecom and cellular bills, hosted audio- and videoconferencing and in some cases office facilities. Consolidation of communications infrastructure lowers operating costs and enterprise governance, and secure communications manages unforeseen risks. The overall effect is a happy, efficient and productive work force and satisfied management who can see the impact of the technology on the bottom line. More effective communication both internally and externally also helps companies on their pledge to become greener by reducing travel costs and subsequently carbon emissions.
Telefónica O2 UK has rolled out its UC solution to over 3,000 users and plans to extend this to its entire work force. Following a successful internal deployment, there is great potential for operators to capitalize on this expertise and deliver such services to its own enterprise customers.
Please visit the written and video Telefónica O2 UK case study to discover more details about UC and how it can positively impact your business and company culture.
