Communication matters to every business. When it’s functioning well, workflows proceed smoothly and customers get the great service they deserve. When communication isn’t working, so much can go wrong, tasks hit bottlenecks and customer queries go unanswered.

If your business operates in more than one location, these issues can multiply. How do you collaborate and manage workflows between sites? How do you keep in touch? The way you address these questions can make or break a multi-site enterprise.

Adding new sites is an aspiration for so many businesses. But you need the right tools to keep everyone connected. That tool is unified communications.

What are unified communications?

The concept of unified communications (UC) is quite simple, but it’s transformed the world of phone systems. It simply means taking all channels of business communication and placing them in a single platform that your whole team uses. This means voice, videoconferencing, instant messaging and email are all in one easy-to-use system.

At GoldStar, we’re specialists in the field. For over 35 years, we’ve been Ireland’s only distributor of Ericsson-LG’s iPECS range of communication products. iPECS was one of the early pioneers of UC, and offers industry-leading UC platforms that can transform a multi-site enterprise. This includes UCP, an on-premise solution, as well as the iPECS Cloud platform and iPECS ONE app.

Whatever the iPECS platform, UC opens up a huge range of possibilities for all businesses, especially those on multiple sites. It simply makes communication more efficient, by saving time on flicking between different screens. Instead, you get all that functionality in one secure environment. And that’s just the beginning of the benefits. Next we’ll run you through some of the rest!

Easy to manage

Whatever technology you’re using to power your business, simple management is always a priority. But that’s especially true if you’re operating a larger scale operation. The more sites you operate, the more inefficiencies and waste multiply.

With an iPECS UC platform from GoldStar, these concerns are no more. Administration is incredibly simple for your admins, with the whole platform manageable on a simple interface. And better still, you can manage all sites from one place. That’s the kind of efficiency that saves time and money.

Increased efficiency

It isn’t just your admins who will save time with UC – it’s everyone who uses the platform to communicate. Just think of communication between colleagues when you don’t have UC. Everyone has to flick between different screens. You don’t know who’s free or when, which means something as simple as transferring a call becomes a step into the unknown.

UC clears all that up. For one, each user has a presence setting. This means you can instantly see who’s available in real time. Then you can choose how you contact them. Sometimes, instant messaging is all you need. If you need to escalate it to a video call, you can do it in a click. It just makes everyday communication easier and more efficient.

Scalability

Adding locations to your business means growth. That’s a good thing, but it does bring challenges. If you’re stuck with inflexible technology, you’ll do your expansion plans no favours. If adding users or sites is slow or expensive, it becomes that much harder to realise your ambitions.

With a UC platform from GoldStar, you’ll have no such problems. Scaling up is incredibly easy, whether you use the iPECS on-premise or cloud platform. You simply add the new users to your existing platform. That’s it. It allows you to get new sites up and running seamlessly.

Features, add-ons and integrations

Another huge plus of UC is the range of features it offers on top of its core functions. Out of the box, our iPECS platforms offer a huge range of call-handling features. But there are also more specialist tools for those who need them.

If you take a high volume of calls, our iPECS Analytics app could be just what you need to analyse your team’s KPIs. Call recording is another great option for quality assurance and complaint resolution. You can even integrate your CRM with your phone system.

This allows you to click to call any of your contacts. Meanwhile, for inbound calls, your screen will display any information you hold on the caller. Again, this adds a further layer of efficiency and time-saving to your communication.

Improve collaboration

More and more businesses are coming around to the idea of collaboration. Through teamwork, you avoid tasks bottlenecking around one person, while harnessing the skills of your whole team. Through all the tools we’ve discussed, UC can substantially enhance your team’s ability to collaborate – even if you’re working remotely.

This is great news for multi-site businesses, because you can collaborate across sites. Try instant messaging groups for your quicker chats. If you need to share screens or give presentations, you can easily do this on a video call.

Choosing GoldStar for unified communications

At GoldStar, we have the experience and expertise to make UC work for any organisation, whatever your size or sector. Multi-site enterprises are logistically complex, but we can make it easy – from choosing your platform to seamless installation and ongoing management.

To revolutionise your communications, get in touch today. You can reach the GoldStar team by calling 021 430 0737.