Choosing the Right Hybrid Communications System

Choosing the Right Hybrid Communications System
By Travis Dillard, Inflow Communications

Knowing and understanding your company needs, how to make sure they align with the right UC vendor, is key to any business unified communication success. As a ShoreTel unified communication provider, we’ve seen first hand how a company’s communication style is as unique as a fingerprint.

That’s why it’s important to really ask the questions to make the right UC decisions. Don’t make assumptions or follow trends just because it seems like thing to do. Many times, my clients are surprised that what they really need is something more simple or low-tech and others find that more advanced technology is really what they need, even when they are a small business.

One of the things our clients love most about hybrid unified communications models is the ability to choose specific aspects of different communications models that best suit the client’s needs. That is to say, hybrid unified communications, including ShoreTel unified communications, can be custom built to suit your needs.

Shortly after writing a white paper about the various models you can use, I wrote a follow up, because I could see how easy it is to get caught up in the technology and different models without really assessing organization unified communication needs. And, like the title of the paper, it’s a number one mistake!

But assessing your organization’s communication needs can be overwhelming. I was recently reading this article from ShoreTel which notes three elements that are defining aspects of company needs: Cost, Culture and Mobility. These are short simple points that will serve as a great ice breaker for you to assess your organization’s needs.

For instance, mobility. If your phones are down, could you survive on email and mobile phones for a day? Check my blog post here to read more about determining your mission critical needs. Or, equally important, how many employees are working on the go and need mobile communication to get the work done?

Also, cost – is the bulk of your revenue streamed through your communications, whether it’s cloud, hybrid or onsite. This will help determine what type of uc vendor (hands off vs 24/7/365) you need. And culture. I wrote extensively about this in my white paper – aligning your culture with your uc vendor.

Don’t misinterpret your company’s fingerprint – read up on these tips on finding the right hybrid communication model, and ask questions about your company to assess your business true needs.

Inflow Communications is a national leader in ShoreTel Unified Communications and ShoreTel ECC Enterprise Contact Centers. Founded in 1997, Inflow has offices in Portland, Seattle, Dallas, LA and the Bay Area and is one of the nation’s top Unified Communications providers in today’s market. With over 100,000 endpoints under Inflow’s innovative support plans around the world, Inflow’s dedication to knowledge and innovation, and unrivaled ShoreTel customer support, has landed them in ShoreTel’s top 2% in global customer satisfaction and is ShoreTel’s fastest growing partner in the world.

About Inflow

Founded in 1997, Inflow is one of the nation’s top Unified Communications and Contact Center consultants in today’s market. Pioneers in cloud unified communications and cloud contact center success, Inflow is the first company to provide contact center consulting and training focused solely on helping you elevate your customer experience.

With over 200,000 endpoints supported under Inflow’s innovative success programs around the world, Inflow built its brand and reputation around providing unrivaled customer support. Inflow is in Mitel/ShoreTel’s top 2% in global customer satisfaction, and quickly acquiring a top spot with RingCentral, Genesys PureCloud and NICE inContact.

By partnering with Inflow, you can expect the highest level of strategic consultation, execution, and optimization available in the industry.