From emergency response to global manufacturing, there are many examples of where Unified Communications (UC) is being adopted across industries to enhance workflows and keep teams connected.
While it excels in general office and hybrid environments, the usefulness of UC extends far beyond just meetings and video calls. That’s why in this blog, we’re going to explore the benefits and applications of UC across industries, so you can easily understand its transformational advantages.
What benefits could hybrid and traditional offices see from UC?
Remote workforce enablement
Distributed team coordination: UC makes it easy to keep teams productive across geographic boundaries and time zones.
Home office integration: External communications can still be unified under the business’ brand, even when sent from a residential location.
Field worker connectivity: Mobile access to enterprise systems and expertise keeps on-the-go workers as informed as their in-office colleagues.
Contractor collaboration: UC makes it easy to secure external partner integration without compromising on security.
Revolutionizing customer engagement
Multi-channel service delivery: UC enables consistent experiences across voice, digital, and in-person touchpoints.
Expert consultation access: With UC, customers and staff can access instant connections to specialists, regardless of their location.
Proactive communication: Automated outreach and intelligent routing mean businesses can use UC to keep their customers the focus of their operations.
Service level optimization: Data-driven improvements for response times and resolution rates can help keep customer satisfaction high.
Cross-department collaboration
Silo elimination: With departments all connected on a single platform, it’s easier for teams to connect.
Knowledge sharing: Rapid access to specialized knowledge through UC platforms means information and expertise are democratized across organizations.
Crisis response coordination: UC allows for the immediate mobilization of resources during urgent situations.
Innovation acceleration: With improved connectivity, ideation and decision-making can happen at speed.
Business continuity and resilience
Disaster recovery: In the event of disruption to usual office facilities, UC platforms ensure that businesses can keep colleagues and customers up to date.
Scalable capacity management: UC makes it easy to adjust communication resources according to demand.
Backup integration: Critical communications can continue with seamless failover capabilities.
Geographic redundancy: With UC platforms powered across multiple locations, teams gain operational continuity in the event of an outage.
Ready to explore Unified Communications use cases by industry?
We’re exploring the best UC use cases for the healthcare, retail, manufacturing, education, finance, legal, international business, and public sectors.
What could healthcare gain from a UC system?
Patient care coordination: Secure communications between care teams and patients, with integrated medical records.
Telemedicine delivery: High-quality video consultations and diagnostic tool integrations can enable wider adoption of telemedical appointments.
Emergency department optimization: With UC, hospitals are able to ensure quick access to specialist consultation during critical situations.
Pharmaceutical research collaboration: Secure multi-site clinical trial coordination is made simpler with a UC platform that all labs can access.
Read our full case study of UC in a healthcare organisation.
Where could education enhance its operations with UC?
Extending the classroom: Whether they attend virtually or physically, students can still connect to their educators for seamless hybrid learning.
Faculty research coordination: When institutions want to collaborate, UC can help them keep complex projects on track.
Streamlined admin processes: Parent communication and student support services can all benefit from a unified approach to communications and the associated admin.
Campus-wide communications: In the event of an emergency or update that the whole campus needs to know about, a UC platform can help students and staff stay informed.
Where could financial services utilize UC?
Client advisory enhancement: Wealth management meetings with document co-review are possible with a UC platform in place.
Remote expert consultation: Clients can be connected instantly with specialized advisors (tax experts, estate planners, investment strategists) regardless of location through video conferencing and screen sharing.
Compliance alignment: With automatic call recording and audit trails, financial services suppliers can be assured that they’re adhering to regulatory and compliance policies.
Branch network integration: Centralized expertise, accessible across all distributed locations, means banks can quickly share specialist information with local branches.
Read our full case study of UC in a financial services organisation.
What can legal practices get from UC?
Protected communications: Encrypted communication channels help both practitioners and clients stay confident that their conversations are private.
Case coordination: Secure collaboration on sensitive documents are seamlessly enabled with a UC platform.
Virtual court participation: Professional-grade video conferencing allows for seamless remote court proceedings.
Document review: Real-time analysis enables efficient collaboration with multiple authors on legal documents.
How can manufacturers benefit from UC?
Conversations across levels: From the factory floor to the boardroom, teams can share essential information like operational status updates and visual documentation.
Maintenance coordination: With video consultations, teams can easily consult with remote experts from the shop floor.
Supply chain integration: Vendor coordination and automated inventory alerts allow administrators to seamlessly manage supply chains.
Quality assurance processes: Photographic and video evidence sharing and immediate escalation protocols are all possible with a UC platform made for manufacturers.
Read our full case study of UC in a manufacturing organisation.
What does retail have to gain from UC?
Inventory coordination: Users in the warehouse can easily communicate with shop floor colleagues to verify stock levels across locations.
Customer service escalation: With a shared platform, floor staff can transition conversations from the shop floor to senior management or specialists.
Training coordination: With a unified platform, businesses can ensure that teams are receiving consistent training and experiences across franchises and multi-site organizations.
Seasonal workforce integration: UC allows for rapid, remote onboarding for temporary staff.
How can public sector service delivery be improved with UC?
Service availability: UC helps citizens engage with multi-channel government services, including through video appointments.
Inter-agency coordination: With secure information sharing between departments, government agencies can communicate and share sensitive information freely.
Public engagement facilitation: Hybrid community meetings democratize participation in local politics for those who find in-person attendance challenging.
Where can global enterprises make gains with a UC platform?
Time-zone bridging: With collaboration tools that do not rely on real-time communications, global teams can still coordinate effectively.
Cultural communication adaptation: UC makes it easy to tailor support for specific regions and multiple languages.
Regulatory compliance management: Regional-specific communication and data sovereignty requirements can all be accomplished with UC.
Cost optimizations: Using UC to communicate globally reduces the cost of traditional international telephony.
Whatever the industry, we’re ready to help
At Sipcom, we have global deployment experience for a wide range of verticals, making us the perfect choice for bringing UC to your organization. If you’d like to see where UC can enhance your business, get in touch – our experts will be happy to talk you through the use cases.
Contact our experts
Looking to sell UC across industries?
Partnering with Sipcom can help you enhance your expertise and build an impressive UC offering. Visit our website to learn more about the opportunity.
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Frequently asked questions about UC use cases
Which UC use cases deliver the highest ROI?
ROI will vary by industry and business structure, but the highest ROI cases usually address communication-intensive processes. The key is identifying where communication is having an impact on outcomes across your business.
For instance, in healthcare, great value is generated from using UC for care coordination. While manufacturers benefit from streamlined operational communications between departments.
How do I determine which UC use cases are right for my business?
To find out where UC use cases will be valuable to your organization, start with process analysis, rather than technology features. Map your workflows, identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies and prioritize using UC in these areas. Make sure you’re focusing on both internal and external practices, to ensure your customer-facing use cases aren’t being neglected.
What’s the difference between basic UC applications and advanced use cases?
A basic UC deployment will provide standard communication tools, like voice, video, and messaging. But an advanced use case would integrate these capabilities into specific processes and workflows designed to tackle a unique industry challenge.
For example, basic UC provides video conferencing – and an advanced use case would use this functionality to integrate video with patient records, diagnostic tools, and care team coordination to provide comprehensive telemedicine services.
Can some UC use cases work across industries?
Yes, many foundational UC use cases can apply universally, regardless of industry. Remote workforce enablement, customer service improvement, and collaboration enhancement all have benefits across businesses. However, the most transformational applications are often industry specific, where unique regulatory, operational, and success metric requirements are considered.
How long do UC use cases take to implement?
Timelines can vary, depending on complexity and organizational scope. In a few weeks, simple applications like remote workforce enablement can be up and running. However, it can take three to six months for more complex deployments involving multiple use cases, system integrations, and change management strategies. Phased deployments can help businesses to experience early value realization, while working towards more comprehensive capabilities in the background.
