Reduced meeting-related costs, time savings, increased productivity and a decreased carbon footprint whilst being protected by strong authentication and encryption. Skype for Business offers a compelling proposition for law firms.
Law firms need to be innovative and agile in the face of tough competition. Clients expect exceptional responsiveness, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. You need IT tools that help you to communicate and collaborate effectively whilst being secure and reliable. Downtime is non-negotiable. In the SRA’s Silver Linings’ report, they say that downtime can cause losses of up to £10,000 per hour.
In this blog we discuss the five main reasons law firms should invest in Skype for Business….
- Reduce costs Skype for Business enables you to move your telephony to the cloud, removing the need for on-premise Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and the associated cost and time of keeping the technology operating reliably. It provides the functionality, availability and stability expected from a conventional telephony system with the added benefits of increased flexibility and mobility – all without the up-front capital outlay.Business meetings cost companies thousands of pounds every year, when travel expenses and wages are added together. The problem wouldn’t be so bad if all meetings were productive. In 2013 Management Today reported the rather depressing claim that “UK workers waste a year of their lives in useless meetings”.Face-to-face meetings are unavoidable in many cases, of course, and you just have to accept the associated costs and travel time. However, modern online communications technology may provide a solution to less essential gatherings. Skype for Business allows users to communicate by voice, video or online instant messaging, and business conference calls can also be set up.
Skype for Business is ideal for law firms because it lets you add up to 250 people to online meetings, gives you enterprise-grade security, allows you to manage employee accounts and is integrated into your Office apps. - Supports mobility with a consistent user experience on any device Skype for Business can help you to support a growing mobile workforce who increasingly expect to be able to collaborate with clients and colleagues regardless of their location. Those employees who have desktops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones want communication options on all of their devices and a consistent user experience whatever device they choose to work from. With Skype, we’ve now reached the point where you have the same feature set across all devices. This means wherever your lawyers are, the client will receive continuity of service.
- Great features encouraging a collaborative culture The speed of collaboration is impressive with Skype for Business, but it’s also really very easy to use. The way that communication channels effectively blend into one another, with meetings expanding or morphing as the requirements of those present change substantially increases productivity.For instance lawyers can quickly jump on a call to resolve client issues and that call can easily be escalated to include video and screen sharing. The document-sharing feature allows team members to share case information and legal documentation more efficiently and securely. There’s no need to book a videoconference room and deal with the complex set up of multi-way telepresence.
- Become an extension of your client’s organisation through federation The federation feature within Skype for Business gives the option to connect with clients who are also using Skype for Business – essentially becoming an extension of their organisation. Clients can interact with your firm in exactly the same way they would with someone in their own organisation. By enabling your team and your clients to keep in touch more easily, they can build deeper and long- lasting relationships. The federational functionality has robust security management with controls around what can and can’t be shared.
- No need to rip and replace No company can justify throwing away their investment in a traditional phone system or telepresence solution immediately. However, with Skype for Business you can adopt the new functionality and integrate it into your legacy infrastructure. You need to ensure you partner with a company that can design a technology roadmap that integrates the two systems effectively and efficiently, with the scalability for future requirements.
To find out how to get started with your move to Skype for Business, speak to SIPCOM today.
