The strategic importance of automation of organizational tasks and the added value of unified communications to increase productivity

Finding skilled labor in today’s full employment economy is a challenge for any organization. It has become a priority to look at the strategic importance of automation of organizational tasks to increase productivity and to do more with less. This article from McKinsey & Company stresses its importance. This is where unified communications solutions become a strategic business tool.

This blog article discusses some of the business functions contributing to automating business workflows.

Auto-attendant

The auto-attendant is assuredly one of the most classic examples of automating answering calls within the organization. If some organizations have purposely chosen not to use auto-attendants, most of them appreciate its contribution. The idea is simple: how can we help reduce the workload of receptionists in order to allow that person to perform value-added tasks and, most importantly, more prized activities. Also, let us not forget that most calling customers really like the speed and convenience of this service?

Presence

Presence is the unified communications solutions function that automatically adjusts your availability, occupation or away status according to ongoing conversations, your electronic calendar or your inactivity (and therefore your away status).

If presence does not per se automate actions for the end user, it changes everything for colleagues who, with a simple click, can quickly identify if you are available to answer their requests. No more wasted time walking across the office floor only to find out that you are not there or not available.

Simultaneous Ringing

Another great and fun option is to have calls ring you on your office phone and mobile phone at the same time. No programming required, no function key activation on your phone. No more missed calls, and coworkers and customers will be able to reach you all the time. It is the perfect solution for resolving problems faster and more efficiently!

Call Forwarding Options

There exists a number of call forwarding options. We discussed these in depth in this blog article. More super useful automation features at your fingertip.

Voicemail to Email

Another classic function, the ability to automatically transfer voicemail messages from the phone system to your email inbox. Synching your voicemail and email is a cinch with IP4B’s cloud telephony for business. Stop calling the office to retrieve your messages and start returning calls faster and delegating more effectively.

Listening to voicemail messages on your smart phone is not only a productivity gain but also a great customer experience.

Call center screen pop

Although this function is not directly related to everyday business use of unified communications solutions and more about call center operations, the ability to display a customer’s file on screen at the same time as presenting calls to agents (this is known in call center speak as a “screen pop”) is a great automation and time saver. It is one of the 10 ways to increase call center productivity discussed in this article on our blog.

RAVI

And we kept the best for last!

The RAVI solution is IP4B’s latest homegrown software. RAVI is the code name we gave the project. In French, it stands for “Réponse Automatisée Vocale Interactive” which translates to “Automated Interactive Voice Response”. RAVI is similar to auto-attendant solutions. But it is much more.

The first characteristic that sets RAVI apart is its ability to interact with organizational databases and information systems to enable a truly personalized response to customers’ requests.

One of the great features of RAVI is its capability to learn from how it is being used. For example, imagine a transportation company receiving customer calls. RAVI learns who callers are and automatically offers them their home address as the default pick-up location. All of this without any human assistance.

When discussing the importance of automating organizational tasks in order to increase productivity, RAVI is bullseye!

And soon you will rave about RAVI’s new applications. For now, it is available in prelaunch, but do stay tuned in on this blog for an upcoming announcement.

Conclusion

Finding skilled labor in today’s full employment economy is a challenge for any organization. It has become a priority to look at the strategic importance of automating organizational tasks to increase productivity and to do more with less. Unified communications and call center solutions as well as our latest RAVI solution are true strategic tools to empower productivity gains in the enterprise.

How is your organization automating organizational tasks? Have you explored the ways to do so? Engage a conversation with one of your senior advisors and find out!

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