
As Unified Communications (UC) continues to evolve under the BCStrategies.com definition, “Communications integrated to optimize business processes,” I ponder where UC will ultimately end up and what it will look like. UC tools like collaboration, chat, audio conferencing, videoconferencing, Unified Messaging, UC mobility, presence, and corporate directory all offer multiple ways of communicating real-time. IoT now offers real-time access to devices and manage an entire field workforce more efficiently. AI will create new opportunities for customer experience and SLAs by adding ‘bots’ to Contact Center chat functions and now voice functions with the introduction Google Voice and other partnerships. We can now all be connected real-time no matter what the media. I believe we've seen just “the tip of the iceberg” of what UC will eventually become.
As UC continues to go mainstream as a now ‘must’ for many enterprises, there are hints as to why it will proliferate at outstanding growth rates. According to PWC.com, “Millennials matter because they are not only different from those that have gone before, they are also more numerous than any since the soon-to-retire Baby Boomer generation – millennials already form 25% of the workforce in the US and account for over half of the population in India. By 2020, millennials will form 50% of the global workforce.”
So within the next three years, millennials will account for nearly 50% of the workforce. That’s a HUGE statement as to the ultimate outcome of how UC will be embraced, and what it is going to look like. My sons, both millennials, happen to be fellow consultant staff members. Their insights can be important, as they know how their generation works.
Millennials can be, in fact, your greatest advocate for deploying UC in your own organization. Millennials help identify to the ultimate UC tagline: “Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device.”
Here are some of the traits I see in how UC can fit invariably well with millennials:
According to a recent Staples 2017 survey, telecommuting and remote working have clear advantages for the workforce, removing distractions, reducing real-estate costs, creating better mental health at large, and in my opinion, especially when it comes to millennials.
By implementing UC as part of an organization’s strategic plan, millennials (and all staff really) will have the freedom to work using any device anytime, anywhere, creating a domestic and even worldwide “virtual organization” environment. In my opinion, this kind of flexibility heightens the chances that an organization can attract more millennials and retain them longer. By empowering millennials with UC tools, real-time communication expands exponentially across any device, and further drives innovation in the marketplace.
If you are looking for the “perfect” long-term UC strategy, start with the traits of the millennials, who will be the single biggest driver towards UC adoption going forward as they become the 50+% majority of the workforce shortly. The traits and behaviors of millennials should be adopted by your own organization, keeping in mind that it will take some time to “shift” a culture from a “brick and mortar” mindset to a “virtual organization” mindset.
Those that adapt now will win the game of UC in their respective vertical markets, leading their competitors by as much as 12-24 months by adopting UC as a strategic component of their business communication, which will further drive their timely, expedient delivery of their respective products and services. UC tied with customer experience, in my opinion, is not only transformational for any organization, but existential longer term – just ask organizations who have not transformed their organizations from a brick and mortar environment to a virtual organization, including Toy-R-Us (closed), The Bon-Ton (closed), Sears (Chapter 11), Payless Shoes (closed 800 stores in 2017), The Gap (closed 200 stores in 2017), and Gymboree (closed 350 stores in 2017) among others.
It is now truly a highly competitive and existential game in the market, and UC tools are a ‘must’ for survival and getting ahead of the competition, period.
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