We’ve changed how we work: Time to update your communications platform

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) have changed significantly in the last two years. So, why are some SMBs using dated communications systems? Does it still make sense to have a legacy phone system not designed for new hybrid and remote work environments?

Using a dated communications solution risks being out of touch with your customers and employees. The pandemic accelerated the move to digital customer experiences. People are now spending more time utilizing the Internet for daily tasks at home or using their mobile devices when on the go. Yet, they still expect the same employee and customer experience, whether the person they’re interacting with is across a sales counter or the country. Employees also need to communicate and collaborate with colleagues who are rarely in the same geographic region, let alone the same office.

Unified Communications is a Top Priority for SMBs

According to analysts at TechAisle, collaboration, communication, and the hybrid workplace are among the top IT priorities for SMBs in 2022. A Unified Communications (UC) solution that can be deployed to suit the business needs—on the company’s premises, in a private cloud, or in a channel partner’s private cloud—with flexible payment options can address these challenges. At the same time, it can help SMBs achieve their top business goals: attracting and retaining employees and customers, growing their business, optimizing business processes, and boosting employee productivity.

Beyond flexibility, SMBs need to extract the maximum value from their IT investments. While moving traditional on-premises applications like telephony, collaboration, and contact center into the public cloud can seem attractive at first blush; it can also be potentially disruptive. Full deployment into the multi-tenant public cloud may not be the right choice for your business, particularly if you are in industries that face strict requirements around data privacy and compliance (e.g., healthcare, retail, banking). A recent study by TechAisle found that 40% of businesses rated security as the number one barrier to moving communications into the public cloud.

So, if SMBs are worried about securing their communications in the public cloud, maybe it’s time to consider a “dedicated” system deployed where it best suits them. Security risks could be more effectively mitigated with a flexible solution to keep sensitive components on-premises while operating non-sensitive applications on a dedicated instance in the public cloud (i.e., a hybrid architecture). Some SMBs face regional requirements that their data be stored in-country, which is also better suited to a premises-based or private cloud deployment. The benefits of a private cloud/hybrid solution are too attractive to ignore. A UC solution doesn’t automatically presume that a multi-tenant, public cloud deployment model is the best for SMBs.

Finding the Right Balance with MiVoice Office 400

SMBs looking for the best combination of value, flexibility, and features in a hybrid model would do well considering MiVoice Office 400. Each year, thousands of businesses across more than 100 countries move to MiVoice Office 400, making it one of the most popular communications platforms in the world. That popularity comes mainly from the system’s simplicity: users can access voice, video, chat, and file sharing from a single screen through an intuitive interface. MiVoice Office 400 also has timesaving features you won’t find anywhere else, like an auto-discovery tool that instantly connects your Mitel devices when you start a video meeting or conference call. Integrate to your favorite CRM and utilize Mitel’s workflow to integrate your calling and collaboration into your business operations.

By moving to MiVoice Office 400, SMBs can also deliver differentiated customer experiences that rival larger companies, engaging with customers through calling. One solution for communications and contact center activities is simpler for employees and better for small business budgets. Businesses can even choose whether to pay for their licenses in one up-front payment or a monthly subscription, allowing them to consume their communications applications on either a CapEx or OpEx model.

Act Now to Save Even More Money

Mitel offers a special offer for a limited time to upgrade to MiVoice Office 400 via our worldwide base of channel partners. Are you running a legacy Mitel communications system? This is the best time to step into the future of unified communications and collaboration and tap into the power of Mitel’s next-generation telephony, messaging, and video meetings solution, Mitel One, a unified client that delivers a superior employee experience. Don’t miss this opportunity to take your employee and customer experiences to the next level. Talk to your Mitel channel partner (or reseller) for these special offers and check out what the MiVoice Office 400 can offer your business.