With remote-first, hybrid workplaces here to stay, businesses are revamping the communications systems set up during the pandemic with the future in mind.
That’s why David Turcotte, Acronym Solution’s voice and collaboration product manager, has been busy helping Ottawa business owners future-proof their communication systems.
“Our customers needed a more reliable and stable alternative to their one-size fits all system,” he said. “What they had was a knee-jerk adaptation to the challenges presented by the pandemic.”
But what was effective in the short term won’t be sufficient for the future. Systems cobbled together on the fly can be inconsistent, unintegrated and don’t scale as the business grows.
For many businesses, the tipping points for upgrading their voice system were dropped calls and overall call quality.
It makes sense. With most of today’s communications being delivered by text, email and chat, a conversation that’s ‘phone-worthy’ is more likely to involve a crucial, timely situation — not a great moment to lose touch or have degraded voice quality.
But while that reliability can give employers peace of mind, the next question is whether it will fill your talent pipeline with younger recruits — the kind who aren’t big fans of talking on the phone.
Attracting and retaining the next generation of talent
Those looking to align their technology with today’s hybrid workplaces will need a tool that keeps their team in touch from anywhere, on any device.
“There are three types of users: office, home and hybrid,” said Turcotte. “Gartner says that seventy-five per cent of those workers will soon be millennials who say, ‘I don’t want to be handcuffed to a laptop.’”
It’s a reality business owners can’t afford to ignore. In addition to the shifting age demographic, two-thirds of knowledge workers will work remotely in the not-too-distant future.
Both stats suggest that attracting and retaining new recruits will depend on how flexible and adaptable your technology is, especially when the talent you need isn’t in your own backyard.
“With our voice and collaboration system, you and your employees can be reached anywhere with one number,” said Turcotte. “If you’re in the office, you can be reached at your desk or on your mobile. If you’re at home, you can set it up in several places, like your mobile, home office and the cottage if you’re heading there on Friday afternoon.”
And flexible options aren’t the only thing these new recruits are looking for. They also want a commitment to work-life balance.
By taking unnecessary ‘busy work’ off your team’s plate by leveraging new automation tools, you free them up to be more creative and proactive, adds Turcotte.
A final must for new recruits is an inclusive workplace. Whether teams are on-site, hybrid or completely remote, businesses need to be working together on a level playing field. That’s why Acronym’s voice and collaboration system have been designed with customization in mind, he says, to ensure all employees can stay connected.
“I can give you a solution for basic services so you can answer the phone,” said Turcotte. “Or I can give you elaborate collaboration capabilities to hold a webinar with 1,000 people.”
But if creating a system that will keep everyone happy sounds daunting, Acronym has your back for that too.
Let Acronym be your ICT troubleshooting team
As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, there’s a real risk that configuring and managing it will steal valuable time away from your core business.
That’s why Acronym partnered with Cisco to offer their customers a fully integrated, single tool.
“We invest heavily in knowing the customer,” said Turcotte. “Whether they have 10 or 1,000 users, we use a consultative approach to understand their needs and where we can add value.”
They do it by taking the information they gather with their discovery tool and working with Cisco to build your system and troubleshoot any issues or adjustments as you scale.
“We give you the best of both worlds,” said Turcotte — meaning a system designed for your needs, without having to spend valuable time troubleshooting.
Acronym’s suite of services for small and medium sized businesses may be new on the scene, but their team is not. They’ve managed reliable ICT networks for government and health organizations for decades.
“Future-proofing your business with our network, technology and technical support just makes good business sense,” said Turcotte.
With Acronym’s track record with network reliability and their customer-centric approach to serving small and medium sized businesses, there’s never been a better time to upgrade your communications technologies.
