More and more small businesses are recognizing the benefits of UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) and are making the switch to keep up with the changing workforce. With UCaaS, small businesses can operate like a larger organization without incurring the same costs. UCaaS allows you to streamline your communications into a single platform and helps untether your employees from their desks.  

To help your business make the most of communications technology, we’ve curated the top five benefits of UCaaS for small businesses: 

1. Reduced costs 

Since UCaaS is hosted over the cloud, you don’t need to purchase a ton of expensive equipment or hardware. In fact, there are essentially no up-front costs with cloud communications. Broadvoice, or your service provider, takes care of your initial upfront fees and in many cases, you pay only for what you use. Plus, your team isn’t on the hook for expensive software updates and maintenance. These important tasks fall to your unified communications service provider, so no additional IT staff is needed.  

Even better, you can only pay for what you use. With a traditional on-site phone system, you’re often paying for extra lines or features that aren’t needed in your monthly phone bill. UCaaS lets you pay for exactly what you need without the additional charges. And, if you have a surge in call volume or a slower season, you can instantly scale up or down, allowing you to successfully accommodate the ebbs and flows of your business.  

2. Enhanced communication 

To provide a better and more personalized customer experience, UCaaS also allows your employees to connect with customers in whatever way they like best. It’s been proven that customers prefer to receive text messages as opposed to phone calls, so if your employee needs to follow up with a customer, they can do so with quick text rather than a phone call, further catering to your customer’s specific needs. 

If an employee is messaging with a coworker, but it needs to turn into a longer conversation, UCaaS allows them to seamlessly switch to a video call. During that video call, they can even share their screen or files and continue messaging for a more real-time collaborative experience. Or if an employee is trying to reach a coworker quickly, rather than send an email message, they can send an instant message or a quick text for a prompter response. 

Plus, employees still have access to their desk phones, but because of the cloud-based nature of UCaaS, they are able to call or text via their business phone number on any device so they never miss important information! 

3. More flexibility & freedom 

Your company and employees have more flexibility as they can communicate from any of their devices—their desktop computer, laptop, desktop phone, cell phone, or tablet. UCaaS allows them to choose to work from whatever device (and location) suits them best, enhancing productivity and giving them more control over their workflow. 

For example, imagine you have a sales representative who is waiting on an important phone call from a client. Rather than miss that call—and possible revenue—if they’re not at their desk phone, they can simply have it routed to their personal device. Or they can make that call from their own cellphone and it will still show up as their business phone number, giving them more flexibility to work from anywhere. 

4. Huge time-saver 

With UCaaS, everything is streamlined and all your communication platforms are combined into a single platform that can be accessed via the cloud. Employees can check all their messages from one location without having to constantly switch between different platforms. Not only does this save time, but it also allows for more efficient communications between both coworkers and customers. 

Your employees can easily check to see if someone is online before making a call or sending a message, saving them time by not reaching out to people who are currently unavailable. Furthermore, since all your communications solutions are coming from one provider, you’ll receive one monthly bill compared to multiple bills from different providers, simplifying your accounting process and saving you even more valuable time. 

5. Improved collaboration 

UCaaS provides anytime and anywhere communication methods and allows employees to more easily collaborate with each other. If someone is on the road or meeting with a client, UCaaS allows them to still be a part of the conversation without having to be physically present. They can simply video conference or use their personal device to collaborate with coworkers while on the move. 

This instant, real-time collaboration also leads to enhanced productivity and greater success. What would have been a 25 long “reply all” email chain can now be a simple instant message allowing employees to receive immediate feedback and make decisions in a matter of minutes.  

To learn more information and see exactly how UCaaS can benefit your small business, schedule a demo today!