Why Communications in the Cloud Are Important When It's Not Business as Usual
In times of crisis, after ensuring health and safety, your organization has two major priorities to consider: your employees and your customers.
Keep Employees on the Same Page With Frictionless Remote Work
When an office closes or employees must work remotely, it’s crucial that companies maintain business continuity. For these moments, cloud-based collaboration tools and business apps - messaging platforms, email, video, business phone solutions, CRM and more - are indispensable.
These solutions allow employees to bring their workplace with them wherever they go. Technologies that offer remote work capabilities, such as routing incoming calls to mobile devices and offering video conferencing capabilities on any device, can keep everyone on the same page even under extenuating circumstances.
Human Interactions Require Contextualized Communications
In times of need, the ability to seamlessly collaborate across channels is imperative for employees who work at healthcare and other aid-providing organizations.
There is another side to this equation, as well. First responders and healthcare providers, for example, must have the ability to communicate with those affected by a crisis who may need help. Technology platforms can also help facilitate these interactions.
Consider a mobile app that allows for video diagnostics calls with doctors, alerts when prescriptions are due to be filled, or even remote health testing and monitoring. Patients can also leverage apps and digital tools to help with their own diagnosis and treatment.
The ability for healthcare professionals to communicate with one another, or for doctors and patients to communicate easily when the stakes are high, is crucial. Organizations should do what they can now to solidify how they interact internally and externally in the event business as usual isn’t possible.
Take a Streamlined Approach When Possible
Often, organizations will cobble together a number of different solutions for their communications needs. This can exacerbate challenges that arise when sudden changes present themselves. Whenever possible, decision makers should try to streamline their emergency communications strategy and consolidate technology tools to make things as simple as possible in unusual circumstances.
With today’s technological advancements, the hope is that healthcare organizations do not have to implement multiple solutions for internal communications and communication with patients.
Business cloud communications, whether that’s unified communications, contact centers, communications APIs, or a combination, enable organizations to enhance connections internally among employees while creating more meaningful relationships externally with customers by engaging them through personalized and contextual communications.
Sometimes, we aren’t able to continue with business as usual. When that happens, having a strong communications plan in place can be helpful. Whether by implementing technology that can help with challenges, such as sudden increases in remote work or having a strategy when face-to-face interactions must become virtual conversations, companies can start planning now for the next time business continuity becomes a challenge.
Looking to update your communications technology? Reach out to Vonage to learn how we can help.
