How are you collaborating in 2021?
It’s been a long 18 months or so for businesses all around the world. Regardless of industry, we’ve all been forced to face a number of new challenges and take them head on in order to continue operating effectively. One of the biggest challenges we’ve had to overcome is communication.
Good communication is essential for businesses to thrive and it isn’t usually a problem in traditional office environments. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of companies were forced to close their doors and deploy a remote working policy, even if they hadn’t done so before. This meant investing in new technologies and solutions that would allow teams to communicate seamlessly and continue working towards their various different objectives.
Fortunately most businesses adapted very well and many have now made a bold decision to continue operating via this new way of working. A lot of this is down to the realisation that they no longer need to invest in large office spaces to maintain the same level of productivity. But what are the technologies allowing companies and organisations to continue operating remotely?
Collaboration platforms are the new norm
Collaboration platforms are specifically designed to enable seamless teamwork via a selection of different tools. This includes instant messaging, audio calls, video conferencing, screen sharing and in some cases, file sharing. In 2016 this market was firmly controlled by Slack, but there are now a number of different options to choose from.
Perhaps the most obvious choice for business owners is Microsoft Teams, which has taken the collaboration market by storm. Before the pandemic Microsoft’s platform peaked at 20 million active users; but fast-forward to April 2021, this number had increased to 145 million. That’s a 625% increase in less than two years. Teams is a great option for internal communication and collaboration with team members, but it isn’t the only choice out there.
Another platform that thrived during the pandemic was Zoom. Used by millions during country-wide lockdowns to stay in touch with friends and family, Zoom has now been adopted by businesses as a tool for video conferencing due to its usability and familiarity amongst its users. Zoom is a good choice for those communicating with external users such as customers or suppliers but lacks some of the features of Microsoft Teams for internal collaboration.
But the truth is, neither of these platforms serve one specific purpose. They’re both being used by schools for online classes or by families for online quizzes, they’re not necessarily designed solely for business use.
That’s where Cisco Webex comes in
Possibly one of the most overlooked collaboration platforms is Webex. Cisco are leaders in the virtual meeting market and their Webex platform is built with business in mind. This feature rich video conferencing solution is compatible with PC and Mac, and can be used on-the-go with both Apple and Android smartphones.
Key features include:
To add to this, Webex can be scaled to allow its users to only take basic features within its application. For instance, within DuoCall’s MyHosted Platform we use Webex Voice as a softphone only which a user can run within the Webex App or as an app within Teams, which delivers the single screen for all communications.
For more information about Cisco Webex, be sure to contact our team. We’d be more than happy to provide you with our expert opinion on what collaboration platform best suits your unique business requirements. Give us a call on 0333 313 5000 or send an email to hello@duocall.co.uk.
