by Frank Grillo

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

Before the economic firestorm began raging, unified communications, or UC for short, was the buzz phrase du jour in boardrooms throughout the nation. Success stories from UC deployments were consistently flowing, and the majority of IT executives report that if they didn’t already have UC, it was in the plans. And it’s no wonder—unified communications can offer tremendous benefits for companies of all sizes.

True UC solutions deliver a comprehensive toolset that covers the spectrum of communications needs – from advanced VoIP functionality to multimedia collaboration tools such as chat, video and web conferencing, file sharing, unified messaging and integration with popular technologies such as Microsoft Outlook—essentially creating a paradigm shift in the way people communicate with each other and connect to the information they need.

Traditional implementations of UC are costly and complex, with tens of thousands of dollars needed in capital alone plus even more for maintenance over the life of the solution, and then there’s the six-figure salary for the certified engineer. Naturally, as the economic environment worsened, and IT budgets tightened, new initiatives such as UC deployments were put on hold—or worse—cut. While there were benefits to the UC solution, they weren’t enough to offset the huge expense—especially in a downturn.

While the “stop spending—cut costs” reaction is a natural one that might fill the gap in the short term, there’s  another option that can enable companies to move forward with their UC plans, get better technology and actually spend less. That option is hosted unified communications or hosted UC.

Hosted UC solutions can offer substantial savings while delivering the productivity-enhancing features companies need to survive and thrive in these challenging economic times. Much like the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, hosted UC solutions enable companies to pay for usage, not ownership. With no capital investment and no need to hire and train additional IT staff to manage the solution, hosted UC offers companies the technological advantage they need while actually helping them reduce their fixed costs.

Although getting better technology while saving money may seem counterintuitive—that’s been the reality for many enterprises across the nation who have implemented hosted UC. With an end-to-end hosted solution, companies get all the equipment they need with no capital investment. The provider is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure and managing the solution, so there’s no need for companies to hire and train additional IT staff, saving companies even more money.  And, comprehensive hosted UC solutions deliver the full range of communication and collaboration technologies for a single monthly cost.

In addition to the cost benefits, companies get the tools they need to increase productivity and innovate ahead of their competition without the capital burden and risk. And, especially beneficial in these tight economic times, hosted UC solutions also offer notable flexibility and scalability, so there’s no equipment to purchase when new offices are opened, and no equipment waste when offices are closed. It’s the perfect solution in a thriving economy—and an even better one in a down economy.

As a visionary communications executive, Frank is known for his ability to identify growth opportunities and to produce extraordinary results that make a real contribution to an organization’s bottom line. Serving as executive vice president of marketing at Cypress Communications®, Frank Grillo is responsible for product management, pricing, marketing, advertising, and sales support of the company’s products, including Cypress’ award-winning hosted unified communications solution, C4 IP™. To learn more about hosted unified communications and Cypress’ C4 IP solution, go to www.cypresscom.net.