5 Unified Communications Trends 2023

Communication and its ease and availability of it are critical to any organization. That priority applies to internal and external communications. One of the essential elements of this is unified communications technology. As you determine how to build or improve such a platform, you’ll want to know about unified communications market trends that could be critical to these decisions.

The year ahead has some uncertainty around the world of work, including where people work and how they do it. The market continues to grow with rapid adoption and migration to unified communications. Experts predict it will grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 14.3 percent through 2028. Most of the market’s growth will be cloud-hosted platforms versus on-premises.

Its upward trend tells the industry a few key things. First, unified communications is essential to workers, just as much as any other application they use daily. Second, hosted in the cloud is the leading framework for the technology. So, what can we expect from the market in 2023?

5 Unified Communications Market Trends for 2023

Here’s what you can expect from the unified communications market in 2023. These insights relate to platforms that provide voice, video, chat, file backup and sharing, and contact center features.

Uncovering Insights with AI

AI (artificial intelligence) will play a broader role in the future of unified communications. It’s already delivered advantages in terms of proactive security. The next step is how it will uncover insights. One of the most valuable datasets to apply it to is customer interactions via contact center software.

AI can transcribe conversations and identify important ones that can provide value to organizations. Your customers are often the greatest source of improving your products and adjusting contact center approaches. What you find can impact support, product, sales, and marketing. With these capabilities, you can turn a contact center from purely a cost center to one that drives innovation.

Mobile Devices Will Be the Business Center of the Future

Can you really run a business with your mobile phone? Is it possible to access all your communication tools in an app? The answer is yes. With hybrid becoming the norm for work frameworks and more employees back to traveling for meetings and events, what they have with them at all times is their mobile device.

With a unified communications mobile app, your staff can:

Access all the phone features just as they would from a desktop (e.g., managing multiple calls, receiving transcribed voicemails, transferring calls).
Communicate quickly with team chat.
Participate in video calls.
Work, share, and store files.
Check and respond to emails.

It’s the 21st-century office on the go. Your current and future employees will expect to have these features. Failure to upgrade could cause workers to feel they don’t have what they need to work effectively.

Consolidation and Integration of Platforms

Many companies scrambled to set up cloud-based communication tools at the beginning of the pandemic. That urgency often resulted in multiple platforms for chat, video, phone, email, and file management.

The consequence of this is higher costs, employees having to use multiple systems impacting productivity, and other inefficiencies. The objective for 2023 will be to consolidate and integrate. Unified communications hubs include most of these already. You’ll be in a much better place with your stack tech when you combine it with email, contact center software, CRM (customer relationship management), and other systems.

When you do this, tools are more flexible and simplified. It can boost productivity and user experience while reducing your expenses.

Reducing Burdens on Internal IT with Cloud-Based, Intuitive Platforms

IT worker gaps have been challenging for many companies. With less staff and more work, anything to reduce this strain is welcome. Findings from a recent study stated that there would be a net tech employment increase of 8.9 million, with 178,000 new jobs.

Any company struggling to hire and retain these positions needs unified communications to be easy. They’ll focus on platforms that enable simple self-service administration. Additionally, they’ll prefer a provider that offers responsive support when they have issues.

Creating More Collaborative Video Meetings

The video meeting is now a fundamental part of the workday. Hybrid teams leverage them to stay connected, and that’s not going to change. What is evolving is what collaboration looks like on screen. By 2024, only 25 percent of work meetings will occur in person. As a result, more will be virtual, so how can you enhance collaboration in video calls?

The features you’ll need to ensure this within your unified communications solution include:

Screen annotation and sharing to hammer out the details of a document or presentation in real time.
Meeting transcripts and insights, so people can stay engaged rather than jotting down notes.
Enabling equitable experiences, so those in the conference room or the living room have the same view.

The more collaboration features your video meetings have, the more likely you will get more done during that time.

Unified Communications Market Trends: Be Ready with the Right Platform

The market will continue to evolve as technology does and how we work. With the right tools, your business can run smarter and more seamlessly. You can realize many advantages and keep up with trends with Intermedia Unite. Explore its features today.