{"id":1867,"date":"2012-08-22T17:05:26","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T17:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=312"},"modified":"2012-08-22T17:05:26","modified_gmt":"2012-08-22T17:05:26","slug":"avoiding-uc-pitfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/avoiding-uc-pitfalls\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding UC Pitfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know how beneficial Unified Communications can be to our businesses if done properly, but too often organizations implement it poorly, leaving them with a broken system and a misrepresentation of what UC really is.\u00a0 Many companies are rushing to deploy UC technologies to take advantage of their cost saving methods, but in doing so cost themselves dearly.\u00a0 TeoTech.com released a whitepaper<\/a> on the UC pitfalls that companies fall into when rolling out UC and why they do it.\u00a0 We will go over some of the common mistakes that these businesses make when introducing Unified Communications into their workplace, and how you can avoid them.<\/p>\n

Deploying UC on a Whim<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the second topic mentioned in TeoTech\u2019s whitepaper, but I\u2019m mentioning it first because I think it is the most dangerous mistake a company can make.\u00a0 UC has some fantastic advantages that can drastically improve on a company\u2019s communications, performance, and even profits, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can rush it.\u00a0 Carefully planning out your implementation of UC throughout your organization is a must.\u00a0 Research every aspect of it, how you plan to use it, and how you will support it before you start buying products and software.\u00a0 UC is all about collaboration.\u00a0 Everything must work together seamlessly.\u00a0 If departments start buying video conferencing equipment and VoIP phones on their own with no concern of compatibility, you will run into huge problems.<\/p>\n

Dropping it in IT\u2019s Lap<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your IT department is a great resource, but shouldn\u2019t be put in charge of everything just because it has a technical aspect to it.\u00a0 One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is placing IT in charge of choosing the technology without consulting the staff who will be using it.\u00a0 This results in buying equipment that works well with the network, but may or may not benefit your staff.\u00a0 As someone who has worked in IT for years, I will say they certainly will need to be involved in the process as they will most likely be the ones supporting it after it\u2019s up and running.\u00a0 It is imperative that IT has a chance to make sure that the systems you want to purchase are able to be setup on the network and are reasonable requests, but the real leader should be the decision-makers of the business.\u00a0 They should speak with their employees to find what applications\/hardware would benefit them, find out if it is possible from IT, and then move forward.<\/p>\n

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Most IT departments are busy enough without planning UC rollouts<\/p><\/div>\n

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Copying Other UC Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

UC is a broad term.\u00a0 Every business has different reasons for adopting it, and it means something different to each of them.\u00a0 If you walkthrough another office and see how they have adopted it, that may give you great ideas, but you have to be willing to customize UC to your own business.\u00a0 If you go in expecting a particular setup, you may end up disappointed.\u00a0 Survey your staff, find what tools they really need, and don\u2019t smother them with ones they don\u2019t.\u00a0 Ever had to look in a toolbox for a screwdriver, and after the third time going through it you finally find it?\u00a0 There really is such a thing as too many tools, and it can slow down your progress.\u00a0 Go in open minded, and you will find the perfect setup to improve your business.<\/p>\n

UC can take your business to an entirely new level of proficiency, but you have to be careful to avoid these common mistakes.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be too eager, put the right people in charge, and be willing to listen to your employee\u2019s needs.\u00a0 Follow those tips and you will be taking advantage of UC successfully in no time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know how beneficial Unified Communications can be to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[508],"tags":[426,728,392,445,446,602,417],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}