Why Your Business Needs More Than Just An Instant Messaging App

Ding!

Yet another instant message.

And just one of the gazillion ones you’ll receive this week.

Instant messaging, which was once reserved to a few corners of the Internet, has now permeated into every aspect of our lives.

What was once viewed as the absolute favorite pastime among teenagers is now a mature technological innovation that cuts across generations and different arenas of life, including the business world.

It’s now common practice to substitute an email with an instant chat message.

But let’s keep one thing in mind.

Although instant messaging offers a robust communication solution for organizations of all kinds, the fact is — it does not meet the requirements of today’s workplace.

It simply doesn’t.

How you may ask?

Well, the work environment has shifted from a traditional workplace, where the focus used to be on individual work and fixed long-term teams working from a physical office, to the new-age workplace that we know today.

In many organizations, flexible and agile teams are working remotely from around the world, and their work has become highly interdependent.

This evolution has, in effect, changed the needs of communication from traditional instant messaging and one-on-one conversations to constant and open discussions — or in a single word: collaboration.

And what’s the best alternative to the redundancy of instant messaging for businesses seeking better collaboration?

Two words.

Unified communication.

That’s it. That’s the answer.

And here’s the necessary next step- to answer the question in your mind.

What exactly is unified communication or UC?

Well, it is a useful umbrella term for the integration of multiple enterprise communication tools — such as voice calling, video conferencing, instant messaging (IM), presence, content sharing, etc. — into a single, streamlined interface, with the specific goal of improving user experience and productivity.

With the above definition in mind, it’s not difficult to see why UC and team collaboration tools overlap and why everyone seems to be using the terms “business communications” and “collaboration” interchangeably.

The problem, though, is that these terms mean different things.

Communication does not necessarily mean collaboration. But understand this — the latter cannot happen without the previous.

Collaboration is simply impossible without communication.

So why is this so important to point out?

Because some SaaS, CaaS or UCaaS vendors inaccurately describe communication features as collaborative. This brings us to the seemingly harmless way in which instant messaging apps are being used for “collaboration”.

And much of this can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically hastened the significant shift into instant messaging for business by forcing an unprecedented percentage of the workforce to work remotely.

By recent estimates, the user numbers of business messaging apps are set to reach 160 million in 2021.

But there’s just one problem.

Businesses need to do more than just communicate. They need to collaborate. And not “collaborate” as a stand-in for “communicate, but to “collaborate” in the true sense of the word.

Businesses need more than just an instant messaging app.

If you are or have a business, you need to switch from a mere instant messaging app to a dedicated UC platform in order to achieve the true potential of collaboration.

Let’s dig into the main reasons why.

1. Incessant distractions vs productivity

You’ve probably experienced it. The endless notifications. From an endless list of apps.

Instant messaging can be an enemy of productivity. It can lead to incessant dings about topics that sometimes have very little to do with work.

And this can easily influence how productive your employees are.

On the other hand, UC platforms provide valuable features such as status updates that allow employees to specify their availability so as to make the most of their time. This ensures that everyone engages in meaningful conversations and understands what’s going on with their colleagues, especially if everyone is working remotely.

2. Personal life vs work life

With instant messaging apps, it’s common to have your personal life inadvertently merging with your work-life — especially when it comes to your digital environment.

With UC, however, you can enjoy a clear separation between the two worlds. You can also enjoy better work collaboration thanks to groups made around specific teams, topics, or projects. This shifts the focus from personal work management to collective and more organized work management.

3. Improved Security

Making use of an instant messaging app means using other kinds of communication platforms, each of which would need its logins and passwords.

However, when it comes to UC systems, users only need one set of password credentials instead of several. This makes login easier and less prone to mishaps. It’s also much easier to enable security measures for a single login, thus reducing the threat of cyber attacks.

4. Flexible and scalable collaboration

Unlike instant messaging apps, UC platforms don’t just solve existing problems with workplace communication in the remote age — they also offer clear possibilities for innovation, customization, and scalability.

UC platforms allow you to easily add new features as per your demand, which means you can affordably customize and scale according to the specific stage of your business’ growth trajectory.

In addition, such platforms introduce some much-needed flexibility.

Having one platform with cross-cutting features means employees can communicate in whatever way they see fit (whether it’s text, audio, or even video, group call) without needing to switch windows or tabs.

Wrapping Up

In a nutshell, a dedicated unified communication such as TelebuPing has the potential to save time, increase efficiency, boost productivity, and above all, bring everyone together seamlessly.

So, what are you waiting for? Make your business collaboration top-notch and uber-productive by upgrading from instant messaging to a secure unified communication platform for businesses.