Are field service teams overdue for workflow improvements? Plenty of executives think so. In a recent Forbes Insights and Microsoft survey, more than 80 percent of executives say “empowering first-line workers with the tools and platforms they need has a direct impact on customer satisfaction, growth and worker job satisfaction.” And there’s good news in this regard: technologies like field services management applications, automation and embedded communications have the potential to transform both the workflow and the customer experience.
How? To start, let’s look at how service calls have traditionally worked. They start when a customer calls a support line and talks to an agent, who captures the details of the service request by typing it into both the CRM and the field service management application. Next, the dispatcher reviews the order and schedules a technician for the next day.
Let’s say the technician is unable to resolve the issue on their own at the customer site. They pl..

The simple t-shirt begins its life in the cotton fields of the American South. After harvest, cotton bolls travel across an ocean to spinning facilities in Indonesia. From there, the resulting thread is sent to Bangladesh to be knitted, dyed and sewn. The t-shirt then returns to the U.S. for printing, packaging and distribution to retailers.
That’s just a rough sketch of the journey from field to finished product. Obviously, the reality is much more complex, involving hundreds of people, communicating across geographies, working across functional boundaries and joining disparate hardware, software and communications devices.
Those involved in this fast-paced manufacturing environment must be able to problem-solve and make timely decisions that benefit their organization and its partners in the supply chain. In many ways, the process is one big collaboration. How can communications technology make life easier for everyone involved?
Collaboration within the organization Businesses nee..

For shoppers, the path to purchase is no longer as simple as clicks to bricks or bricks to clicks. “Clicks to bricks and back” may be a more accurate description. As the 2017 Retail Dive Consumer Survey showed, shoppers are embracing an omnichannel customer experience. Retail Dive also found that more than 65 percent of consumers research products online before heading to a store, while over 55 percent say they visit stores before buying.
Because every buyer’s path is different – and can change from day to day and place to place – retailers must integrate digital and deliver a seamless omnichannel customer experience to compete more effectively against the eCommerce giants. Although merchants might hesitate to deploy a communications solution capable of handling such complex interactions, today’s omnichannel contact center solutions have leveled the playing field.
Here are just a few of the ways retailers can leverage technology to enhance the omnichannel customer experience.
In eve..

On a Friday night, a cancer patient is admitted to the hospital with severe pneumonia and fluid-filled lungs. Through most of Saturday she gasps for breath before the doctor on-call arrives. Though she is in pain, the physician is hesitant to call in the pulmonologist, who's busy with a more critical case.
By evening, though, he requests a consult. The nursing staff tries to reach the specialist but can't connect with him for several hours. When he arrives at last, he immediately orders the patient's lungs be drained.
What went wrong here? One could argue a lot of things, but inefficient communications and poor collaboration top the list. Would putting better communications tools in the hands of medical professionals have made a difference? How would it have changed the patient outcome?
Replay Let's rewind and see.
With more robust communications tools, the staff admits the patient on Friday night and immediately sends an emergency text to the patient's pri..

The ink is barely dry when you get the call that your hotel brand has just acquired a competing chain, and now your IT team needs to transition dozens of new properties to your communications technology. Fortunately, there is a proven way to ensure a smooth transition and simplify the integration of hundreds of properties: deploy unified communications (UC).
The hospitality industry has undergone a wave of mergers and acquisitions. In 2017, Marriott International, the largest hotel company in the world, acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts, expanding its portfolio to 30 brands. Meanwhile, Hilton launched its 14th brand, the Tapestry Collection. And the Wyndham Hotel Group kicked off 2018 with its acquisition of La Quinta.
As hospitality companies add to their portfolios, their IT teams must integrate the new properties seamlessly and cost-effectively into the brand's existing operations. One of the major challenges they face is handling the often-incompatible communications tech..

The right unified communications & collaboration (UCC) partner understands that your communications technology needs to grow with your business, in ways that make sense for you. As a leader in UCC, Mitel understands how important it is to build long-term relationships with our partners as we continue to grow and expand.
Mitel is pleased to receive Frost & Sullivan's 2017 North American Growth Excellence Leadership Award. After analyzing the UCC industry for excellence in growth and customer value, superiority of products and services and overall customer, purchase, ownership and service experience offered, Frost & Sullivan identified Mitel as the winner.
The Growth Excellence Award “lauds the growth, diversification, and sustainability strategies” of the company it is bestowed upon as part of Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices awards program, which recognizes companies that demonstrate superior performance and achievement. Frost & Sullivan conducted its analysis by comparing..

Ask any C-suite executive in the business, and they'll tell you the key to a successful sports venue is creating an outstanding entertainment experience. And as in any other sector, success boils down to sales — selling tickets to games and promotional events, club memberships and merchandise. Growing these sales means creating the kind of personalized experience that makes fans flock to events again and again.
The reality is fans are made, not born, and it takes work to build loyalty and nurture relationships. Customer service must excel at every level, engaging fans both at home and in the stadium. So, it's no surprise sports organizations run some of the largest contact centers around.
An advanced contact center built with a robust unified communications solution is at the heart of a winning customer experience. Let's take a closer look at how innovative contact center technology facilitates customer retention and makes fans feel like a part of the team.
Rewriting ..

Every moment counts in an emergency, so getting help should be as simple as dialing 911. In Kari Hunt Dunn's case, that phone call proved impossible — her hotel room didn't allow guests to directly dial emergency services. As Dunn's estranged husband attacked her in 2013, her young daughter made several attempts to call authorities for help. None went through because she didn't first dial “9” for an outside line.
But a new federal law will make a difference for the next victim. Kari's Law requires multi-line phone systems to have a default configuration that enables users to dial 911 directly. While the law doesn't require mass notification, it recommends organizations deploy on-site notification – which automatically sends alerts to executives and on-site emergency responders – if the communications solution in place supports it.
As a result, government agencies, universities and K-12 schools need to be sure their communications solutions comply with th..

It's 10 p.m. on a Friday. The production line is running full-tilt to meet the commitment you've made to a key customer. On a die-cutter, Sensor 8a records a malfunction and, in seconds, sends the information via SMS text to the technician on call. Within the hour, they're on the factory floor fixing the problem.
Internet of Things (IoT) in Manufacturing Just as smart devices have become more common in the consumer space, they're proliferating in the manufacturing environment, enabling businesses to operate more nimbly and efficiently. Decisions once made by people can now be settled autonomously or semi-autonomously by cyber-physical systems or individual machines.
“[IoT] allows us to do things that previously would have been very difficult, like monitoring, sensing, looking at situations, automating the triggering of special conditions and really allowing people to work more efficiently,” said Tony Pereira, Mitel's Vice President, Business Accelerator. “So ..

What does unified communications and collaboration (UCC) mean? Unified communications and collaboration brings together multiple forms of communications, like voice, video and data services, and software applications into a single environment, improving business processes making it easier for employees to connect.
Unified communications and collaboration can include components like:
Instant messaging Presence – knowing if a contact is free or busy Unified messaging – the ability to retrieve all your messages from one central location Conferencing applications – to connect larger groups and allow them to share information and ideas Teamwork applications – to coordinate work on group projects Video conferencing – on your PC, mobile device and using room-based systems Mobile applications – extending unified communications and collaboration to smartphones and tablets What impact does unified communications and collaboration have? Hyper-connected. 24/7. Always-on. Pick your adjectiv..