Story by Jim Machi, The Fast Mode
The modern business communications system is not the same as it was ten years ago. There has been more innovation in what’s on your work desk in the past ten years than the prior thirty years combined. Yes, there is still likely a phone on your desk, but Unified Communications has now basically replaced the PBX that was connected to that desk phone. Beyond just voice, these modern communication systems now can handle video, presence, chat, file sharing, conference calling, and they also have a mobile component where your smart phone can behave as if it’s connected natively to the UC system, accept calls, and perform all the tasks of the desktop including collaboration. Much innovation indeed.
But what’s next? Will there even be a need to talk on a phone? Won’t all the collaboration platforms basically take over? It’s been posited that as millennials and Gen-Z’rs enter the workforce, this will spell the end of voice in the business world because much of their communication is via social media platforms (even if they sit in the same office ten feet apart).